class notes on 'childhood' by edwin muir
TRANSCRIPT
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Childhood
Long time he lay upon the sunny hill,To his father's house below securely bound.
Far off the silent, changing sound was still,With the black islands lying thick around.
He saw each separate height, each vaguer hue, 5Where the massed islands rolled in mist away,
And though all ran together in his viewHe knew that unseen straits between them lay.
Often he wondered what new shores were there.In thought he saw the still light on the sand, 10
The shallow water clear in tranquil air,And walked through it in joy from strand to strand.
Over the sound a ship so slow would passThat in the black hill's gloom it seemed to lie.
The evening sound was smooth like sunken glass, 15And time seemed finished ere the ship passed by.
Grey tiny rocks slept round him where he lay,Moveless as they, more still as evening came,
The grasses threw straight shadows far away,And from the house his mother called his name. 20
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http://www.visitorkney.com/rousay/index.asp
northwald.co.uk
occasionalreview.blogspot.com
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His childhood in remote and unspoiled Orkney represented an idyllic Eden to Muir, while his family's move to the city corresponded in his mind to a deeply disturbing encounter with the "fallen" world. The emotional tensions of that dichotomy shaped much of his work and deeply influenced his life. His psychological distress led him to undergo Jungian analysis in London. A vision in which he witnessed the creation strengthened the Edenic myth in his mind, leading him to see his life and career as the working‐out of an archetypal fable. In his Autobiography he wrote, "the life of every man is an endlessly repeated performance of the life of man...". He also expressed his feeling that our deeds on earth constitute "a myth which we act almost without knowing it." Alienation, paradox, the existential dyads of good and evil, life and death, love and hate, and images of journeys, labyrinths, time and places fill his work.
His Scott and Scotland advanced the claim that Scotland can only create a national literature by writing in English, an opinion which placed him in direct opposition to the Lallans movement of Hugh MacDiarmid. He had little sympathy for Scottish nationalism. In 1965 a volume of his selected poetry was edited and introduced by T. S. Eliot. Many of Edwin and Willa Muir's translations of German novels are still in print.
The following quotation expresses the basic existential dilemma of Edwin Muir's life:
"I was born before the Industrial Revolution, and am now about two hundred years old. But I have skipped a hundred and fifty of them. I was really born in 1737, and till I was fourteen no time‐accidents happened to me. Then in 1751 I set out from Orkney for Glasgow. When I arrived I found that it was not 1751, but 1901, and that a hundred and fifty years had been burned up in my two day's journey. But I myself was still in 1751, and remained there for a long time. All my life since I have been trying to overhaul that invisible leeway. No wonder I am obsessed with Time." (Extract from Diary 1937‐39.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Muir
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Responding to the poem
Stanza 1
Long time he lay upon the sunny hill,To his father's house below securely bound.
Far off the silent, changing sound was still,With the black islands lying thick around.
Important notes:
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Long time he lay upon the sunny hill,To his father's house below securely bound.
Far off the silent, changing sound was still,With the black islands lying thick around.
Imagery
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He saw each separate height, each vaguer hue, 5Where the massed islands rolled in mist away,
And though all ran together in his viewHe knew that unseen straits between them lay.
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Often he wondered what new shores were there.In thought he saw the still light on the sand, 10
The shallow water clear in tranquil air,And walked through it in joy from strand to strand.
Tone-more like 1st stanza-joy-wonder-IMAGINATION-the child imagines the 'blackislands' to be similar to his current'world', a reflection of his presentlypeaceful, calm life.
Imagery supporting these points:
'new shores'-sees bigger world asfull of islands like his own- reflects narrow experience ofchildhood- 'strand to strand'(walks between islands)
FLIGHT OF FANCY
'shallow water'- contrasting with REALITY- conveys INNOCENCE
Word Choicesand-shifts in reality'still light'-contrast change'clear'-not realistic in termsof LIFE'tranquil'-cannot see storms ahead'joy'
all convey sense of wonder,joy t imagination of theinnocent child.
SOUNDSH-- shores, shallow etc
hush, comfort, calm
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Over the sound a ship so slow would passThat in the black hill's gloom it seemed to lie.
The evening sound was smooth like sunken glass, 15And time seemed finished ere the ship passed by.
Setting'Sound' a body of water (more on this later)
'evening' day ending?
'black hill' SOUND-'sound' 'smooth' -soft, calm,-threat?
'black hill's gloom'-contrast with'sunny hill' the boy began on-darknessencroaching
PATHETIC FALLACY-reflects the menace of the passingship, a symbol of the outsideworld-it's not quite enteringhis world, but it's on the periphery,
'gloom' suggesting something unpleasant.
emphasiseshow slowlytime passesfor the child
-
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Final note on stanza 4
We had a hint that the menace was still far off in line 13the long vowels in 'so slow' emphasise the ship's inability to affect the boy at present. Even time seems to stand still as it passesas if it belongs to another time zone than his own. The ship passes him by... suggesting his growing awareness of the world of adulthood, but that it isn't his 'time' yet.
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Grey tiny rocks slept round him where he lay,Moveless as they, more still as evening came,
The grasses threw straight shadows far away,And from his house his mother called his name. 20
Setting: 'grey tiny rocks slept round him', 'grasses threw straight shadows',
the landscape appears to provide further protectionthere is an atmosphere of peace
personification: sleeping rocks
Mood:Serenethe threatening ship has passed byEvidence: 'rocks slept', 'moveless'
Mentioning the child's father (line 2) and mother (line 20) gives the sense that they 'enclose' the whole poem (frame), which is concerned with the child, embracing him, giving a sense of unity in the family, echoed by the unity and harmony of the landscape.
In the final line of the poem, the repetition of 'his' in 'his house, his mother... his name' stresses that he really belongs to this place, with these people. Calling his name emphasises this.
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The whole poem
Check your Understanding:
So far we've looked at elements of Analysis. Before we go on to Evaluation, we'll look at your basic understanding of the poem.
The situation: Child lies on a hillside near his home during a long afternoon, viewing the familiar landscape. imagines what the outside world will be like a ship passes in the bay, from that world evening comes, and his mother calls him in opposing impressions: sunny/gloom, below/far off, saw/unseen
Themes: childhoodmain theme, introduced in title and stanza 1 sense of unity with earth/landscape/Nature, introduced stanza 1 sense of belonging to a place and our past
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Summary of points of analysis
Setting: General feeling of harmony with the landscape, timelessness, eternity suggests the pureness of the child's view, uncontaminated by experience, memory or association
Sense of unity with landscape: 'he lay upon the hill' at one with the earth beneath him 'in thought he saw...strand' fills his imagination with joy 'grey tiny rocks...' the rocks are tiny and sleeping, not threatening, but surrounding, protecting him , like siblings or a litter of puppiesimage of security. 'moveless...' he is as one of the rocks
Attention to detail in the landscape suggests the fresh view of the child, regarding his surroundings with the interest of childhood, as if seeing things for the first time.
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Setting cont'd
the structure of the poem emphasises the mixing of the moods, with the menacing lines from 714 firmly enclosed by the serenity of the first stanza and the section from line 15 to the end. The very surreal passage (1012) is bang in the middle. So we have alternating peace/menace/dream/menace/peace. BALANCE!
The underlying mood of menace serves to make the child's innocent feelings of peace and security the more poignant. It can't touch him, but the future is out there waiting for him.
reminds us that the poem is written by an adult looking back to his childhood, with the experience of adulthood and the world beyond the tiny, idyllic island of Wyre (remember this is a REAL setting_
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Homework:
1. Situation: In your own words, summarise the situation presented in your poem (short paragraph)
2. Setting: How does the setting contribute to the poet's presentation of his ideas about childhood?
3. Mood/Atmosphere: How does the poet create mood and atmosphere in this poem?
How effective are the techniques used by the poet to create atmosphere?
How do the mood and atmosphere contribute to the overall impact of the poem?
Due Monday.
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Poetic Form
Regular: fourline stanzassupports ideas of harmony between Nature and man, and the security of the state of childhood
iambic pentameter occasionally slowed down with two strong stresses at the start of the line, e.g. line 1: Long time...
Rhyme pattern abab: note the variation 'view' at end of line 7, echoed at start of line 18 'he knew'supports sense of unity in family and landscape.
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Literary form
influence of ballad form:
word order: 'long time he lay', 'rolled in mist away' (inversion, as you spotted earlier)
lexical choice (fancy way of saying word choice):'ere', 'strand'
language in Orkney is at times archaic, retaining words and forms from the 17th century.
gives sense of ancestry, generations stretching back from this small boy, increases sense of belonging Simple form fits the theme of uncomplicated, secure childhood, and bare landscape
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Evaluating 'Childhood'
Childhoodnot just about Muir's childhood, but the state of childhood time of innocence: Eden before the Fall perhaps the fundamental 'goodness' of mankind?
According to Muir, this Edenic harmony is possible only if the child is allowed to be close to Nature. Wrote in his autobiography: 'A child could not grow up in a better place than a farm; for at the heart of human civilisation is the byre, the barn and the midden.' He believed that a farm provided a secure world for a child, the cyclical nature of farming activities providing continuity in the child's life.
saw such traditions and ritual as part of what he called the Fable, the underlying pattern of Man, our past which each individual reenacts. The individual life, he called the Story.
Implied criticism of modern society, which has lost touch with Naturelife today is mostly in towns and cities.
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Evaluation question:
Referring closely to the poem, consider the effectiveness of Muir's portrayal of childhood, making clear the extent to which you agree with him. (10 marks)
(hint: make sure you provide some analysis, because you can't tell the examiner how effective an aspect of the poem is without first providing an examination of that aspect. You could consider: setting, sound, imagery, contrast, poetic form, literary form. The examiner will be looking for a well developed and clear examination of Muir's ideas of childhood, with good reference to the text and commentary.)