The Clown Punk
Simon Armitage
Who is Simon Armitage?
Simon Armitage was born in 1963 and lives in West Yorkshire.
He has published ten volumes of poetry including Selected Poems.
He writes for radio, television and film, and is the author of four stage plays.
He was awarded the CBE in 2010 for services to poetry.
Structure
What do you notice about the form and
structure of the poem? What effect does this
have on the reader?
Look at the:
number of lines (14 – sonnet);
regularity of verses, line lengths
(What form do they take? Count syllables) and
rhyme scheme.
Enjambement
There is a great example of enjambement between verses 1
and 2 of the poem.
But
don’t laugh...
The space between the two verses allows the reader to do
exactly what they are told not to do in verse two – laugh.
The narrator seems to be challenging the reader to
consider their reaction to the man’s physical appearance
but then lets themselves down by asking the reader to
‘think what he’ll look like in thirty years’ time.’
Enjambment
‘think what he’ll look like in thirty years’ timethe deflated face and shrunken scalp’
Armitage again uses enjambment between verses two and three.
The enjambment indicates the passage of time. Everyone’s face
sags as the muscles weaken and skin loses its elasticity and here the
narrator is asking the reader to think what the passage of time will
do to someone with a heavily tattooed face. The enjambment
allows the reader to ponder their reaction to what will happen
before the narrator puts forward their own view of time’s effect on
the clown punk’s face.
Meaning
What is the poem about?
Whose viewpoint are we seeing events from?
Is the narrator biased? In what way?
What is Simon Armitage saying in this poem
do you think? Why?
Metaphorical language
‘every pixel of that man’s skin
is shot through with indelible ink’
What does the word ‘pixel’ suggest about the
man?
‘dyed brain’
What does this metaphor suggest about the
state of mind of the ‘clown punk’ from the
narrator’s viewpoint?
Language
Armitage uses language cleverly in order to
engage his reader and to make them think.
How do the following words appeal to the reader
directly?
‘don’t laugh’
‘think’
‘You kids’
‘remember’
‘picture’
Why has Armitage used these words? What is his
purpose for using them?
Verbs and adjectives
Verbs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Adjectives
‘towing a dog on a rope.’
‘shot through with indelible ink.’
‘sad tattoos of high punk.’
‘slathers his daft mush on the windscreen’
‘wince and scream’
‘dyed brain’
What is the effect of these words on the ideas and
meaning within the poem do you think?
Rhyme scheme
• Look at any internal rhyme in the poem and
what the effect of this is.
• Examine whether the rhyme is regular or offrhyme and what this adds to the ideas
contained within the poem.
• Look at the final rhyming couplet and consider
what you think its purpose is.
• Think about why this is an unusual use of the
sonnet form.
Clown Punk
How do you think this man would feel to
be described as a ‘clown punk’? Why?
Effect?
What do you feel about the clown punk?
Do you feel sympathy? Do you feel
upset/scared/angry about him or on his
behalf?
How do you think Simon Armitage has created
these feelings in you?
Oxymoron: used to show
how people view him as a
ridiculous figure
The Clown Punk
Alliteration and sibilance:
emphasises that it’s a
menacing area (creates a
sinister hiss)
Driving home through the shonky side of town,
Three times out of ten you’ll see the town clown,
Like a basket of washing that got up
And walked, towing a dog on a rope. But
Simile suggests that he is
dresses eccentrically and
to them looks unkempt
and dishevelled
Assonance / internal
rhyme emphasises how
they see him as a joke,
something lighthearted and amusing
Imperatives (instruction al verbs)
have the tone of a lesson (or a
didactic tone). He is a cautionary
tale or reminder of how not to
behave / dress
If something is pixelated it
becomes less clear more
unreal. Emphasises how
heavily tattooed he is
without actually using the
word. Indelible indicates
permanence.
Don’t laugh: every pixel of that man’s skin
Is shot through with indelible ink:
As he steps out at the traffic lights,
Think what he’ll look like in thirty years’ time –
Highlights the permanent
nature of the decisions made
in youth
Mirrors deflated ideals
and ambitions or
dreams he once had
Ambiguous? Personification?
The deflated face and shrunken scalp
Still daubed with the sad tattoos of high punk.
You kids in the back seat who wince and scream
When he slathers his daft mush on the windscreen,
Colloquial, slang,
mocking ridiculous tone
As the rain washes the suds away,
so too has the significance and
worth of the punk diminished
(lessened) when people judge him
Remember the clown punk with his dyed brain,
Then picture windscreen wipers, and let it rain.
‘dyed brain’ suggests that the narrator believes the
man with the facial tattoos to be mentally challenged
as though someone would have to be stupid or
mentally ill to do such a thing to themselves. This is a
very biased viewpoint and suggests a difference in
taste and perhaps class between the two people.
In an interview Armitage talked about a homeless man he
used to see around town. On one memorable occasion the
homelessman washed Armitage's windscreen and in that
moment they looked into each other's eyes and shared
something. What marks this character out as special is that
the Clown Punk is an outsider in every sense. First of all and
perhaps most obviously he is a homeless person, who
unfortunately are very much marginalised and
dispossessed in our contemporary society. They live
amongst the filth and detritus of society simply trying to
survive. They are largely ignored and for the most people
will go out of their way to avoid homeless people and in
some cases may even feel repulsed and afraid of them, like
the backseat children in the poem. In addition to this,
Armitage's Clown Punk looks particualrly intimidating with
his high punk tattoos and sunken cheeks. His tattoos seem
to speak of a different stage in the man's life, perhaps when
he was younger.
Armitage was very much a child of the 1970s and 80s when
the punk rock movement was at its vibrant best. Punk stood
for rebellion in the face of authority, a desire to be free of the
suffocating rules of the establishment and of a latent anger at
unemployment rigid conservatism. In this sense we might
assume that the Clown Punk was a rebel in his past. His 'high
punk' tattoos are relics of that past and also imply that the
Clown Punk was a dedicated punk and fully embraced the
ideas and ethos of the movement. The fact that the
speaker calls him the 'Clown Punk' seems derogatory, as if the
man is a joke, but we might do well to remember that there is
something disturbingly and ironically sad about clowns - the
painted smiles, the ragged clothes. In fact there is a long
tradition of association between clowns and the homeless.
Charlie Chaplain's most famous character is a homeless
person, or tramp as they are sometimes known since they
have to 'tramp' about from place to place. Chaplain played his
character as a clown and we all laughed, but not without
seeing the tragedy of the tramp's life.
` The figure of the homeless person is also a figure of fear for
another very important reason - the fear of becoming homeless
yourself. We live in a world where money talks, but lose your job,
fall behind on your bills and start to slip down that slide and it is
terrifying how quickly you can find yourself in trouble. It's sobering
to think that every homeless person sleeping on the street tonight
started out more or less the same as everyone else save some
series of events in their life that saw them end up out of doors and
sleeping rough. Perhaps this is why the speaker in the poem wants
his children to take a moment to think about the Clown Punk and
remember that life can be very hard and cruel. When the speaker
sees the Clown Punk he might wonder, even if just for a second, had
his life taken a different route it would be him washing the
windscreen and the Clown Punk driving his children home.
What is particualrly interesting is that the speaker has given the
homeless man a nickname, which means that he must have seen
him before at some point.