Norman MacCaig (1910–1996)

THREE SCOTTISH POETS: MacCAIG, MORGAN, LOCHHEAD edited by Roderick Watson… I ordered this book because I had read a delightful poem by Norman MacCaig called "Small Boy" and was disappointed not to find it here. I was not thrilled with the quality of the print job either (Canongate Classics, printed and bound by Clays Ltd)—and it would have helped to have the poet's name on the bottom of the page for his/her section—but I found much to love in the words. Best read in a Scottish brogue, these were some of my favorite lines from each:

Norman MacCaig: "The thatched roof rings like heaven where mice / Squeak small hosannahs all night long" and "a sea tin-tacked with rain" and "I love frogs that sit / like Buddha" and "The collie underneath the table / Slumps with a world-rejecting sigh."

Edwin Morgan: "After many summer dyes, the swan-white ice / glints only crystal beyond white. Even / dearest blue's not there, though poets would find it" and "half reluctant, half truculent, / half handsome, half absurd, / but let me see you forget him: not to be done."

Of course, there were entire poems that were magnificent in addition to those few select lines. My favorite voice in the collection, though, belongs to Liz Lochhead. Her observations of the smallest details take on significance (e.g., her shampoo in "The Empty Song"). The majority of her poems are about relationships along with a brilliant monologue called "Verena: Security" in which she honestly explores the pros and cons of a significant other working away from home for weeks at a time. I'll leave you and this review with the last stanza of Lochhead's "Hafiz on Danforth Avenue":

And to tell you this is easy,
scribbling this was as simple
as the shopping-list it jostles
on the next page of my notebook.
Love, as well as bread and coffee
it says eggplants, olive oil
don't forget
the nutmeg and the cinnamon.… (meer)

I fell in love with Edwin Morgan's poem 'When You Go' when I heard it on the BBC's Culture Show a few years ago and I've been meaning to read more of his work since. My library had this anthology which sandwiches Morgan between two other Scottish poets. My knowledge of contemporary poetry is pretty much nil, so I didn't know anything by either of the other two, but I enjoyed the collection. MacCraig's work is the most obviously Scottish with many of his poems being set in the Highlands. I particularly liked the sly wit of the poems Aunt Julia, My Last Word Frogs and Still Life. I was already familiar with some of Edwin Morgan's poems, but none quite matched 'When You Go', but completely different I enjoyed The Mummy and Construction for I K Brunel. The last set by Liz Lockhead appealed to me the least being a bit long for my tastes, but The Other Woman has stuck in my mind. Although the three poets were very different, each of them had a poem about missing someone that I liked, 'No Choice', 'Absense' and 'The Empty Song'… (meer)