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Born in 1910 in Edinburg, Norman MacCaig divided his time between his native city and the Assynt, Scottish

highlands where is mother was from. MacCaig studied classics in the University of Edinburg and during the 2nd

world war, he registered as a conscientious objector. A conscientious objector is an individual who has claimedthe right to refuse to perform military service. This meant that he did not want to fight in the second world war.

The poem summer farm hints to us that it is about a farm in the summertime. This poem has a formal structure

of 4 quatrains with an aabb rhyme scheme with the exception of stanza 3 which has an aeff rhyme scheme.

There are usually 10 syllables in each line. In addition, the poem is split into two parts, the 1stand 2nd stanzadescribes the poets surroundings but the 3rd and 4th stanza is the poets reflection on himself. There is also a

slight iambic pentameter

This poem is filled with oxymorons which are two contradicting words put together such as a deliberate

mistake. Lightnings are definitely not tame, they kill thousands of people each year. When ducks are wobbling,

they sway from side to side which means that it is almost impossible for them to walk in a straight line. When

the hen stares at nothing, how is it supposed to pick it up if there is nothing?

Enjambment when ideas run on line after line. In line 5, the hen stares at nothing with one eye then it skips to

line 6 when the hen picks it up. Furthermore, near the end of the poem, poet sees a pile of selves which he

stands on then it skips again to line 14 where it is threaded on time. If you read the two lines as though it was

one, the poets message becomes clearer.

Alliteration.

Throughout the poem there are four examples of alliteration. Green as glass in line 2, falls and flickering in line

7, threaded on time in line 14 and farm within farm in line 16.

There are also many similies in the poem which are green as glass in line 2, straw like tame lightings in line 1

and lift and farm like a lid in line 15

The imagery used in the poem helps the poet to describe his surroundings. The zigzag on hedges are not made

by the lightning striking the hedge. It is by the straw hanging on the hedge. The water in the horse-trough is

green as glass. The water is crystal clear like glass but it is green because it reflects the greenery of the

surroundings. Thus, the poet described the water as green as glass. The image of the nine ducks wobbling helps

to identify line 4 as an oxymoron. It is not possible for nine ducks to wobble in a straight line.

There are two metaphors used in the poem. The comparison of the hen and the grasshopper to humans. Whenthe hen stares at nothing in line 5, it symbolizes the thoughts of humans. Our ideas are invisible and we cant see

them. In the next line, the hen picks it up. The hens hesitation represents how humans think about somethingfirst, weighing out the pros and the cons before putting our plan into action.

The poet expresses his thoughts through the grasshoppers actions. The grasshopper has the intelligence tothink but it is afraid to as it does not know where its idea may lead it. The grasshopper puts his thinking cap on,

unfolds his legs and finds himself in space, outer space. This proves that as long as we humans think, we are able

to do anything and will find ourselves in space sooner or later.

The punctuation in this poem brings out the poets thoughts as it puts emphasis on certain points by making us

slow down. For example, in line 15, lift the farm like a lid and see/ farm within farm. The enjambment there

makes readers pause for a second. This makes questions pop into their heads, what did he see? Farm within

farm, and in the centre, The use of the two commas there is to build up the tension to make readers keep

reading till the end. The word me at the end of the poem remains in readers heads for a while. Mac Caig puts

emphasis on the word me because the last 2 stanzas were his thoughts and his reflections.

The first and second stanzas are extremely descriptive and filled with similes, metaphors and other literary

devices. They aid readers to imagine the atmosphere of where the poet is standing. In the second section, the

tone changes and the poet starts to reflect on how he sees his life.

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The theme of this poem is metaphysics which is a division of philosophy that is concerned with thefundamental nature of reality and being For example, science can tell us how a universe works but it does not

explain to us why it exists. The 1st2 stanzas of the poem are the poets description of is environment. He does not

question why the ducks wobble in straight lines and he doesnt wonder why the swallow falls and then dives up

again. The poet states that he is afraid to think as he does not know where a thought would take him. Those who

are not afraid of thinking have found themselves in outer space. In addition, this poem gives readers 3

dimensional feeling. First the ducks are wobbling, then a swallow falls and dives up again. The poet lies in the

grass looking up at the sky and at the end, the poet realises that he is an insignificant person in the world. If youever stood alone in the empty sports hall that is how you would feel. Just like how we wonder what is life from

an ants point of view. At the end of the poem, the poet now knows that he does not have to think and wonder

why he is on earth because he is an insignificant person in the whole world. It was then that he realised the

world was not as small as he thought. In short, this poem is merely the poets dream in which he sees a clear blue

sky, grassy meadows and in a farm, himself.