Aunt Julia
Simple
statement
establishes
Aunt’s
energy/vitality,
but also the gulf
between them
5
Onomatopoeia/alli
teration conveys
10
sound of action
15
20
25
Present tensememories are
enduring
30
Word choice continues
warmth of their
affection despite
language barrier
Image of seagull –
35
sound - connotations
of cackling, reinforcing
earlier ideas of
communication
barrier/gulf – still can’t
understand her
40
Jargon of crofting life –
visually striking
Autobiographical poem – poet
reflecting on childhood experience
from
adult p.o.v
spoke
Gaelic
Aunt Julia
very loud and very fast.
I could not answer her –
I could not understand her.
THEMES –
love/loss/the
importance to
MacCaig of
Scotland’s land
and traditions
She wore men’s boots
when she wore anyI can see her strong foot, effective word choice – singular.
Introduces traditional practices.
stained with peat,
paddling with the treadle of the spinning wheel
while her right hand drew yarn
marvellously out of the air.
under threat at time of writing
skilled in traditional
crofting pursuits
Connotations – total darkness,
security. Boy not frightened.
Continues importance of
natural world. Humour.
She was buckets
and water flouncing into them.
She was winds pouring wetly
round house-ends.
She was brown eggs, black skirts
and a keeper of threepenny bits
in a teapot.
Aunt may be viewed as symbol,
representing traditional Highland
culture – a rich, valuable way of life
Details of
appearance –
practical. Not
interested in
appearance
image suggests boy’s
wonder – a sense of
magic
Hers was the only house
where I’ve lain at night
in the absolute darkness
of a box bed, listening to
crickets being friendly.
Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic
very loud and very fast.
By the time I learned
a little she lay
silenced in the absolute black
of a sandy grave
at Luskentyre.
But I hear her still, welcoming me
with a seagull’s voice
across a hundred yards
of peatscrapes and lazy beds
and getting angry, getting angry
with so many questions
unanswered.
Repetition of I could
not establishes tone
of regret/frustration
List of metaphors “She was…” reinforces
aunt’s affinity with traditional crofting
practices.
No running water – effective word choice
suggests her energy and strong personality
Wild weather - alliteration/onomatopoeia
Thrift
Repetition of opening statement.
Boy has learned some Gaelic, but
too late – aunt has died.
Pathos/irony
Sibilance and effective word choice
– silenced – forced to stop talking
by death. Contrast to her natural
loud voice
Repetition – conveys
frustration –
why is aunt so
angry?
Absolute black – echoes absolute
darkness of box bed – but this time
there is no warmth . Black has
connotations of mourning
Sandy grave – effective word
choice – buried close to beach