Basking Shark Flashcards
themes of basking shark
loneliness, evolution, epiphanies/realisations, contemplation, connection to surroundings.
To stub an oar on a rock where none should be
“rock”- evolution- wc- rock is hard- slow steady rhythm conveys surfacing movement
“none”- creates tension
“stub”- hit something solid
to have it rise with a slounge out of the sea
“slounge”-neologism-slouch and lounge-effect of slow and lazy-relaxing and passive nature
no control over the meeting
“he displaced more than water. he shoggled me// centuries back- this decandent townee// shook on a wrong beach of his family tree”
epiphanies- “he shoggled me// Centuries back” - enjambment - focus on centuries- emphasises the time it took for humans to evolve but the poet is travelling back quickly in his mind
contemplation-“displaced”- moves from observational to reflective tone
evolve-“wrong” humans have gone down wrong evolutionary path-are humans the monster
“swish up dirt and, when it settles, a spring// is all the clearer. I saw me, in one fling,// emerging from the slime of everything
epiphanies-swish- onomatopoeic-suggests water movement- mid part of his epiphany where thoughts are scrambled
contemplation- “in one fling”- suggests analogy for dust settling and poets thoughts have settled and cleared
“everything”- reinforces similarity with every other specie-linked evolution of human and shark
So who’s the monster? the thought made me grow pale// for twenty seconds, sail after sail,// the tall fin slid away and then the tail
“so who’s the monster?”- rhetorical Q- intended to make reader think the same as author
epiphany-“pale”- wc- blood drained from his face-forced to contemplate beginnings and evolution
“sail after sail”- emphasise shark size- boat normally has sails
