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anteros_lmcThis week sees the centenary of the birth of the Scottish poet Norman MacCaig, 14th November 1910 to 23 January 1996. This poem is a perfect illustration of his lyric style; spare, vivid and evocative. And I don't think I need to explain the image this poem evokes for me.
From Voice-Over, 1988.
~ Small Boy ~
He picked up a pebble
and threw it into the sea.
And another, and another.
He couldn't stop.
He wasn't trying to fill the sea.
He wasn't trying to empty the beach.
He was just throwing away,
nothing else but.
Like a kitten playing
he was practising for the future
when there'll be so many things
he'll want to throw away
if only his fingers will unclench
and let them go.
From Voice-Over, 1988.
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Date: 2010-11-09 08:08 am (UTC)Thank you for posting about it
That is another big plus for this fandom - a free schooling in poetry and works of many and great variety and a reminder to me, if I needed one as a welshwoman, that the English literature I studied at university really was just that - and not the British literature it probably thought it was. Either way it leaves surprises for later years !
And there is " that " Archie icon too - what a great start to a morning.
I have been reading MccAig in the book of Scottish poetry I have :D and there is one called November night which is wonderful-
The world's a bear snugged in his den.
its snug and close in the snoring night
ANd outside like chrysanthemums
the fog unfolds its bitter night.
you can taste and smell that poem as well as read it!
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Date: 2010-11-09 01:42 pm (UTC)Glad you're enjoying the Scottish Poetry book :) And you're so right about English literature being just that. Though now you mention it, it's remarkable just how little English lit I covered over the years at school and uni, almost everything I did was Scottish. I suspect I have many English and Welsh surprised still to discover.
you can taste and smell that poem as well as read it!
It's year's since I've read November Night but I still remember the chrysanthemum fog. Watched a programme about MacCaig last night, which is what prompted this post and Alistair Gray commented on the way MacCaig interleaved the senses in a kind of poetic synesthesia.
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Date: 2010-11-09 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 02:52 pm (UTC)As a character study, quite poignant. As a poem, very spare and lovely. Thank you for sharing.
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Date: 2010-11-09 06:18 pm (UTC)