Glasgow 5th March Essay
Glasgow 5th March
A poem I have recently read and enjoyed is ‘Glasgow 5th march 1971’ by Edwin Morgan. It is about a young couple who have been pushed into a jeweller’s window as two youths try to rob a shop on Sauchiehall Street late at night. Two drivers witness this crime and turn a blind eye to it and drive on like nothing happened.
The poem starts with a young couple who have been pushed into a shop window. The young couple are badly injured, one of them in a potentially fatal state. Two drivers have witnessed this incident and have turned a blind eye to it.
One enjoyable aspect of the techniques that Edwin uses and also his use of imagery. Firstly he sets the scene immediately using a metaphor ‘ragged diamond of shattered plate glass’. This has a very effective impact on the poem because it compares the sharp shards of glass to an uncut diamond that is shimmering. The reader dose not know how this has happened however we are told that ‘a young man and his girl are falling backwards into a shop window’. This shocks and surprises me with images and makes me want to read on.
The first description we are given of the young man is that his ‘face is bristling with fragments of glass’ which suggest that the ‘young mans’ face will be scared for the rest of his life. This creates a disturbing image of his face covered with blood that is dripping from the flesh wounds caused by the ‘fragments of glass’ embedded in his skin, the word ‘bristling’ helps to create this vivid image.
Morgan tells us that the girl has caught her leg, he contrasts the blood of the young lady on her white jacket, this gives the reader a sharp image. Morgan makes it clear that the blood spurting everywhere is arterial which suggests that she could die in seconds. ‘the girls leg has caught on the broken window and spurts arterial blood over her wet look white coat’.
The couple are still trying to figure what has happened as they brace themselves for impact as they come
A poem I have recently read and enjoyed is ‘Glasgow 5th march 1971’ by Edwin Morgan. It is about a young couple who have been pushed into a jeweller’s window as two youths try to rob a shop on Sauchiehall Street late at night. Two drivers witness this crime and turn a blind eye to it and drive on like nothing happened.
The poem starts with a young couple who have been pushed into a shop window. The young couple are badly injured, one of them in a potentially fatal state. Two drivers have witnessed this incident and have turned a blind eye to it.
One enjoyable aspect of the techniques that Edwin uses and also his use of imagery. Firstly he sets the scene immediately using a metaphor ‘ragged diamond of shattered plate glass’. This has a very effective impact on the poem because it compares the sharp shards of glass to an uncut diamond that is shimmering. The reader dose not know how this has happened however we are told that ‘a young man and his girl are falling backwards into a shop window’. This shocks and surprises me with images and makes me want to read on.
The first description we are given of the young man is that his ‘face is bristling with fragments of glass’ which suggest that the ‘young mans’ face will be scared for the rest of his life. This creates a disturbing image of his face covered with blood that is dripping from the flesh wounds caused by the ‘fragments of glass’ embedded in his skin, the word ‘bristling’ helps to create this vivid image.
Morgan tells us that the girl has caught her leg, he contrasts the blood of the young lady on her white jacket, this gives the reader a sharp image. Morgan makes it clear that the blood spurting everywhere is arterial which suggests that she could die in seconds. ‘the girls leg has caught on the broken window and spurts arterial blood over her wet look white coat’.
The couple are still trying to figure what has happened as they brace themselves for impact as they come