Aunt Julia By Norman MacCaig

Introduction “Aunt Julia” is an autobiographical poem in which the author looks back at his childhood days with Aunt Julia affectionately and now speaks regretfully that, following her death, he has lost the ability to converse with her in the Gaelic language.

The Poem Stanza One Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. I could not answer her — I could not understand her.

Stanza Two She wore men's boots when she wore any. — I can see her strong foot, stained with peat, paddling with the treadle of the spinningwheel while her right hand drew yarn marvellously out of the air.

Stanza Three Hers was the only house where I've lain at night In the absolute darkness in a box bed, listening to crickets being friendly.

Stanza Four She was buckets and water flouncing into them. She was winds pouring wetly round house-ends. She was brown eggs, black skirts and a keeper of threepennybits in a teapot.

Stanza Five Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. By the time I had learned a little, she lay silenced in the absolute black of a sandy grave at Luskentyre.

Stanza Five (Continued) But I hear her still, welcoming me with a seagull's voice across a hundred yards of peatscrapes and lazybeds and getting angry, getting angry with so many questions unanswered.

Meaning The fact that MacCaig repeats the word “angry” towards the end of the poem implies that there is something more than mere autobiography about the poem. He is passionate about his Scottish roots, and, maybe, Aunt Julia represents something more than a single person: she seems to stand for a way of life, a culture and a language which are fast disappearing in the modern world of technology and “progress”. Like Aunt Julia, once it is gone, it is gone for ever.

Structure The use of the first person narrative voice suggests that the poet is recounting a personal recollection. MacCaig uses free verse, i.e. irregular length lines with no pronounced rhythm and no regular rhyme scheme. As a result the poem reads more like an autobiographical extract, thus giving the impression that it is describing true events in the poet’s life. 6 However, the use of a poetic structure – as opposed to using prose – does allow the poet to make his repetitions stand out, e.g. the idea that “ Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic/ very loud and very fast”. In this way, he can use the poetic structure to emphasis ideas which are important to the poem. This particular idea is important because Aunt Julia’s Gaelic culture is clearly the aspect of Aunt Julia which fascinates the poet – probably because it makes her so different from most of the other people that he knows.

Stanza One Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. The first line introduces the reader to the subject of the poem and her cultural background. The simplicity of the first stanza highlights how unusual and eccentric she must have been for the young MacCaig. The repetition highlighting how strange and incomprehensible she was for the young boy. Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. I could not answer her — I could not understand her. The use of punctuation - the dash – effectively creates the impression of an after thought. It makes the fourth line all the more stronger. The poet reflecting on the fact that a barrier existed between him and his beloved aunt. Enjambement/repetition – Used simply to emphasise that his reflection is focused firmly on his late aunt. Structure – The first two lines in the poem will be repeated in the final stanza. This means that the reflection is developed and the poem feels rounded and complete if we consider fully the conclusion of the poem which also makes reference to questioning and not answering. It is important to note the development in the line of thought from stanza one to stanza five.

Stanza Two She wore men's boots when she wore any. Again punctuation is used in the form of the dash to create the sense of an afterthought. Here the poet reflecting on her hardiness which is made clear by the word choice. Enjambement employed to emphasise her strength. The first two lines serve to reinforce the aunt’s eccentricity with the reference to her footwear or indeed lack of. Stanza Two She wore men's boots when she wore any. — I can see her strong foot, stained with peat, paddling with the treadle of the spinningwheel while her right hand drew yarn marvellously out of the air. Present Tense - The use of the present tense throughout this stanza creates a sense of immediacy and shows how vividly and readily he can still access these memories. Visual expression that suggests her unity with the land and with nature. This idea of unity is continued in the next three lines as we are told of her skill of transforming a natural product wool into clothing. The word choice suggesting that she possessed qualities that held the young MacCaig transfixed. Note also how Aunt Julia is always associated with sound and movement. The long vowels elongates the line and helps to convey the impression of the wool being stretched out and made taut. Theme – The poem focuses on the whole notion of understanding. In the first stanza the lack of understanding stems from the language barrier. Here however it is clear that MacCaig fully understands and appreciates who his aunt is and what she stands for.

Stanza Three Hers was the only house where I've lain at night This expression heightens and develops the important part the aunt played in his life. Note the tense has returned to past tense – again highlighting the impact of his reflection and thoughts. Stanza Three Pronoun opens the stanza and serves to emphasise aunt Julia’s significance to MacCaig. Hers was the only house where I've lain at night in the absolute darkness in a box bed, listening to crickets being friendly. The reference to the box bed highlights how secure and enclosed he felt when staying with his aunt even enveloped by the absolute darkness. His powerful reflection highlights the fact that while they could not communicate effectively through language there was a deep instinctive bond between the two. While a child often associates the night with fear this is not the case in MacCaig’s third stanza. Fear is replaced by a sense of harmony that echoes the unity with nature that was referred to in stanza two. Structure/repetition – note this reference to absolute darkness foreshadows the final stanza and a change of tone.

Stanza Four She was buckets and water flouncing into them. Repetition - bombards the senses with a list of three statements, all starting the same way (“She was…”) for emphasis. Imagery/ Extended Metaphor – note how the imagery works. Instead of telling us of the things she did. The poet says she was these things. Stanza Four These metaphors seem to extend beyond merely describing Julia as an individual in order to use her as a symbol associated with, or representative of, the particular landscape, lifestyle and culture of this geographical area. Aunt Julia, then, epitomises the specific way of life of the crofting islanders who worked the land in a harsh, unforgiving climate. Despite the arduousness of this lifestyle, there is a pride and honesty in it, which the speaker obviously admires. Julia could even be taken to symbolise the land and elements themselves in this part of the world – difficult at times, yet ultimately providing an honest, noble self-sufficient existence. She was buckets and water flouncing into them. She was winds pouring wetly round house-ends. She was brown eggs, black skirts and a keeper of threepennybits in a teapot. Thus the imagery goes beyond mere comparison. The use of the word “was” reminds us that all of the tasks she performed were part of her existence – again, that sense of harmony in everything she did and how she was at one with the natural world. This elevates her in the poet’s eyes. Again the impression conveyed is of a woman in constant motion: the transferred epithet used in the flouncing water gives a description of the deliberate, vigorous way she moved. Note also the child like nature of the imagery. The association with touch, sound, sight and movement bring his reflection to life.

Stanza Five Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. Tone - a darker tone enters the poem at this point. By the time MacCaig had learned a little Gaelic, his aunt was dead, lying silenced in her grave. The contrast between the loud, talkative vibrant Aunt Julia in life and the utter, absolute quiet of death is emphasised using enjambment to position silenced at the opening of line five. The tone seems almost accusatory, as if blaming death for suffocating and stopping her voice. Structure - The final stanza begins with the same two lines as at the beginning of the poem; this provides a kind of refrain and brings the poem neatly to a rounded end. Stanza Five Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic very loud and very fast. By the time I had learned a little, she lay silenced in the absolute black of a sandy grave at Luskentyre. Word choice - The slightly romantic-sounding “Luskentyre” adds to the feel that this woman belongs to another world. And indeed MacCaig makes reference to location and time throughout this poem to force the reader to really think about a whole way of life and culture that is coming to an end. The use of enjambement emphasises this. The turning point/resolution to the poem thus flows naturally out of this Contrast/Tone – This sinister, unsettling tone continues in describing the absolute black of her grave. Unlike the comforting security of the ‘absolute darkness’ of the box bed in the third stanza, the subtle shift from darkness to black conveys the frighteningly bleak void of death.

Stanza Five (Continued) Conjunction / turning point – alerts us to the fact that there is a change in the line of thought. Word choice the poet feels that death has failed to silence her. There exists irony in that while he felt unable to fully communicate with her in life there is now a spiritual bond that does not require the mechanics of language. Stanza Five (Continued) But I hear her still, welcoming me with a seagull's voice across a hundred yards of peatscrapes and lazybeds and getting angry, getting angry with so many questions unanswered. Repetition – On the face of it the language here is simple but effective. Yet the poet delivers a degree of ambiguity that provides the poem with extra dimension. The questions he alludes to could represent, literally, her questions to the boy, which he was unable to answer as he had no Gaelic, or they could represent all the questions he would have loved to ask but was unable to until it was too late. Imagery – the comparison once again highlights her unity with nature and the reference to distance and place again emphasises both her powerful personality and the world of the Outer Hebrides. Symbolism - Moving beyond the literal, the questions could represent the more universal queries we all have about the meaning and mysteries of life itself. MacCaig is warning us to hold onto and cherish the culture and heritage of the island way of life. He is afraid if we allow it to die, like Aunt Julia, then it too will be lost forever. Enjambement -The final word is left on a line of its own, serving to reinforce the speakers enduring sense of frustration.