In the snack bar by Edwin Morgan poem/notes and revision ideas.

THE SNACK BAR
A cup capsizes along the formica,
slithering with a dull clatter.
A few heads turn in the crowded evening snack-bar.
An old man is trying to get to his feet
from the low round stool fixed to the floor.
Slowly he levers himself up, his hands have no power.
He is up as far as he can get. The dismal hump
looming over him forces his head down.
He stands in his stained beltless garberdine
like a monstrous animal caught in a tent
in some story. He sways slightly,
the face not seen, bent down
in shadow under his cap.
Even on his feet he is staring at the floor
or would be, if he could see.
I notice now his stick, once painted white
but scuffed and muddy, hanging from his right arm.
Long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed
he stands
fumbling with the stick
and speaks:
‘I want –to go to the-toilet.’


It is down two flights of stairs, but we go.
I take his arm. ‘Give me-your arm-it’s better,’ he says.
Inch by inch we drift towards the stairs.
A few yards of floor are like a landscape
to be negotiated, in the slow setting out
time has almost stopped. I concentrate
my life to his: crunch of spilt sugar,
slidy puddle from the night’s umbrellas,
table edges, people’s feet,
hiss of the coffee-machine, voices and laughter,
smell of a cigar, hamburgers, wet coats steaming,
and the slow dangerous inches to the stairs.
I put his right hand on the rail
and take his stick. He clings to me. The stick
is in his left hand, probing the treads
I guide his arm and tell him the steps.
And slowly we go down. And slowly we go down.
White tiles and mirrors at last. He shambles
uncouth into the clinical gleam.
I set him in position, stand behind him
and wait with his stick.
His brooding reflection darkens the mirror
but the trickle of his water is thin and slow,
an old man’s apology for living.
Painful ages to close his trousers and coat –
I do up the last buttons for him.
He asks doubtfully, ‘Can I- wash my hands?’
I fill the basin, clasp his soft fingers round the soap.
He washes, feebly, patiently. There is no towel.
I press the pedal of the drier, draw his hands
gently into the roar of the hot air.
But he cannot rub them together,
drags out a handkerchief to finish.
He is glad to leave the contraption, and face the stairs.
He climbs, and steadily enough.
He climbs, we climb. He climbs
with many pauses but with that one
persisting patience of the undefeated
which is the nature of man when all is said.
And slowly we go up. And slowly we go up.
The faltering, unfaltering steps
take him at last to the door
across that endless, yet not endless waste of floor.


I watch him helped on a bus. It shudders off in the rain.
The conductor bends to hear where he wants to go.
Wherever he could go it would be dark
and yet he must trust men.
Without embarrassment or shame
he must announce his most pitiful needs
in a public place. No one sees his face.
Does he know how frightening he is in his strangeness
under his mountainous coat, his hands like wet leaves
stuck to the half-white stick?
His life depends on many who would evade him.
But he cannot reckon up the chances,
having one thing to do,
to haul his blind hump through these rains of August.
Dear Christ, to be born for this!


By Edwin Morgan

The second of our URBAN poems about Glasgow life.  Morgan has stated that this poem developed out of something that actually happened.  It deals with an old disabled man in a busy snack bar.  The poem explores the character of the old man and his disabilities.  It goes on to examine the effect they have on his life and society’s attitude to the disabled.

Stanza 1:

Technique:  Alliteration (The repetition of a sound or letter throughout a line):

“A cup capsizes along the Formica slithering with a dull clatter”

The alliterative use of the letter ‘C’ sounds like the cup falling.  Poetry should be spoken and felt.  When you read this line aloud the hard “C” sound gives the reader an idea of how loudly the cup clatters of the hard formica surface- this is important to remember in the next line.

“A few heads turn in the crowded evening snack-bar.”

Even after such a loud noise has been made only a small number of people look over to help the old disabled man.  This represents the lack of care a large society shows its more vulnerable members.

The rest of Stanza 1 is devoted to describing the old man’s disabilities through the eyes of an outside observer.  This is where we are judging the book by its cover and produces a series of disturbing descriptions of the old disabled man.

Technique:  Transferred epithet

“The dismal hump”

Dismal means rather gloomy or depressing.  However, it is not the hump which is depressed but the old man.  His feelings of depression are transferred to the cause of his depression (the hump).  It makes the hump seem like it has the control over how the man feels.

Technique:  Word choice:

“looming over him forces his head down.”

The word ‘looming’ has connotations of an unbeatable, large monster looking down on somebody weak.  The hump is like that powerful monster looking down on the weak man and making him depressed.  It is an effective word to choose. 

Technique:  Double meaning:

“Forces his head down”

The hump literally forces the old man’s head down but also mentally forces his head down by making him feel sad.  Think of players on a football pitch who shout “Keep your heads up” when they are trying to be positive.

“He stands in his stained beltless garberdine…
…I notice now his stick, once painted white
but scuffed and muddy”

A stained jacket with missing belt implies the man is uncared for and may have no family to help him.  It makes him seem more vulnerable and makes us feel sorrier for him.  This is backed up by the state of his cane.

Technique Word Choice:

“like a monstrous animal caught in a tent”

This description makes the man seem like a sub-human oddity.  Nobody would like to be described as an animal or monstrous.

The word “caught” reminds us that the old man is trapped in a body that does not work.

“Long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed”

This line describes his disabilities and is a useful quote to remind you of the extent of his problems.


Technique:  Sentence structure

‘I want –to go to the-toilet.’

The poet uses dashes to act as pauses at points we would not expect one to pause.  This shows that the old man has difficulty in speaking.

STANZA 2

In the long second verse the poet enters the poem and sympathises with the old man.  We now see how difficult his life is and go from feeling scared of the old man to feeling pity for him. 

Technique: Simile

“A few yards of floor are like a landscape”

This compares a few simple yards of floor to a vast landscape.  Remember how you would lay this out in a close reading question using Just as…….So……..

Example Just as a landscape takes a long time to cross so the disabled man will take a long time to cover these simple few yards.  This is a good comparison to make as it emphasises the old man’s disabilities by showing how long it would take him to do something we would consider to be very easy.

“I concentrate
my life to his: crunch of spilt sugar,
slidy puddle from the night’s umbrellas,
table edges, people’s feet,
hiss of the coffee-machine, voices and laughter,
smell of a cigar, hamburgers, wet coats steaming,
and the slow dangerous inches to the stairs.”

A gorgeous piece of poetry as the poet imagines the situation from the old man’s point of view.  The reader thinks about how difficult we make life for people with disabilities.

Technique:  Repetition

“And slowly we go down. And slowly we go down.”

“And slowly we go up. And slowly we go up.”

Repetition is a valuable technique in drawing your attention to something.  In both cases he draws our attention to the word slowly.

Technique:  Contrast (A difference between two things)

“He shambles
uncouth into the clinical gleam.”

The dishevelled old man looks even more vulnerable and uncared for when we put him in a pristine clean environment.  All of these small chunks of description build up our overall image of a man we feel sympathy for.

Technique:  Word Choice

“the trickle of his water is thin and slow,
an old man’s apology for living.”

Physically decrepit.  An action that people take for granted.  Trickle is an effective word to choose as it implies there is little strength or volume to his flow.

Technique:  Metaphor

“the trickle of his water is thin and slow,
an old man’s apology for living.”

It compares his trouble with going to the toilet to the old man apologising for even being alive.  Sympathy is high!

Technique:  Word Choice
“I fill the basin, clasp his soft fingers round the soap.
He washes, feebly, patiently.”

Lots of words used which make the old man seem childlike and increase our pity and sympathy.

SYMPATHY GIVES WAY TO RESPECT AS WE SEE HIS DETERMINATION!

Determination= No obstacle will stop you!

“He climbs, and steadily enough.
He climbs, we climb. He climbs”

This quote shows that the old man will not give up and we respect him for that!

“with that one
persisting patience of the undefeated
which is the nature of man when all is said.”

Persisting = Will not stop

Patience = Always calm and waiting

Undefeated = Cannot be beaten

Nature of man = Personality of people/human spirit.

Humans are resilient (tough) and can achieve great things when they patiently and persistently try their hardest at something.  The old man is a great example of this and somebody who we respect a great deal as a result.

NOT FROM THE POEM!! “We will rise and rise again until lambs become lions”

Technique:  Paradox (two statements which can’t both be true (Contradict one another))

“The faltering, unfaltering steps”

Although his steps are uneasy and misplaced his determination to keep going drives him to the top of the stairs.

Faltering = steps
Unfaltering = his desire to reach the top.

STANZA 3

In stanza 3 Morgan draws back to explore the old man’s situation.  Our journey as a reader:

1)      fearing the old man

2)      Feeling pity and sympathy for the old man

3)      Feeling respect towards the old man’s determination

4)      Feeling angry and sad that he must live his life in such a terrible way.

“Wherever he could go it would be dark
and yet he must trust men.
Without embarrassment or shame
he must announce his most pitiful needs
in a public place”
There is a contrast here between the dark world in which the blind man lives and his need to rely on strangers he cannot see.  HE IS VERY VULNERABLE!

“His life depends on many who would evade him”

Evade = avoid

The poem draws to a close by summing up the painful reality of the old man’s life and his daily struggle:

“having one thing to do,
to haul his blind hump through these rains of August.”

The tone of COMPASSIONATE INDIGNATION of Morgan’s last line:

“Dear Christ, to be born for this!”

Compassionate = loving
Indignation= anger at the unfairness.

The poem leaves the reader sympathising with the old man, admiring his determination and questioning society’s treatment of the disabled.

REMEMBER “It’s not your life that matters, it’s what you do with it.”

Essay practice question number 1

choose a poem which describes a person in an interesting way

Show how the poet describes the person or place and explain how the poet's use of poetic techniques make the person or place interesting.

Remember poetic techniques include any technique the poet uses ie Simile metaphor, word choice, sentence structure etc.

Revision:

Make sure you understand the notes and the message of the poem.

Pick out the key quotations- at least 6.

Write out the key quotations and make sure you know them off by heart.

Take each quotation in turn and write as much as you can about it without referring to your notes.

Check what your notes say about the quote and learn anything you could not remember the first time.

Go to the SQA website and use the notes on essay writing to practice answering different questions. 

Once you are confident with this focus on your timekeeping.  45 minutes from opening paper and choosing question to putting your pen down at the end of the conclusion.

Good Luck- Preparation is 99% of the battle.