The document provides analysis of the poem "Summer Farm" by Norman MacCaig. It includes biographical information about the poet, an overview of the poem's themes of identity, time, and nature. The analysis notes that the poem has a pastoral tone and describes the farm activities and animals. It examines the poem's structure, imagery, and how the last stanza conveys that the speaker is just one individual in a long line of generations, insignificant in the broader span of time.

1. Summer Farm
by: Norman MacCaig

2. Group Members
• Oforiwa Labi
• Salim Yakubu
• Casey Koomson
• Precious Yamoah Annoh
• Andrew Antwi

4. Quick facts about Poet
• Norman MacCaig was born in Scotland, Edinburgh on 14th
of November 1910.
• He normally wrote about people he knew and experiences
he had encountered in his life.
• He served a term in prison for refusing to fight during
WWII.
• He was a 20th century writer.
• His works inspired writers like Ted Hughes and Louis
MacNeice.
• He was awarded the queens gold medal for poetry in 1985.
• He died on January 23, 1996.

5. Denotative Meaning
• The poem is a pastoral (praising country life)
and nature poem.
• The poem talks about the persona describing
his farm and the activities done by the
animals as well as himself.
• The poem has a lot of imagery.

6. Structure
• The poem is structured in four stanzas with
four lines
• AABB rhyme scheme showing a sense of order
and a calm atmosphere.

7. Tones and Moods
• Philosophical
• Optimistic
• Nostalgic
• Contemplating
• Relaxed
• Afraid

8. Themes
• Identity
• Time
• Self-discovery
• Insignificance of one human life over the
course of time
• Appreciation of Nature

9. Stanza by Stanza Analysis

10. Visual imagery in stanzas 1and 2

13. Visual imagery in stanza 3 and 4

14. Stanza 4 (Conclusion)
• The last stanza contains the entire meaning of the
poem. In this stanza we realize how the persona has
is just a “self” in a “pile of selves”, or in other words,
he is just one person in a line of generations. He is in
the “center” (Present) of these generations which
are “threaded on time”(Past). This implies that as
time proceeds, another generation will
come(Future).

15. Cont.
• He is simply a part of this thread, and therefore is of
no particular significance. He is “afraid where a
thought might take him”, because if he thinks, he will
remember that he is only a phase in this sequence
passing by , and that generations after him will
follow, making him just a memory.

16. Literary Devices(Examples)
• There is simile and oxymoron in line 1 “straw like
tamed lightening” to create detailed images.
• Repetition in “self under self a pile of selves”
• Alliteration in stanza 1 with words such as like, lie
and lightning.
• There is a lot of sibilants and other soothing sounds
included like “as glass.”

17. Relation to other Poems
• There is a relation to Pied Beauty in terms of
the way various aspects of nature are
described.
• We can also relate the animals to Hunting
Snake where the snake is presented with form
and beauty.

18. Summary
• The poem talks about the poets thoughts in
his depth mind as he lies in the grass and
voices out different aspects of his mind. He
talks about the farm in the past, future and
present and how people come and pass by for
more to come.

19. Online Sources
• http://igcseblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/summe
r-farm-by-norman-maccaig/
• http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/first-second-
linked-with-last-stanza-poem-summer-63113
• http://matthewspoetryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/
05/summer-farm-norman-maccaig.html