SLATE by Edwin Morgan-Analysis-

Nota:

• EXPAND NOTE TO VIEW POEM CLEARLY There is no beginning. We saw Lewis laid down, when there was not much but thunder   and volcanic fires; watched long seas plunder   faults; laughed as Staffa cooled. Drumlins blue as bruises were grated off like nutmegs; bens,   and a great glen, gave a rough back we like to think the ages must streak, surely strike,  seldom stroke, but raised and shaken, with tens  of thousands of rains, blizzards, sea-poundings  shouldered of into night and memory.   Memory of men! That was to come. Great in their empty hunger these surroundings   threw walls to the sky, the sorry glory   of a rainbow. Their heels kicked flint, chalk, slate.

1. Opening Line

   Nota:

   • "There Is no beginning."
   1. makes Scotland seem eternal
   2. with no beginning there is possibly no end as well
2. Sonnet Form
   1. ABBACDDCEFGEFG
      1. 14 lines with 10 syllables
   2. using a 'real style' of poem when writing about Scotland shows that its a real serious country
   3. Internal Rhyme

      Nota:

      • "Thunder...Plunder"
      1. gets us to pay attention to the conflict and struggle there was in creating Scotland
         1. Morgan believes there is still a struggle for independence
3. Scottish Words

   Nota:

   • "Bens and great glens"
   1. Morgan is using Scottish words to show that Scotland is so great that only its own words can describe itself
      1. and not the queens english
         1. This is a symbol showing that England cannot define how Scotland works
4. Metaphor

   Nota:

   • "Sorry glory of a rainbow"
   1. Morgan is saying that even though there has been rain (that is the failed 1979 independence referendum) it has left a rainbow of hope for the future and that one day we will have a free Scotland
5. Present Tense

   Nota:

   • "There is no beginning."
   1. makes Scotland seem ever present and eternal
6. Connotations of Words
   1. "PLUNDER"
      1. suggests a struggle
      2. to rob of valuables
      3. conflict
   2. "BRUISES"
      1. pain
      2. hard work
      3. damaged
   3. "EMPTY"
      1. the new formed Scotland is hungry and ready to be inhabited by man
      2. Scotland is empty without people
      3. a nation (Scotland) is made by its people and not its geography
7. Final word

   Nota:

   • "Their heels kick flint, chalk, SLATE."
   1. the title word isn't mentioned until the end
   2. Morgan is telling us that sometimes we have to wait for things (or that things may not work out until the end), just like we have to wait for Scottish independence
8. First Person Plural Narration

   Nota:

   • "We saw Lewis laid down"
   1. the narrators have seen how Scotland was formed millions of years ago
      1. this makes them seem wise and intelligent, outside of history looking in
         1. Visitors from Another World
            1. the forming of Scotland was such an important and significant event that witnesses from another world would travel millions of miles across the universe to watch it
9. Decision not to have a Volta

   Nota:

   • "But raised and shaken, with tens of thousands of rains"  -no volta 9th line-"Memory of men! that was to come."  -volta in 11th line-
   • VOLTA: - the theoretical turning point of a sonnet in the 9th line which changes the mood and usually sumerises the poem
   1. morgan puts the volta later than it traditionally is in a sonnet to show that there is not an easy turning point in a country's history; it will take hard work and waiting but it will come just later
      1. (just as independence didn't come when it was expected in 1979--so independence will come later)
10. Word Choice Suggesting Wild Energy

    Nota:

    • "we like  to think the ages must streak, surely strike,  seldom stroke, but raised and shaken with tens of thousands of rains, blizzards, sea-poundings    shouldered off into night and memory."
    1. the narrator thinks it takes a lot of energy to make such a country and that it is the right way to make one
    2. morgan is saying that the amount of effort that has gone into making Scotland makes it important
       1. he believes Scotland is worth the energy
11. Alliteration

    Nota:

    • "must steak, surely strike, seldom stroke"
    1. draws our attention to the amount of energy that has gone into making Scotland and makes the energy seem even greater
12. Assonance

    Nota:

    • "There was not much thunder and volcanic fires; watched long seas plunder"
    • ASSONANCE: - resemblance of sound between syllables of nearby words eg,Killed,Cold,Culled
    1. alliteration and assonance make the poem a sensory experience for the reader
    2. morgan wants us not just to read the poem but to feel it
       1. and to pay attention to Scotland
13. Personification

    Nota:

    • "watched long seas plunder...drumlins blue as bruises"
    1. giving Scotland human qualities makes it seem like it is alive and also shaping itself
       1. "Bruises" shows that there was pain in making Scotland and that its not easy to make a great country
14. Embodiment

    Nota:

    • "Gave a rough back... "Shouldered off... "Empty hunger... "Heels kicked...
    1. the embodiment of Scotland makes it seem an important living creature going through physical pain to complete itself
15. Simile

    Nota:

    • "Drumlins blue as bruises were grated off like nutmeg"
    1. Morgan is saying that the creation of Scotland was a hard painful process and it does not deserve to be tied down by England's political powers