Analysis of 'Memorial' by Norman MacCaig

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In "Memorial" by Norman MacCaig, the poet expresses the ever-present grief and elegy for his deceased wife. Death is portrayed as a pervasive force, impacting every aspect of his reality. The poem delves into themes of loss, memory, and the enduring essence of love even in the face of mortality.

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Memorial by Norman MacCaig

Norman MacCaig (1910-1996) MacCaig is one of the most influential Scottish poets. He married a fellow teacher, Isabel Munro, and they settled in Edinburgh, bringing up two children. He died six years after his wife.

Memorial Something, e.g. a monument, intended to celebrate or honour the memory of a person or an event.

Stanza 1 Memorial Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies. No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain but has her death in it. The silence of her dying sounds through the carousel of language. It s a web on which laughter stitches itself. How can my hand clasp another s when between them is that thick death, that intolerable distance?

Stanza 2 She grieves for my grief. Dying, she tells me that bird dives from the sun, that fish leaps into it. No crocus is carved more gently than the way her dying shapes my mind. But I hear, too, the other words, black words that make the sound of soundlessness, that name the nowhere she is continuously going into.

Stanza 3 Ever since she died she can t stop dying. She makes me her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece, a true fiction of the ugliness of death. I am her sad music.

Structure? How many stanzas? Is there a pattern? (E.g. Same number of lines in each.) Is there a rhyme scheme? Does it follow a particular rhythm?

Technical terms Free verse Metaphor / personification Repetition Contrast Word choice Oxymoron Sentence length Sense descriptions

Glossary lurking carousel clasp intolerable grieves / grief crocus elegy masterpiece

Whats it all about? MacCaig describes how the death of a loved one (his wife) is a constant presence in his life. He still sees beauty in the world around him, but beauty (when it ambushes him) reminds him of her death. Ironically, in the poem, the person who has died is the active one; the person left behind is passive, being acted on by the deceased.

Themes How the death of a beloved one can linger on ceaselessly. A lament on the passing away of a loved one.

Annotations

Title The poem is autobiographical and in it MaCaig describes the continuous and constant feeling of grief he feels at losing his wife. The main subject of the poem is introduced in the title as the poem is a memorial for a loved one who has passed away. Memorial 3 stanzas The subject of the memorial is not evident from the title (the person is not named). The universalises the feelings of grief he is describing. by Norman MacCaig The poem is written in free verse which reflects the theme of struggling to make sense of the death of someone close to you.

The repetition of no in a list of things we would normally find beautiful stresses how her death colours everything he sees. The list continues the idea that her death is everywhere . Stanza 1 (first part) She dies is in the present tense, introducing an idea that runs through the poem that the death is not in the past, he is continually experiencing it (in the present). Repetition of everywhere and she dies emphasises that she dies everywhere the speaker goes. Her death is omnipresent / ubiquitous. Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies. No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain but has her death in it. Word choice + personification. This is an odd word to use. It suggests the mountain / nature is waiting to ambush the speaker. Her death is in all beautiful things. This contrasts with the ugliness of death in the final stanza. Awkward syntax. The inversion placing all the negatives at the start of the sentence draws attention to how her death negates all the beautiful things he sees.

Present tense (again) reinforces the idea that her death is not in the past. Stanza 1 (second part) Metaphor spiders use webs to trap flies. They are sticky and hard to escape from. The connotations are of haunted houses. The sense of hearing is referred to throughout, with death being linked to silence. Her dying silences the fun in language? Metaphor carousels are fun and go round and round. The sense of hearing referred to again. In the poem, metaphors are used, rather than similes. Metaphors are a more direct comparison. The silence of her dying sounds through the carousel of language. It s a web on which laughter stitches itself. How can my hand clasp another s when between them is that thick death, that intolerable distance? Not thin, impenetrable. Happy sound. Word choice. A question. However, rather than looking for answers, this question merely reiterates how futile it would be for him to try to make a similar connection with another person. Word choice. Connotations = something that is completely unbearable. The intolerable distance is also perhaps between him and his loved one. Suggests something being fixed, or permanently attached. Death is repeated three times, emphasising the poem s theme.

The dying person describe a balance that can be found in nature. Birds dive from the sun and fish jump up towards it. This perhaps hints at the continuous cycle of death and life found in nature. Stanza 2 (first part) As she is dying she feels pain that he is suffering. The use of nearly the same word sets up a balance. Present tense his wife sounds like she is still alive. She grieves for my grief. Dying, she tells me that bird dives from the sun, that fish leaps into it. No crocus is carved more gently than the way her dying shapes my mind. But I hear, too, Word choice + metaphor implies artistry and skill in the way it has been crafted. Gravestones are carved. Present tense. Reminds the reader of the carved she shapes his mind, creatively, like an artist. The speaker find beauty and is inspired Crocuses are beautiful and are associated with spring. They do not last long. They flower briefly, then are gone

The sense of hearing referred to. The words he hears (dark, scary) are a stark contrast to the visual image of the crocus. Stanza 2 (second part) Word choice this highlights the two conflicting emotions he is feeling. Metaphor black is often associated with death, an absence, nothingness.. This oxymoron suggests how hard it is for the speaker to put his grief into words. shapes my mind. But I hear, too, the other words, black words that make the sound of soundlessness, that name the nowhere she is continuously going into. Present tense. He does not think she is in heaven; she is going into nowhere. She sounds like she is alive, until we read where it is she is going: nowhere. The word choice of continuously reiterates how his mourning her is an ongoing process. The use of this word (and the present tense) suggests that he still feels the acute pain he felt when she was dying.

She is the subject of the verb active, not passive, despite having passed away. Like earlier, her dying is a continuous process, not in past. Stanza 3 Again, she is in control, acting on him: she is making him something. At first it seems that he cannot avoid the truth (of her death) completely. However, the use of an oxymoron undoes this. Word choice. This word means a skillfully created work of art. Ever since she died she can t stop dying. She makes me her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece, a true fiction of the ugliness of death. I am her sad music. Elegies are mournful poems or songs, usually written to remember the dead. Oxymoron. This contrasts with the beautiful mountains and images described earlier. At first, it seems to not make sense that she makes him her elegy. Elegies are usually created by the living for the dead. However, the next sentence explains how this is true. Short sentence creates a final, abrupt end to the poem, like death is a final, abrupt ending to life. Sound is conjured up again, and sad music refers back to him being her elegy . Even in death, she is still his muse, and helps him to create something beautiful (the poem).

Creativity / writing the carousel of language no crocus is carved more gently / than the way her dying / shapes my mind. She makes me her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece, / a true fiction

Repetition dies / died dying death x 3 x 4 x 3 Other references to death (grieves, grief, black, elegy, memorial) x 5 Total = 15

Tense she dies her dying sounds through She grieves she tells me she is continuously going into. She makes me I am her sad music.

Oxymorons the sound of soundlessness Ever since she died / she can t stop dying. She makes me her elegy. a true fiction

Metaphors the carousel of language It s a web that thick death no crocus is carved more gently her dying shapes my mind black words She makes me her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece, / a true fiction I am her sad music.

Personification no lurking beautiful mountain on which laughter stitches itself

Sentence length There are long sentences throughout, hinting at that there will be no end to his grief. Short sentences bookend the poem. This is to emphasise what is being said: Everywhere she dies. I am her sad music.

Sound the silence of her dying on which laughter stitches itself she tells me But I hear too, / the other words that make the sound of soundlessness I am her sad music.