Unto Us

1. Unto Us Spike Milligan

2. Spike Milligan • Irish poet, famous for his nonsense verse and comedy • Raised a Catholic • He was a strident campaigner on environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise, such as the use of muzak. • In 1971, Milligan caused controversy by attacking an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery with a hammer. The exhibit consisted of catfish, oysters and shrimp that were to be electrocuted as part of the exhibition. He was a strong opponent of cruelty to animals and, during an appearance on Room 101, chose fox hunting as a pet hate, and succeeded in banishing it to the eponymous room. • He was also a public opponent of domestic violence.

3. Danny La Rue

4. Structure/Form • Blank verse (does not rhyme) • Dramatic Monologue • 3 sections: conception, abortion, aftermath • 37 lines, no formal structure to the poem • Use of enjambment suggests a stream of consciousness (the baby is telling us what he is thinking)

5. Narrative Structure • Use of first-person narrative, engages the reader directly. • Creates empathy with the baby, we only see their side. • The baby is an omniscient narrator (has a god-like overview even when dead e.g. can tell us about the parents’ trip to see Danny La Rue)

6. Title • Unto Us... Well known hymn (religious connotations) “Unto Us A Child Is Born” – reader will probaby understand this. Biblical reference – but cut short (like the life of the foetus) • Life is sacred • Ellipsis implies something is missing

7. Unto Us... Somewhere at sometime They committed themselves to me And so, I was! Small, but I WAS!

8. Tiny, in shape Lusting to live I hung in my pulsing cave. Soon they knew of me My mother – my father.

9. I had no say in my being I lived on trust And love Tho’ I couldn’t think Each part of me was saying A silent “Wait for me I will bring you love!”

10. I was taken Blind, naked, defenceless By the hand of one Whose good name Was graven on a brass plate in Wimpole Street,

11. and dropped on the sterile floor of a foot operated plastic waste bucket. There was no Queens Counsel To take my brief. The cot I might have warmed Stood in Harrod’s shop window.

12. When my passing was told My father smiled. No grief filled my empty space. My death was celebrated With tickets to see Danny La Rue

13. Who was pretending to be a woman Like my mother was.

14. Essay title • 12. Choose a poem in which the poet explores one of the following emotions: anguish, dissatisfaction, regret, loss. Show how the poet explores the emotion and discuss to what extent he or she is successful in deepening your understanding of it.