Poem for a dead poet (R. McGough)

He was a poet he was.
A proper poet.
He said things
that made you think
and said them nicely.
He saw things
that you or I
could never see
and saw them clearly.
He had a way with language.
Images flocked around
him like birds,
St Francis he was,
of the words. Words?
Why he could almost make 'em talk.

Analysis:

Right from the title the reader understands the poet and his identity are the focus of the coming lines. The alliterative use of the plosive sound “p” connects “poet” and his ordinary production.

The text does not develop a specific pattern; it rather creates a crescendo: from the first two lines that assert a statement about the qualities of the real poet, one who works in a “proper” way, the text develops moving from a group of three lines (lines 3 – 5) where the reader is informed about what the proper poet of the composition did with language. His lines elicited reflection in a pleasant way.

From the tercet, the poet moves to a quatrain that has the specific function to make clear the difference between ordinary speakers and the poet: he can see what the common people can’t. His view of reality is clear (lines 6 – 9).

Then comes the sestet where his skills and competences are conveyed through a metaphor, where the proper poet is juxtaposed to St. Francis, who was able to communicate with what generally is impossible for the human being. As did the Saint, the proper poet knows how to speak through images and therefore is really able to visualize reality. The simile with birds recalls St. Francis’ special gift, one that probably came from God.

The poem concludes its climax focusing the attention on a question simply consisting of one word, as well as its material, is made of “words”. The key position of the question concludes the Roger McGough’s argumentation with an explanation: the proper poet is such because paradoxically he “could… make words talk”.