Roger McGough

[largehat]

We need to be a bit of culture here on Burnden Aces. Most of the threads seem to fall into one of the following categories

a) outrage about what's going on in the world - ie benefits, foreigners, cynicism about illnesses
b) football
c) lads' chat
d) Chris Amos

So I thought I would see how many people contribute to a thread about something I enjoy, poetry. I thought Roger McGough would be a good starting point as his work is short and accessible. Here are a few Roger McGough poems I enjoy. You might have read some of these at school.

Nooligan

I’m a nooligan
dont give a toss
in our class
I’m the boss
(well, one of them)

I’m a nooligan
got a nard ‘ead
step out of line
and youre dead
(well, bleedin)

I’m a nooligan
I spray me name
all over town
footballs me game
(well, watchin)

I’m a nooligan
violence is fun
gonna be a nassassin
or a hired gun
(well, a soldier)

The last line of each stanza, particularly the final stanza, is our way into McGough's message. It's about the shattered dreams of the working classes, particularly the damaging effects of being allowed to leave school without an education. It's lamentable that the nooligan, whose voice is that in the poem, has dreams and imagination, and his ultimate fate is to fight a war on behalf of his country he probably knows nothing about.

McGough's other very famous short poem on this topic is about the way children are written off by being put into ability sets at school. Up until the 1970s this was known as 'streaming', ie, you were in the top or bottom stream.

Streemin

   im in the botom streme
   wich means im not britgh

   dont like readin
   cant hardly write

   But all these divishns
   arnt reely fair

   Look at the cemtery
   no streemin there


Note the more intensive use of the spelling of the child who is the 'voice' in the poem. If either poem was written in standard English they would not be as effective. So in this way, form is content. Children were dismissed as thick in the bottom stream and were neglected compared to their peers. I always think this poem is a companion piece to 'Nooligan' as the neglected child kind of has the last laugh.

Some critics write McGough himself, a Scouse poet, off as a bit of a juvenile.

Check this one out, it's called Cousin Nell.
       
      Cousin Nell
      married a frogman
   in the hope
   that one day
   he would turn into
   a handsome prince.

   Instead he turned into
   a sewage pipe
   near Gravesend
   and was never seen again.

In this one, McGough is taking a playful sideswipe at fairytale mythology. I like the way he pairs his use of the word 'turn/turned' in each verse. In the first, the verb is used to describe the magical transformation of a toad turning into a prince, which we associate with a classic fairytale, whereas in the second, the mundane truth is reflected in the simple, everyday use of 'turn' as a verb, as in taking a wrong turn and ending up dead in a sewage pipe.

I believe that empowerment and choice are the central themes of these three poems. I hope you enjoyed reading them and offer any thoughts you have below, and that the result is a discussion.

Sorry if it wasn't your cup of tea.

[Paul Comstive]

As a child I was very creative and imaginative.  I loved drawing and I loved writing stories.

My primary school then ran a poetry competition with a prize for the best poem. Whilst not being a fan of poetry then nor now, I knew I could do well at this.

I put together a well structured poem, showed it to my mum who was very proud.  I handed it in at school and eagerly waited for the ceremony.

During assembly one morning, I sat there on the wooden floor, cross-legged and full of anticipation.

3rd place was anounced and he/she got some sort of bookmarker as a prize.

2nd place was anounced and he/she got a fancy fountain pen as a prize.

"... and first place goes to Paul Comstive".

Hurrah!

I bounded up to the front of the hall to collect my prize.

And the prize was... well, you can only begin to imagine my disappointment at being handed the biggest book of poems I had ever seen in my life.

I hate poetry.

[Big_Sharps]

Culture is pointless, Fifa and 24 is all the culture this man needs.

[largehat]

I would assume you guys like music? Do you ever appreciate great lyrics?

[Paul Comstive]

Absolutely pal.

Some of The Smiths stuff is fantastic.  The ex didn't like it though when I repeatedly played Girlfriend in a Coma to her in the car at every opportunity.

[largehat]

Let me quote This Charming Man by The Smiths:

"A punctured bicycle
On a hillside desolate
Will nature make a man of me yet?"

Note how the rising number of syllables in each line (6,7,9) contributes to the yearning sadness of the author.

Look at this line from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

"But O, methinks, how slow this old moon wanes."

Now, Shakespeare was writing in iambic pentameter, 10 syllables (5 stressed, 5 unstressed) per line, so while he works within a tighter structure, he uses assonance to convey the yearning of his character. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the middle of words. This character is talking about how long the night is. (Actually, he's probably taking a dig at how long it is taking Elizabeth I to die, as lunar imagery was often associated with her, but Shakespeare, writing this in around 1597, had to be very clever and subtle in his subversion of the monarchy).

If you say "But O, me thinks, how slow this old moon wanes", it actually takes a long time to say.

Compare it to this line, shared by two characters, Isabella, who is begging Angelo for her brother's life, in Measure for Measure:

Isabella: Must he needs die?
Angelo:                                     Maiden no remedy.

You can see that this line also has 10 syllables, but even though they are shared between two characters, Shakespeare is using words with a faster pace to emphasise the resoluteness of Angelo in his refusal to spare the life of Isabella's brother, and the severity of the punishment.

So returning to The Smiths, even though their lyrics don't follow the rigid structure of Shakespeare, the effect is produced in a different way. Besides the pacing I have referred to, that song is full of rhyme and repetition and figurative language, all used for effect.

[Paul Comstive]

Not too dissimilar to "Boom Boom Boom" by the Out Here Brothers.

[Jimbo]

I assume we did recruit a footballer posting undercover to the website then...!

Welcome Joey Barton!!

[DaveBWFC]

I would assume you guys like music? Do you ever appreciate great lyrics?

Son, I'm thirty, I only went with your mother cause she's dirty.

S.Ryder