A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
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A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is a long poem by Hugh MacDiarmid written in Scots in 1926.
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[edit] Description
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is a long poem in Scots composed in a form of monologue with hints at stream of consciousness influence. It examines a wide range of cultural, sexual, political, scientific, existential, metaphysical and cosmic themes which are ultimately unified through its one consistent central thread, an emotionally and intellectually charged contemplation, from a distinctly male perspective, of the condition of Scotland. It was first published in 1926 and is probably MacDiarmid's most kenspeckled work.
The overall structure is an extended montage of distinct poems or sections in various forms that are connected or juxtaposed to create one continuous whole in a way which develops, and whiles parodies, compositional techniques used by poets such as Pound and Eliot.[1][2] This rhapsodic structure, 2685 lines long, is able to accommodate broad swings in tone from remarkable lyric passages at one extreme to colourful invective, diatribe and flyting at the other. Its modes are often initially comic but ultimately build to produce deeply serious and even transcendent effects, particularly in the climactic final sections. MacDiarmid claimed for his poem literary ambitions similar to ones Joyce did for Ulysses in Ireland.[3]
One of the most remarkable features of the poem is the choice of language. Its Scots is principally rooted in the poet's own Borders' dialect, but freely draws on a wide range of idiom and vocabulary, both current and historic, from different regions of Scotland. MacDiarmid's sustained and innovative use of the leid in the work, though sometimes loose and idiosyncratic, did much to increase awareness of the potential for Scots as a medium of universal literary expression at a time when this was not well appreciated. Some of its initial sections include interpolated Scots translations of other European poets, including Blok and Lasker-Schüler. The smeddum, or expressive drive, is integral to the entire effect of the poem.
It is one of the major modernist literary works of the 20th century.[4]
[edit] Selected themes and content
- Jean
- The Thistle
- Robert Burns
- 1926 General Strike
- Sexual Reproduction (Science)
- Undersea Life
- Bannockburn and Flodden
[edit] First lines
The poem's opening lines run:
- I amna fou' sae muckle as tired - deid dune.
- It's gey and hard wark coupin' gless for gless
- Wi' Cruivie and Gilsanquhar and the like,
- And I'm no' juist as bauld as aince I wes.
Listen: Audio (UK) [Link under construction.]
[edit] External links
Ian Hamilton QC, uses the title of the poem as the tag line for a political blog which can be found at www.ianhamiltonqc.com.
[edit] References
- ^ Hugh MacDiarmid - Introduction by Alan Bold
- ^ Karmic Traces, 1993-1999 by Eliot Weinberger
- ^ Publications - Alan Riach
- ^ MacDiarmid, A Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle
