MacCaig poetry Comparing two poems

No matter which two poems you selected, you should have found some of the following points of similarity:

Similarities with other poems lyrical (tell a story)viewpoint is personal The poems are lyrical (tell a story) - the viewpoint is personal. short/well structured On the whole MacCaig's poems are short/well structured. extensive use of metaphor and imagery They display extensive use of metaphor and imagery. playing with words MacCaig enjoys playing with words and their meanings. acute observation snapshot His poems show acute observation with many 'snapshot' images and cameo-type miniatures. skilful use of contrast Many poems show skilful use of contrast. antithesis* and paradox* He often uses antithesis* and paradox* in his poems. 'tone' is not usually bitter The 'tone' is not usually bitter show a sense of the ridiculous His poems often show a sense of the ridiculous but tend to be more whimsical than cynical. antithesis* (opposite) and paradox* (inconsistency/absurdity)

Brooklyn Cop Built like a gorilla but less timid, thick-fleshed, steak-coloured, with two hieroglyphs in his face that mean trouble, he walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence. This morning when he said, 'See you, babe' to his wife, he hoped it, he truly hoped it. He is a gorilla to whom ‘Hiya, honey’ is no cliché. Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through into violence, what clubbings, what gunshots between Phoebe's Whamburger and Louie's Place. Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick, whose home is a place he might, this time, never get back to? And who would be who have to be his victims? Hotel Room, 12th Floor This morning I watched from here a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect the Empire State Building, that jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing on the roof of the PanAm skyscraper. But now midnight has come in from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness is shot at by a million lit windows, all ups and acrosses. But midnight is not so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between a radio and a television set, and hear the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through the glittering canyons and gulches - police cars and ambulances racing to the broken bones, the harsh screaming from coldwater flats, the blood glazed on sidewalks. The frontier is never somewhere else. And no stockades can keep the midnight out.

Brooklyn Cop Built like a gorilla but less timid, thick-fleshed, steak-coloured, with two hieroglyphs in his face that mean trouble, he walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence. This morning when he said, 'See you, babe' to his wife, he hoped it, he truly hoped it. He is a gorilla to whom ‘Hiya, honey’ is no cliché. Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through into violence, what clubbings, what gunshots between Phoebe's Whamburger and Louie's Place. Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick, whose home is a place he might, this time, never get back to? And who would be who have to be his victims? Hotel Room, 12th Floor This morning I watched from here a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect the Empire State Building, that jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing on the roof of the PanAm skyscraper. But now midnight has come in from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness is shot at by a million lit windows, all ups and acrosses. But midnight is not so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between a radio and a television set, and hear the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through the glittering canyons and gulches - police cars and ambulances racing to the broken bones, the harsh screaming from coldwater flats, the blood glazed on sidewalks. The frontier is never somewhere else. And no stockades can keep the midnight out.

Comparison Essay Two poems by Norman MacCaig with similar themes are ‘Hotel Room 12 th Floor’ (HR12F) and Brooklyn Cop (BC) both of which are set in New York and both of which deal with the theme of underlying violence. Each poem, being set in New York, shares imagery and descriptions of the setting in a bustling, always busy city that never seems to sleep. But along with the rich and varied lifestyles comes a darker side; the underlying violence. In HR12F it is the violence and crime that appears at night and in BC it is the violence that is always present waiting for the Cop to prevent or perhaps cause it.

Comparison Para 1 – Imagery New York by day/night= a violent Wild West (HR12F) and a similar description in BC. In HR12F the violence is hidden by the daytime and only appears after dark. In BC it is always there but hidden under a ‘thin tissue’ until it is torn by the criminal or the reactions of the Cop defending the citizens. Para 2 – techniques – metaphors New York – ‘jumbo sized dentist’s drill’ (HR12F) implies pain IS present and foreshadows the night to come. In BC it is the metaphor that the cops are gorillas; territorial, quick to anger, very violent in their responses to danger or other violence.

Comparison Conclusion: Both poems share obvious similarities in terms of imagery and the techniques used to describe the underlying violence as well as the setting. In HR12F it is the metaphor of the wild and untamed West after dark, in BC it is the metaphor of a jungle guarded by gorillas.