Montague essay

Montagues poems give us a good picture of the kind of man who wrote them. Based on your readings of the poems you have studied give your oppression of the poet.
Montague is a lyrical poet and his poems are all written from the perspective of “I”. As a poet he's generally engaged in contemplating his lived experience and his direct observations. He uses his own childhood, loves and relationships as a springboard to explore life. He writes about many things in his poems on our course and the things he write about help us to get to know him better as a person. For Montague poetry is not just about self-expression or exploration of the self, but it's about communication and being understood. Montague responds to and interprets the human experiences of those who he has encountered in life through his poetry. In studying Montagues poetry, the reader is given a good picture of the kind of man he is and we gain a remarkable insight into his personality, and really come to admire him. In this essay I will discuss how the poems “Killing the Pig”, “The Trout”, “The Locket”, “The Cage”, “Windharp” and “All Legendary Obstacles” help the reader to get to know you as a poet and a person.
“Killing the pig” describes a pig’s journey to the slaughter house and his death. The language of the poem is so matter of a fact that is almost cold, however it is clear form reading the poem that Montague is in fact very compassionate. He sympathises with the pig. He uses descriptive and emotive language to condemn the act of slaughter. It is clear from the poem that Montague disagrees with such cruelty and is angered by and ashamed of the brutality and indifference of humans. The reader also gets an insight into Montague's attention to detail and his imagination in this poem. Montagues describes “the noise” the pig makes as he is dragged to the slaughter house in exquisite detail. This sound is clearly what has stuck with him, as it is the main focus of the poem. Montague says “no single sound could match it”, so he has several ways of describing it to the reader, it is a “big plane roaring off, a diva soaring towards her last note, the brain chilling persistence of an electric saw, scrap being crushed.” Each of these sounds are unique, but cause a similar human reaction. This shows the reader Montague’s observance and creativity.
“The Trout” is inspired by a memory from Montague's childhood, the poet was lying by a river as a young boy and caught a fish with his bare hands. This poem gives the reader a good picture of Montague as a child, it displays parts of his personality that are not as evident in the rest of his work. It is clear from the poem that Montague is a nostalgic person, the detail of description in this poem shows that this event remains forever imprinted in his mind. The poem suggests to me as a reader that Montague may have been a bit naïve as a child, it takes him a while to realise the effect his actions have on the fish. However when he does empathise with the fish he regrets what he has done, “I can taste his terror on my hands.” This again show the reader that he is a sympathetic and compassionate man. It seems that Montague has a curious nature, it was curiosity that encouraged his to catch the fish. It is evident in this poem that Montague enjoys power. “Bodiless lord of creation, I hung briefly above him savouring my own absence”. He enjoys the control he has over the fish, he is filled with a sense of his own power, seeing himself as a God-like figure. Montague’s attention to detail also comes across in the poem. “Senses expanding in the slow motion, the photographic calm that grows before action.” He is able to see everything as though it has slowed down. His attention to detail is so exact that he can “count every stipple” on the fish’s body.
“The Locket” deals with the poet’s strange troubled relationship with his mother, in a courageously honest fashion. Montague’s honesty is one of the traits that come across most in this poem, he doesn’t sugar-coat anything, he just tells the truth, exactly as it is, “fertile source of guilt and pain.” The poem shows the reader that Montague was deeply affected by his afflicted relationship with his mother. It is clear from the poem that the poet always longed to be loved by his mother, as a young boy he “cycled down to court” her. The visits he paid to his mother also show his determination and loyalty, even after she had told him not to come back, “‘Don’t come again.’ you say, roughly, ‘I start to get fond of you, John’”, he is still persistent in his visits. His relationship with his mother caused him to feel inadequate, “all my infant curls of brown couldn’t excuse my double blunder”. He knows his mother had hoped he’d be a girl and he has always felt guilty for disappointing her. But the most important thing that the reader learns about Montague in this poem is his ability to understand and forgive. Despite abandonment and rejection he still loves his mother and empathises with her, “the harsh logic of a forlorn woman resigned to being alone.” When his mother dies he learns that the locket she always wore around her neck contained a photo of him as a child. The locket symbolises his mother’s love and he understand that she just lacked the capacity to express it. The strange and trouble relationship has a somewhat happy ending, and Montague does not resent his mother.
“The Cage” deals with the poet’s memories of and relationship with his father. It is clear from the poem that the poet regrets not having a relationship with his father. It is clear that the poet admired his father’s spirit and respected him despite his flaws, “and yet he picked himself up”. Montague’s capacity for empathy and sympathy and forgiveness are obvious, again, in this poem, he understands his father’s situation and never once judges him. In this poem the reader learns a lot about the poet’s father, but we also learn a lot about the poet, because he tells us that he had very little in common with his father, “we did not smile in the shared complicity of a dream”. The attempt at a relationship, while walking “across the fields of Garvaghey”, sounds awkward, a relationship with his father does not seem to come as naturally to Montague as a relationship with his mother. Montague left for America on a scholarship soon after his father’s return to Ireland, “when weary Odysseus returns Telemachus must leave.” Montague’s imagination is, again, evident at the end of this poem. Every time he goes down the steps of the subway he can “see his bald head behind the bars of the small booth”.
In “Windharp” Montague describes the effect of the wind on the Irish landscape. From this poem the reader learns that Montague loves nature and loves his native country, despite having spent a lot of time in America. This poem is very musical, and Montague’s skills as a poet are unmistakeable. The reader can hear the wind for themselves in the first line, “the sounds of Ireland, that restless whispering”. The reader can also see that Montague is very observant, he describes “the wrinkling of bog pools” as the wind blows over them.
“All Legendary Obstacles” is about love and the joy of being reunited after absence, but it is much more real than the romantic-comedy depiction of love, despite the cinematic quality of the imagery. Montague is honest and realistic in this poem, it is clear that he has experienced real love. Montague does not exaggerate anything, this gives him credibility in the eyes of the reader. The reader also learns that Montague can be a nervous and awkward person, “shifting nervously from the station to the bar”. Montague is polite and chivalrous, he helps the woman out of the train, “reached out from the platform until our hands met.” Montague is lost for words in this poem, “too blind with rain and doubt to speak”. It is clear to the reader that Montague appreciates real love, he does it justice in this poem with his authentic description.
Reading Montague’s poetry has made me greatly admire him, not only for his poetic skill, but as a person. I have learned from his poems that he is compassionate, sympathetic, nostalgic, curious, observant, forgiving, honest, realistic, determined, loyal, imaginative and polite. He can also be nervous and awkward but that just makes me as a reader realise that he is a real person. I really enjoyed studying his work, because I felt that I came to know him in the process. It is because of his honesty and his style of writing that his personality comes across so easily in his poetry.