Glasgow 5th March
Glasgow 5th of March 1971 poem and notes GLASGOW 5TH MARCH 1971
(An “Instamatic” Poem)
With a ragged diamond of shattered plate-glass a young man and his girl are falling backwards into a shop-window
The young man’s face is bristling with fragments of glass and the girl’s leg has caught on the broken window and spurts arterial blood over her wet-look white coat.
Their arms are starfished out braced for impact, and their faces show surprise, shock, and the beginning of pain.
The two youths who have pushed them are about to complete the operation, reaching into the window to loot what they can smartly.
Their faces show no expression.
It is a sharp clear night in Sauchiehall Street
.
In the background two drivers keep their eyes on the road.
Edwin Morgan
Notes for Mr Crawford's Intermediate students:
• The poem describes an incident in a Glasgow street when a young couple are pushed backwards through a shop window by two youths who are intent on robbing the shop. The poem goes on to describe the attitude of the youths and of the other people who are in the vicinity at the time.
• Glasgow 5th of March 1971 gives us an insight into the violent reality of inner city life. A sense of objectivity is created because the poet himself does not appear in the poem.
Stanza 1 Begins describing the foreground and introduces the reader to the incident.
Techniques in Stanza 1 • Metaphor: “Ragged diamond”
• “Ragged” is a good word to use as it makes the glass sound uneven, sharp and splintered. This makes the image more violent as the reader imagines this dangerous surface contacting the young couple.
• Onomatopoeia- “Shattered plate glass”
• The repetition of the “sh/s” sound sounds like shards of glass showering the ground.
Stanza 2 • Stanza 2 zooms the focus out to reveal the extent of the injuries to the
(An “Instamatic” Poem)
With a ragged diamond of shattered plate-glass a young man and his girl are falling backwards into a shop-window
The young man’s face is bristling with fragments of glass and the girl’s leg has caught on the broken window and spurts arterial blood over her wet-look white coat.
Their arms are starfished out braced for impact, and their faces show surprise, shock, and the beginning of pain.
The two youths who have pushed them are about to complete the operation, reaching into the window to loot what they can smartly.
Their faces show no expression.
It is a sharp clear night in Sauchiehall Street
.
In the background two drivers keep their eyes on the road.
Edwin Morgan
Notes for Mr Crawford's Intermediate students:
• The poem describes an incident in a Glasgow street when a young couple are pushed backwards through a shop window by two youths who are intent on robbing the shop. The poem goes on to describe the attitude of the youths and of the other people who are in the vicinity at the time.
• Glasgow 5th of March 1971 gives us an insight into the violent reality of inner city life. A sense of objectivity is created because the poet himself does not appear in the poem.
Stanza 1 Begins describing the foreground and introduces the reader to the incident.
Techniques in Stanza 1 • Metaphor: “Ragged diamond”
• “Ragged” is a good word to use as it makes the glass sound uneven, sharp and splintered. This makes the image more violent as the reader imagines this dangerous surface contacting the young couple.
• Onomatopoeia- “Shattered plate glass”
• The repetition of the “sh/s” sound sounds like shards of glass showering the ground.
Stanza 2 • Stanza 2 zooms the focus out to reveal the extent of the injuries to the