Punctuation In The Old Man Poem

Register to read the introduction… As Morgan helps this old man he starts to realise the extent of the old man’s problems, his disabilities: “Long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed, He stands.” Here we are given an idea of how many disabilities the old man actually has, but yet he still has the willpower to rise to his feet. The poet also used a simile to show us how the man looks in his old coat: “He stands in his stained beltless gabardine Like a monstrous animal caught in a tent.” This is a great use of a simile, for it gives us a frightening image of the old man, but also reveals to us that it is a struggle for him to get out of his restrictions. Edwin Morgan’s use of punctuation is also effective in shown how much of a task it is for the old man to get up: “I want - to go to – the toilet.” The dashes give us the sense that the old …show more content…
Edwin Morgan creates an image of how the world is to the old man: “Wherever he could go it would be dark.” The poet is emphasing the fact the old man is blind and in need of help of those around him, which many people find frightening about the old man, one thing that makes the old man frightening is the jacket he wears: “Mountainous coat.” This metaphor shows how the coat sits on the old man it does not fit, it is too big and bulky, which would have been good for the weather at the time when the poem was set: “Rains of august.” It gives a bleak and dull picture of the time when the poet wrote the poem. This is important as it shows that there is danger everywhere for the old man, even a small puddle could cause him to slip and fall. Finally we feel that the poet addresses the reader directly in the last line of the poem: “Dear Christ to be born for this!” here Morgan has brought the situation to light, the fact that the old man has had a very hard life, from the beginning. This leaves the reader with a feeling of guilt, as many of us reading would not have done what the poet done, but would have simply ignored the old