here's an episode of how to analyze poetry from the learning cauldron today we'll be looking at liz lockhead's poem view of scotland love poem analyzing poetry involves identifying and dissecting the literary techniques that the poet has used effectively to explore the theme or themes of a poem in her poem view of scotland love poem liz lockhead explores the themes of time passing and memories scottish culture and tradition superstition and love for culture her mother and her husband the title of the poem view of scotland love poem is interesting to the reader immediately because it is split and effectively what we get here is two poems for the price of one the view of scotland element is liz lockhead's own memories of hogmanay this is a fairly autobiographical poem and the love aspect is effectively a love poem for her husband although it also expresses affection for her mother and for her own culture her scottish culture the first stanza opens with a very vivid image of the poet's mother down on her hands and knees and this phrase here immediately conveys the hard-working nature of liz lockhead's mum and there's a sense of admiration for her mother there as well the setting is clearly established on the second line here with the word choice of hogmanay so it's the 31st of december and that is very synonymous with scotland so we're setting in time and in place and hogmanay of course is the time to look back into the past over the year that's just gone and also to look ahead to the new year that's coming my mother the strong ems the alliteration there conveys the importance of her mother to her and there's an almost affectionate giving it elbow grease her mother is having to work really hard jiffy waxing the vinyly and that's the floor covering which she's polishing because people like to get their houses in order at the end of the year ready for a fresh start and liz lawhead as ever is keen to point out that this is not nostalgia where you yearn for the past through rose-tinted spectacles these are memories they're factual memories and she's conveying them in a practical and matter-of-fact way on the kitchen table look at the enjoyment here a newly opened tin of sockeye salmon lovely sibilance there to draw attention to it and sockeye salmon is one of the references in this poem to the luxuries that one consumed in scotland at new year and still does in some places the slab of black bun nice alliteration there being another of them and there's a self-deprecation here although the family doesn't expect anyone to come because they don't consider themselves to be important they still have to be ready just in case it happens so there's a reference here to petty coattails which is shortbread and they're fanned out on the bone china and there's an early hint here perhaps with the petticoat of intimacy because this is also a love poem if we remember and the bone china was the finest china so it shows that they're making a real effort for the start of the year and then here italics is used as it is another time as well to convey another voice in this case her mother's voice last year it was very quiet the word choice of last year here reminds us of one of the key themes of this poem which is the passing of time the second stanza starts with a more familiar tone we've had my mother the formal my mother in the first stanza and now we're mums mum's got her rollers in and again this is very visual we can see the lady with her rollers in preparing to look smart for the new year and she's got her good dress looked out a nice bit of assonance here to draw attention to the importance of this slack across the candlewick upstairs candlewick was a rather nice bedspread which was typical in the 1950s here we've got reference to nearly half 10 whereas in the opening stanza it was 10 o'clock so we can see time is passing on this evening and the mother has not yet had a chance to get changed she's been so busy working shifted is the scots expression for changing your clothes and the exclamation there shows a sense of urgency slight humor or even reproach that the mum's very aware of the fact she needs to get a move on this then is a reference to tradition if we're to even hope to prosper this midnight must find us how we would like to be and this is the idea that you had to be ready and prepared for the new year because if you were in chaos then that's how your year to come would be and the importance of this part here is emphasized with the repeated short p sound and the fact that it is actually mentioned again later on in the poem the internal rhyme and the essence of a new view of scotland draws attention to the title of the poem view of scotland and this is a literal and metaphorical view because the literal view is the new photo on the calendar or the front of the new calendar but also perhaps the change that might come to scotland in the coming year and the assonance again draws our attention to that calendar hanging there waiting for time to pass it's not allowed to be revealed until the new year has started because that is bad luck and this hints at the superstition which is one of the themes in this poem the tradition is that you mustn't put the new calendar out in view until the new year has begun but the calendar in itself is a symbol as well it's symbolic of time moving on and looking forward what lockheed does so well in this poem is to combine the threads of the various themes and although this stanza stanza 3 is essentially part of the love poem aspect it does have references to the scottish culture which the view of scotland refers to she begins by addressing her now husband as darling so it sounds intimate and definitely more like the wording of a love poem she refers to the fact that time has passed it's 30 years since she was a child and taking part in the hog money rituals such as looking into a mirror there's a tradition whereby if you look into the mirror on the 31st of december you can tell children that they will see themselves with as many heads as there are days in the year and of course as it's the last day of the year they only see one head but she remembers these as part of her whole experience of hogmanay here italics are used once again as they were in the first stanza to reflect the fact that it is a different voice from the past that is speaking and she says it's also two years since they she and her husband met they were familiar strangers and this sounds oxymoronic and yet it's the idea that the minute they met although they were strangers there was something familiar because they were going to become an item but what she points out is they didn't know that at that point and there's a use here of we the first person plural four times within three lines emphasizing the togetherness there that would eventually result from this happenstance of meeting together at this hogmanay party the reference to the bells is once again a reference to scottish tradition that's when midnight strikes on hogmanay and the new year begins and the use of the question structure here is also reflective she addresses him and she's asking and we just didn't know what was going to happen for us in the future at that point here lockhead is emphasizing the fact that sometimes events happen in our lives and that we have no way of realizing just how significant and important they are going to be in the future so so far we've had two stanzas where the poet is referring back to her childhood and our memories of hocumene one year and then we have a reference to the hogmanay party at which she and her and her husband met and now she's focusing on the present day for when she's writing the poems in the 1980s and she mentions the rituals that the city goes through the city of glasgow reference to the setting there on hog money evening the off licences which sell alcohol for taking home are pulling down their shutters so that people can get home to be with their family a quick aside normally in uk english this would be spelt with a c here but online the poem was spelt with an s moving on there's another reference here to the new year which is reflective of the interstitial nature of the theme of hogmanay with time passing and there are many references to the passing of time and there's a more specific reference to the parts of the city here high-rises and tenements which implies perhaps the working-class areas of the city time is referenced once again with this sunburst clocks tick phrase here and the sunburst clock was very much typical of the 1960s and 70s who would no doubt be still hanging on walls in the 1980s and the sound is effective here the consonants of the k sound helps to create the sound of the clock ticking and tick itself is onomatopoetic the idea of the mantle shells having been dusted is once again hinting at the fact that everybody was getting prepared for this big moment in scottish tradition as the fourth stanza continues there's a reference to everyone which helps to establish a sense of community which is very much to the fore in the city of glasgow the point that she's making is that everybody at new year wants to try and do their best to move forward and to celebrate this chance of a new beginning effectively there's a repetition here of the lines that appeared earlier on in the poem reminding us of the scottish tradition that you must be ready to welcome in the new year and this is emphasized by the use of the split infinitive here splitting to hope drawing it to our attention moving forward there's a contrast here quite a lightness of touch between sickly liqueur a fine drink where you're trying to put on a bit of a show and the booze in the alcove a much more familiar vernacular term and as we approach the end of the poem there's a fabulous image golden crusts on steak pies like quilts on a double bed comparing the the quilts on the bed to the beautiful sheets of pastry perfectly cooked on the steak pies which are traditional fair to eat on new year's day in scotland the reference to double bed is appropriate in the context of a love poem because of the intimacy that it suggests and it also harks back to earlier on when her mother laid out her good dress ready for hog money on the candle wick which is a bed spread the end of the poem is very reflective and quite to the point and this is where we live lockhead says a short blunt sentence summing everything up emphasizing the moment that we are in and where we are she concludes with there is no time like the present for a kiss reminding us that while it is interesting to reflect back on years bygone and to look forward don't miss the opportunity to enjoy the present moment and finishing with a kiss is very evocative of the concept of the love poem which is introduced at the start lockhead's use of structure as the poem comes to a close is very effective we have the monosyllabic short sentence here and we also have the enjoyment which places the word present here at the beginning of the final line and there's almost the feeling that being given this opportunity to enjoy the present is a gift that we must appreciate with regard to form and structure the four stanzas are written in free verse which conveys the sense of movement which is appropriate for the theme of moving between the past memories and the present day the tone varies across the poem starting off as matter of fact and admiring as she observes her mother becoming reflective at times hopeful at others and becoming intimate in places as would be appropriate for a love poem i hope that's been helpful see you next time in other videos we analyze more of liz lockhead's poems if you found this or any of our other videos useful it would be great if you could subscribe to the youtube channel thanks for your support