Edwin Morgan Good Friday Describes a real life

Edwin Morgan – Good Friday Describes a real life encounter. “I think of poetry partly as. . . a way of recording moments and events. . . I am very strongly moved by the absolute force of what actually happens. ” Morgan Poet takes factual events and finds the romance and poetry in them.

Basic Details 1. Where exactly does this encounter happen? 2. When does it happen? 3. What happens? 4. Who is involved in this encounter?

Task Draw two stick men in your jotter. Label them the narrator and the working man. Around your two sketches, write down everything you know already about each character

Realism Opening: full of real life detail q q where: top deck of a bus, Bath Street, Glasgow when: 3 o'clock, Good Friday afternoon weather: sunny ‘working man’ – not described in detail § q only revealed through what he says Poet’s persona - not introduced either § § Present only as listener Revealed through what the ‘working man’ says to him

Realism Use of present tense creates realism or ‘immediacy’ Immediacy = a sense that the whole thing is unfolding in front of us as we look on.

The narrator Task 1. Identify which parts of the poem come from the narrator's voice 2. Identify which parts of the poem come from the working man's voice

The narrator's language “Three o'clock. The bus lurches round into the sun. . . he flops beside me” “The bus brakes violently, he lunges for the stair, swings down – off, into the sun for his Easter eggs on very Reference to Easter eggs Echoes the start of the nearly Poem and reminds us of the steady Man's task legs” Everything else in the poem is a monologue by the working man

The narrator's language Annotation task: Verbs such as “lurches”, “flops”, “brakes (violently)”, “lunges”, “swings” tell us about active and expressive movement - Brings the scene to life Makes us feel we can see it happening

The narrator's language “eggs” and “legs” → rhyme - one of few rhymes in the poem and only rhyming couplet Why do you think Morgan saved this technique until the very end? How does it help give the poem an effective ending?

The narrator's language “on very nearly steady legs” Humorous? Layout mirrors events (like steps on bus) [concrete poetry] Rhyming couplet (“eggs” and “legs” → rhyme) – revisits subject of poem – meaning of Easter and drunk ‘working man’ Undermines his own words: “very nearly” contradicts idea that working man's legs are “steady”

The working man's language Contrasts with the narrator's short, but poetic, speech His language is shown to use by being passed through the filter of the poet Task Look at line 6. What do we learn? Why would the working man not need to say this to the narrator?

The working man's language Task Ø Ø word choice repetition Circle every use of: see understand say/saying The repeated use of words suggests: man really wants to be taken seriously he's trying hard to communicate he wants to be understood and accepted he doesn't want to be judged mean

The working man's language q Line 5. ‘Got some Easter eggs’ = kindness q Line 10. ‘I don’t say it’s right’ -- does not want us to judge or condemn his drinking? q Line 11 ‘ye understand – ye understand’ -- he wants to be understood q Line 13 ‘’I’m no boring you, eh? ’ -- need to be accepted? q Whole monologue - dashes suggest the man runs ideas together – conveys speed with which he talks

The working man's language Sees the narrator as “an educatit man” Aware of differences in social class and education → Dialect suggests working man may not have formal education: describes himself as “bliddy ignorant” admits to not understanding the Easter story, (thinks the narrator will be able to explain) Line 20: “He jist canny – jist hasny” → loses his train of thought “was he – rose fae the dead like” → poor grammar Repetition of verbs like “see. . . ye understand. . . ye'll maybe think. . . ye see. . . see what I mean. . . you can tell me. . . know what I mean” → show much the man wants the narrator to listen to him and to understand him.

Interaction Line 18 “- Aye, well. There ye are” suggests the narrator gave an answer that the man thought was deep or clever implies the answer was about the meaning of Easter

Christian ideas in the poem Title of poem refers to Good Friday, the day on which Jesus was crucified - the idea of Easter is picked up in the working man's mention of going to buy Easter eggs and by his questions about the meaning of Easter in the second half of the poem

Christian ideas in the poem “Three o'clock. The bus lurches round into the sun” - parallel with Matthew's story of Jesus' death: “From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice (. . . and) gave up his spirit. ” - the “ninth hour” means about 3 in the afternoon → Morgan has the bus come out into the sun at the exact same time as the Bible story has the darkness ending and Jesus dying. - it is a significant time as it stands for the end of darkness and Jesus' suffering

Christian ideas in the poem Task 1. What does the working man think about the Easter story? 2. What does he think about Easter as a time of year? How does he celebrate it? 3. The working man says “Christ” twice. Explain the two different ways in which he uses the word.

Christian ideas in the poem Gives us two different pictures of Easter → the one believed by Christians and the one expressed by the man, who seems to have more questions than answers.

What is Morgan saying about Easter? Perhaps that Easter means different things to different people – the man's celebratory drink and buying of eggs for his children is just as valid as any other way or marking it. Perhaps that the church hasn't done a very good job of explaining things, if the man doesn't know “what today's in aid of” Perhaps that the church isn't good at teaching ordinary working people. The man in the poem says he's “bliddy ignorant” about Easter. However, Morgan knows the story in enough detail to be able to refer in his opening lines to the detail about the darkness and the third hour.

Morgan's message It does seem that Morgan is questioning how much Christian beliefs and rituals are relevant in modern life. However, he also shows that we still need something to celebrate → the working man celebrates by having a drink on his day off work → the poem also celebrates spring by mentioning the sun twice (at the start and end of the poem) Idea that the working man is 'crucified' by drink but at the end of the poem he has his own 'resurrection' back out into the sunshine?

Revision Complete your grids, identifying at least the following techniques: Active, expressive verbs Rhyme Line layout (structure) Undermining word choice Repetition Characterisation Accent Biblical references