Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig Essay Example for Free

Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig Essay Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig characterizes the comparison of nature and human life. The poet uses the language to describe the environment while relating it to the narrator. The poet also uses different language technuiques to describe and streghten his message in the poem The poem starts with the description of the narrators surroundings. The tame lightnings shows us that things that seem wild and dangerous can be controlled like how situations in our lives that are out of proportion can be handled. Moreover, the lightnings hang zigzags on hedges. The zig zags could represent the shape of lightning or how nature is very random unlike our lives where we have regular routines. However nine ducks go wobbling by in two straight lines shows that even nature can be set in course, thought the word wobbling denotes the sense of order. The second stanza is about animals in the barn. It conveys the animals that would typically be found at a barn and uses their behavior to show a point in his message. For example A hen stares at nothing with one eye However a hen has to be looking at something, but the use of words one eye is odd, random almost. Nevertheless it could mean show the world in a animals point of view and ours is entirely different. Then it goes Out of an empty sky a swallow falls. I believe that this use of metaphor is describing his mind. The empty sky is his empty mind, and the swallow is a train of thought. Dives up again into the dizzying blue. The swallow (thought) was brought into the barn but, the impact from falling surely would have caused injures. Perhaps the thought is of somewhat importance. Then the swallow dives into the dizzying blue. The world dizzy could mean confusion, maybe the thought was a bit confusing? And then the swallow disappears back into a empty sky. The third stanza represents the narrators thoughts and the movements of its mind. It starts I lie, not thinking the word I shows that indeed the narrator is talking about himself. He lies in the cool soft grass where he could be searching for comfort or relaxation. Then he compares himself with a grasshopper with plated face unfolds his legs and finds himself in space. It is clearly shown that the grasshopper is reflecting the same movements and thoughts. They both have came to relax and find themselves in space.