loch ard gorge
A commentary on the poem
OPENING PARAGRAPH GIVES AN OVERVIEW OF THE TEXT'S MEANING |
In Loch Ard Gorge, Foulcher again paints pictures with words, creating a multi-sensory landscape with an undertone of terror and savagery. We are confronted by the idea of the power of the natural world and our own insignificance in comparison.
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BODY PARAGRAPHS EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF THE POEM AND THE TECHNIQUES THAT HELP THE POET GET THAT MEANING ACROSS.
It is traditional to work from the beginning of the poem, dealing with each image in turn, though it may be necessary to draw from other parts of the poem to make a point stronger. Use your common sense when writing a commentary. Use the voice of a teacher, communicating ideas to a clever student. Whilst there is a sense of closure at the end of a commentary, there is no need for a conclusion, unless you want to comment on the overall structure of the poem or another technique that carries through the poem as a whole. CONCLUSION This commentary has a conclusion because it felt like everything needs to be tied together. |
The personal nature of the poem is evident in its opening first person statement, "We climb along the weathered cream precipice". The contrast between the banal "cream" colouring and the dangerous "precipice" is immediately noticeable, striking discord and suggesting that all is not well. This lends a sense of suspense to the mood of the poem, though it is very subtle at first.
Foulcher's verb choice creates a further sense of contrast as the actions of the tourists who are "climbing" and "looking" are replaced by the much more violent sexual metaphor describing the "tide [which] thrust into the dark interior of earth". The power of the ocean is amplified by its role as the masculine to the land's feminine persona. The violence and energy of Foulcher's seascape emphasises the frailty of the human onlookers.
Foulcher shifts to another image of passion and danger in the simile of the waves crashing "with a sound like fire uncontrolled". As readers we are positioned to hear the sounds of the sea spray and the far-distant waves crashing against the shore with all the destructive force of natures other devourer.
The focus and immediacy of the poem shifts significantly to reflect on the past shipwreck of the Loch Ard. The imagery is still again with the "gravestones" that "hump the grass" and the representation of human shipwreck victims as inert "hammocks of bone and meat". Readers can see the sagging bodies in the metaphorical "hammocks" and the human condition is reduced by the metonymy that dehumanises them.
(Sorry guys - this just means that the dead people seem like they are no longer human because Foulcher refers to them as just "bone and meat". Metonymy is where you call something by one of its parts or something associated to it - teachers = chalkies; smart kids are called 'brains'; dead people are called bone and meat - you get the idea. The effect of metonymy (or synecdoche) in this example, is to make a person seem less human) Effective use of passive verbs make the victims seem even more powerless as they are 'lugged' and 'dumped'. They are barely remembered, their human tragedy irrelevant to the animals that are "kicking tufts of unconcern". The historical allusion to the sinking of the Loch Ard reinforces the idea of the power and violence of the ocean. Contrast emerges again as the focus shifts back to the ocean. Foulcher arouses our senses, giving the ocean a "brittle" texture and using alliteration to again evoke the sounds of the sea spray through its metaphorical "incessant static". Foulcher's multidimensional seascape again comes to life. The power of the earth is encapsulated in the image of the sheep and cows who at first seemed 'unconcerned' but on closer inspection cling to the earth "their heads slung / to the grass, their teeth locked on the earth" as though they are horribly aware of their own transience (inability to last forever). They appear to be hanging on tightly to life and land.
The humble, domesticated sheep and cows contrast with the "savage dark fish" that are "tearing their prey apart". Again we encounter the juxtaposition of the land and the violent sea amplified in the closing metaphor of the "blood phrasing the water decked with light". The image is both beautiful and terrifying as Foulcher employs incongruous juxtaposition (putting two things together that don't go together) to create suspense and discomfort for the reader. Here it is the savage 'tearing' and 'blood' that contrast with the beautiful "water decked with light". Foulcher's poem reminds us of the savage 'wildness' and power of the ocean. Why do we care? Alain de Botton, in The Art of Travel claims that we have the desire to feel small and to be humbled. That is why we are so attracted to the natural sublime - it humbles us without humiliating us. Our big troubles seem small when we see how tiny we are against the universe and the natural world. It just makes us feel better.
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QUESTIONS ON THE POEM
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