UNTO USSpike Milligan

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.

Danny La Rue

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)

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)

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

Unto Us...

Somewhere at sometimeThey committed themselves

to meAnd so, I was!Small, but I WAS!

Tiny, in shapeLusting to liveI hung in my pulsing cave.Soon they knew of me My mother – my father.

I had no say in my beingI lived on trustAnd loveTho’ I couldn’t think Each part of me was saying A silent “Wait for meI will bring you love!”

I was takenBlind, naked, defencelessBy the hand of oneWhose good name Was graven on a brass platein Wimpole Street,

and dropped on the sterile floorof a foot operated plastic waste bucket.There was no Queens CounselTo take my brief.The cot I might have warmedStood in Harrod’s shop window.

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

Who was pretending to be a womanLike my mother was.

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.