Basking Shark by Norman Mac Caig What is

‘Basking Shark’ by Norman Mac. Caig

What is a basking shark? ? ? ?

• A very large, harmless shark that feeds exclusively on plankton and often swims slowly close to the surface, found chiefly in the open ocean.

Norman Mac. Caig (1910 -1996) • Mac. Caig often celebrates particular moments of observation in his poetry. • His nature poems tend to focus on the small details before widening out to consider more universal concerns.

• Norman Mac. Caig responds with typical originality to an unlikely encounter in the poem ‘Basking Shark’, written in December 1967.

• Listen to Mac. Caig reading the poem here: • http: //www. scran. ac. uk/database/record. ph p? usi=000 -157 -129 -C • Sign in as ‘school’ • Choose school: Paisley Grammar

Basking Shark To stub an oar on a rock where none should be, To have it rise with a slounge out of the sea Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me. But not too often - though enough. I count as gain That once I met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain, That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain. Lines 1 - 6

He displaced more than water. He shoggled me Centuries back - this decadent townee Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree. Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring Is all the clearer. I saw me, in one fling, Emerging from the slime of everything. So who's the monster? The thought made me grow pale For twenty seconds while, sail after sail, The tall fin slid away and then the tail. Lines 7 - 15

Structure? • How many stanzas? • Is there a pattern? (E. g. Same number of lines in each. ) • Is there a rhyme scheme? • Does it follow a particular rhythm?

Technical terms • • Free verse Metaphor / personification Repetition Contrast Word choice Oxymoron Sentence length Sense descriptions

Glossary 1 • • roomsized displaced decadent swish • What do these words mean?

Glossary 2 • basking shark – a species of harmless, plankton-eating shark, which can, however, grow very large • slounge – a lazy movement, looking for food • tin-tacked – the surface of the sea marked like a covering nailed down by tin tacks • shoggled – juggled, jolted • townee – a country person's contemptuous word for a town-dweller

What’s it all about? • The poem tells of the poet's unexpected encounter with a shark. • The meeting causes Mac. Caig to think about the process of evolution and his position in that process.

Themes • Nature • Evolution • Mortality

Annotations

Title The reader may or may not know what a basking shark is. Definition = “A very large, harmless shark that feeds exclusively on plankton and often swims slowly close to the surface, found chiefly in the open ocean. ” The main topic of the poem is introduced in the title. We know the poem is going to discuss (marine) nature. Basking Sharks have connotations of danger, death, ferociousness. In contrast, ‘to bask’ means to relax in a pleasantly warm environment. 1 stanza by Norman Mac. Caig The poem is written in free verse which reflects the unsettling nature of the encounter.

Stanza 1 (lines 1 - 3) The word "stub" suggests that the boat's oar has hit on something solid, something that refuses to give even a little. The speaker disturbs a basking The first two lines start with the infinitive of shark, which is compared to a rock. the verb ("To stub", "To have" ). This From this metaphor, we assume that unusual sentence structure captures our the shark, like a rock, is bulky, solid, attention immediately, creating a dramatic without feeling and, perhaps, without opening to the poem. intelligence. To stub an oar on a rock where none should be, To have it rise with a slounge out of the sea Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me. "To have it rise" tells us that the shark is in charge of the meeting; the shark is carrying out the actions whereas the poet has no control over what is happening to him. Onomatopoeia – suggests the noise of the waves as the shark leaves the water. It is also a clumsy word, reminding us of the bulk of the shark. The speaker seems to have been frightened by the encounter. However, the brackets indicate a slightly humorous aside: he was scared but is trying to make light of it now.

Stanza 1 (lines 4 - 6) This seems to contradict what the speaker has said in line 3, suggesting that once wasn't too much. However, the use of the dash he indicates that he is in no rush to meet the shark again. Having had time to think about the incident, the speaker decides he has learned something from the encounter. So important is this meeting to him that he claims "I count as gain" the experience. He goes on to explain what he has learned in the rest of the poem. But not too often - though enough. I count as gain That once I met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain, That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain. The element of shock has gone and it now sounds as if the meeting was prearranged. Word choice – Metaphor – the surface connotations of of the water as it is low intelligence. pierced by the raindrops like tacks in a wall. The alliteration of "tin-tacked" also Word choice - emphasises reminds us of the noise the sheer size and bulk of the raindrops make. the shark. Metaphor – for all his size, the shark has little intelligence. At this point the speaker seems to believe he is much higher in the evolutionary scale than the shark.

Stanza 1 (lines 7 - 9) The shark's movements have caused the water to move violently, shifting the poet and his boat. However, the poet is also saying that the shark has caused him to question his position in the evolutionary process. The word "displaced" could also suggest the poet's discomfort at being forced to think that he might be nearer the shark on the ladder of evolution than he likes to acknowledge. Again, the shark is carrying out the actions, while the poet has no control. He displaced more than water. He shoggled me This sounds Centuries back - this decadent townee clumsy, as if Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree. the speaker is Word choice – Enjambment – suggests draws attention someone who to the word has no "Centuries", worthwhile emphasising purpose to their how long it took life, but lives humans to only for luxury evolve. and enjoyment. Makes us think about discovering our ancestors and reminds us that the shark is part of our "family tree"; "wrong branch" suggests the shark is a branch that the poet is ashamed of. being moved around fairly violently. Word choice – someone who lives in the town / chooses to live away from nature (their "roots"? ).

Stanza 1 (lines 10 - 12) Onomatopoeia – suggests the noise of moving water and also describes the swirling movement of water and dirt. In this image, the speaker is comparing his encounter with the shark to the spring once the dust has settled. Suddenly, he sees his position in evolution much more clearly. One "fling" from the shark makes him understand that his origins are shared with the shark, as well as all other living creatures. Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring Is all the clearer. I saw me, in one fling, Emerging from the slime of everything. Word choice – this word suggests the idea of growing, of coming from darkness to light. Like the shark, the poet has emerged from "the slime of everything"- the word "slime " emphasises the basesness of our beginnings. This word shows how indistinct humans were from other species at the beginning of the evolutionary process.

Stanza 1 (lines 13 - 15) At the beginning of the poem, the poet is almost insulting to the shark, dismissing it as a brainless monster. However, now he is not so sure of himself, not so confident that he is the superior being. This realisation – that he might not be more advanced than the shark – is very uncomfortable and/or shocking for the speaker So who's the monster? The thought made me grow pale For twenty seconds while, sail after sail, Just as the poet The tall fin slid away and then the tail. has seen himself in The poet’s failure to use his intelligence is highlighted when we realise that he only thinks about the question he has asked for twenty seconds. Is his attention span really that much longer than that the shark’s? a new light, he has also had to think Our view of the shark has also about the shark in a changed: the clumsy, bulky new way. The poet creature of the first stanza has is much more been replaced by an elegant, humble now, not so graceful shark, which the poet compares to a ship sailing away. sure of his own superiority over the rest of nature.

Links with other Mac. Caig poems? • Observations about nature • Universal concerns

Questions • What does the poet's presentation of the shark tell us about his attitude towards it? • How does the poet's choice of words help to create the tone of the poem? • `So who's the monster? ' What does the poet's encounter with the shark lead him to think about the human condition? • How does the imagery and structure of the poem further its meaning?

1. With reference to language, show the opening line effectively reveals the setting of the poem (2) 2. What happens in the opening stanza? (1) 3. The speaker has a mixture of feelings towards the shark. By close examination of language in lines 2 -6, show what these feelings are and how they are revealed (4) 4. Comment on the sound and visual effect of ‘a sea-tin tacked with rain’ (2) 5. Comment on the humour in line 6 (2)