Glasgow, 5th March, 1971', by Edwin Morgan, is a modern poem about a shocking crime committed upon `a young man and his girl' by `two youths' and witnessed by two expressionless drivers who pass by without turning a hair.
The first way in which this poem effectively conveys the incident is the form it takes: very unemotional, clear and 'formal'. This feeling is emphasized in the title, which is simply a place and date. The title does two things: in the first place it implies some kind of record, not a poem; secondly, it is almost like the first line of the poem and sets the scene so we can vividly imagine the actions that follow.
Most of the poem is spent on the two young people because if we had been watching they …show more content…
It is also awful to think that the he may have to live the rest of his life, if he survives his injuries, with a face covered in scars. In the next few lines Morgan uses sickening irony to show how the girl's 'wet-look white coat' is no longer wet-look but literally wet; no longer pure white but with splashes of contrasting red like blood on snow. The word 'spurts' also gives a much greater effect than any other word he could have used because it is so specific in its meaning. 'Jet of liquid or gas: a sudden stream of liquid or gas, forced out under pressure; make something gush out: to cause a liquid or gas to gush out in a pressurized stream or …show more content…
It is noted that it is a 'sharp clear night' and a street as big as Sauchiehall Street should be well lit but still the drivers pass by and ignore what they see. It has been said that 'there's no such thing as an innocent bystander'; I think that this is what Edwin Morgan is trying to point out to us. He is reflecting on how more people in this 'high-tech' age are forgetting that there are people around them that feel the same things that they do. A lot of people live one-track lives and do not look to either side to help others; just like the drivers who 'keep their eyes on the road' and refuse to look to the pavement and help the young people who are so obviously in trouble. I feel sorry for the couple, anger towards the youths and annoyance with the two drivers.
These last few lines also hold the phrase 'sharp clear night'. It is not just the night that is sharp and clear but also the glass from the window and the diamonds in the jeweller's shop