Edwin Morgan Good Friday

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Edwin Morgan Poems

Good Friday

>Immediacy

expressive verbs- "flops" "lurches"

creates immediacy

feels real

as if it is unfolding in front of us

> Realism

"Good Friday" - date

"Three o'clock" - time

"into the sun"- weather

"along Bath Street?" - place

a realistic opening makes the whole poem seem real

>Present tense

"the bus lurches"

makes the poem seem immediate and engaging

> Scottish dialect

"aye" "ye" "wee"

gives information about the man

working class background

sets the scene (Glasgow)

brings the character to life, realistic

>Rhyme

"into the sun for his Easter eggs on very nearly steady legs"

couplet

the only rhyme in the poem

tells us the state of the man (drunk, hardly able to control himself)

ends the poem- punch line

> Line Layout

"on very/ nearly/ steady/ legs"

looks like the steps which the man is walking down

reminds us he is drunk- not in control of his body or his circumstances

> Undermining

" nearly steady"

the man is not balancing well but is not falling over

> Word Choice

"violently" "lunges" "swings"

present tense, expressive verbs

creates movement (immediacy, realism)

paints a picture for us

> Repetition

"ye understand" "see" "mean"

working man wants to be understood

he wants to communicate

he wants to be taken seriously- drink gives him the confidence

> Being ungrammatical

"rose fae the dead"

makes the man seem real

tells us where he is from

tells us his social class

no knowledge of grammar - no knowledge of meaning of Easter ( working class man with no time to think about these things because of his family and work)

>Accent

"nae"

where the poem is set

where the man is from

language typically used by the lower class

> Bible references"three o'clock" "whether Christ was- crucified or was he- rose fae the dead like"

links to title "Good Friday" and Easter theme

three o'clock- the hour Jesus died, when the sun came out after his suffering

> Dashes

"to be celebrating - well, no" "whether Christ was- crucified or was he- rose fae the dead like"

pause or breaks - hesitation

maybe because of drink

maybe because he's thinking about what he is saying - wants to sound more intelligent

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