Hyena Edwin Morgan

Background to the poem Morgan adopts the persona of a hyena Poem describes its environment, characteristics and lifestyle Gives a sense of the animal’s patient, menacing personality as it waits for its next meal Creates a menacing tone

Background -- Hyena Facts Nocturnal carnivores, found in Africa and Eurasia Generally perceived as scavengers The hyena in this poem is a spotted hyena, the largest species lives in sub-Saharan Africa. Spotted hyenas hunt their own prey rather than relying on scavenging alone. 2018/9/13

Form and structure Free verse / Dramatic Monologue First person allows hyena to communicate directly with reader (‘you’) Gives deliberately menacing unsettling tone Gives us a glimpse of the hyena’s character No regular metre or rhyme scheme Five stanzas each with a specific focus shapes poem 2018/9/13

Stanza Structure Hyena’s habitat Appearance and physique Hyena at night Hyena’s teeth Hyena’s hunting methods 2018/9/13

Themes and main ideas Theme Ideas The cruelty of nature The Hyena represents death The hyena’s dramatic monologue is trying to manipulate the reader’s impression of it (the animal) and nature 2018/9/13

Stanza 1 ~ Lines1- 4 Death is at the end for everyone The hyena is extremely hungry and thirsty Line 3 = short line: further emphasising how ravenous the animal is Repetition of ‘bush’ Details of the inhospitable environment Impressive / sinister that the hyena can live here I am waiting for you. I have been travelling all morning through the bush and not eaten. I am lying at the edge of the bush on a dusty path that leads from the burnt-out kraal. I am panting, it is midday, I found no water-hole. ‘Kraal’ = village of huts

Stanza 1 ~ Lines 7 - 9 Alliteration – repeated ‘f’ sounds like snarling More alliteration, this time ‘s’ – mirrors the threat offered by the hyena The hyena is confident in its abilities I am very fierce without food and although my eyes are screwed to slits against the sun you must believe I am prepared to spring.

Stanza 2 ~ Lines 10-13 Rhetorical question – challenges the reader Extended simile compares the tufty coat of the hyena to the landscape of Africa The hyena is an embodiment of Africa Hyena is connected to the environment What do you think of me? I have a rough coat like Africa. I am crafty with dark spots like the bush-tufted plains of Africa.

Stanza 2 ~ Lines 14-17 Simile – physical appearance linked to landscape Simile – explicit (clear) link between animal and continent Word choice – sprawling ‘suggests’ continent lying comfortably like an animal (Personification too!) Waters – Africa in the sea is like the hyena in the grass Repetition of ‘I’ - / vivid verbs – strong visual impression of animal Short, blunt statement – hyena’s idea of itself; sinister and threatening I sprawl as a shaggy bundle of gathered energy like Africa sprawling in its waters. I trot, I lope, I slaver, I am a ranger. I hunch my shoulders. I eat the dead.