Norman Mcaaig Essay
Norman McCaig writes the poem, summer farm in a metaphysical style. His poem talks about the more complicated questions of existence and life itself, that can not be explained by the physical realm of things. His poem begins describing the farm that surrounds him, and then changes subject as his mind wanders seeking to answer metaphysical questions that are lingering in his head. The first verse of the poem is a general description of the farm. However his thoughts seem to be in a pattern, picking out the unevenness of the world. He uses a range of similes in the first stanza. His first line says “straws like tame lightnings lie about.” The comparison illustrates the uneven zig-zag pattern of the straw. Later on he creates another simile where he refers to water being, “green as glass.” This simile confuses the reader. Though water may be murky and therefore green, glass is not usually described as green. This simile adds to the pattern of unevenness and also serves to create a vision in the readers head that connects water and glass by the smooth flatness of the two. The next part of the stanza describes “nine ducks,” as they “
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The poet seems afraid to let his mind wander, not wanting to be tormented by the unanswerable. He just wants to focus on the farm, but seems less able to control his train of thought. He says “ I lie not thinking... afraid of where a thought might take me.” He is trying not to think but merely observe. Then suddenly he looses control and his mind begins to drift into metaphysics. He illustrates this inability to control his thoughts as a metaphor comparing himself to a grass-hopper. He says “the grasshopper... unfolds his legs and finds himself in space.” This describes his mind, as it suddenly jumps from thought into some kind of imaginary space, from which he can observe life from a third person point of view, so that he can answer his
The poet seems afraid to let his mind wander, not wanting to be tormented by the unanswerable. He just wants to focus on the farm, but seems less able to control his train of thought. He says “ I lie not thinking... afraid of where a thought might take me.” He is trying not to think but merely observe. Then suddenly he looses control and his mind begins to drift into metaphysics. He illustrates this inability to control his thoughts as a metaphor comparing himself to a grass-hopper. He says “the grasshopper... unfolds his legs and finds himself in space.” This describes his mind, as it suddenly jumps from thought into some kind of imaginary space, from which he can observe life from a third person point of view, so that he can answer his