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Transcript

Swimming with Seals

Liesel, Nicole, Nadine

Poem

Who is Gillian Clarke?

Gillian Clarke was born on 8 june, 1937 in Cardiff, and was brought up in Cardiff and Penarth, though for part of the Second World War she was in Pembrokeshire. Although her parents were Welsh speakers, she was brought up speaking only English and learnt to speak Welsh as an adult - partly as a form of rebellion. Nowadays, she lives in Ceredigion, UK. She is a Welsh poet and playwright. Gillian graduated in English from Cardiff university. After her graduation she went to London and worked at the BBC. A year later she returned to her native home (Cardiff) where she gave birth to a little girl named Catrin and two boys.

Gilllian Clarke

Do I understand all the words of the poem?

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

  • Glimpse: Look at something or somebody
  • Shoals: ‘‘A large number of fish swimming together as a group’’
  • Tames: ‘‘To make an animal not afraid of people and used to living with them.’’
  • Gaze: ‘‘To look steadily at something/somebody for a long time because you are very interested or surprised or because you are thinking of something else.’’
  • Shore: ‘‘The land along the edge of the sea, the ocean or a lake.’’
  • Bask: ‘‘To enjoy sitting or lying in the heat or light of something, especially the sun.’’
  • Flounder: To have difficulties to swim
  • Hauling: ‘‘To pull something/somebody with a lot of effort.’’

Words Definitions

National Geographic Kids: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/habitats/ocean/

Sheppard Software: https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/animals/ocean/animaloceanmovie.htm

What is the poem about?

The situation that is narrated in this poem is a seal swimming and seeing the people from the ocean. Meanwhile, some older people are watching the animals from their cars with binoculars. Furthermore some young people are swimming beside the seal watching her closely and interacting with her nature. This scene shows as people get older they lose their interaction with nature and start watching it from a distance.

Situation narrated/described in the poem

Are there images that are especially powerful?

“For a moment the old

looking out to sea,

all earth’s weight beneath their folding chairs,”

We know that by earth’s weight she means gravity, so we think that when she talks about the old having all of the earth’s weight on them she is reflecting about how all the years with gravity affect people, and how children who are new to the world don’t carry as much.

On shore the elderly

bask beside their cars

at the edge of what they’ve lost,

“People who never get out of their cars, but just look at the sea through the car windscreen, or binoculars, have forgotten what they’re missing.”

We think this image is very powerful because it talks about how people don’t know what they are missing, it can happen in everyday activities and some people even criticize or give up, without trying.

Powerful Images

Claw

“rolling in amnion

like her September calf.”

Amnion is the amniotic fluid of the womb. The seal is pregnant and her calf, or pup, will be born in september. They are swimming, diving under the water to look at the submarine world. They are swimming underwater like the seal pup in the womb. I think there is a personal connection to this image because Gillian was a mother of three kids.

Why did you like it?

Can you find any rythm?

We liked this poem because the message the poem transmitted was very powerful and related to the present. The way Gillian Clarke presented the message was really appealing and understandable as the setting described was really baerable and descriptive.

‘‘Two horizons:

a far blue line where a ship

diminishes and the evening sun

lets slip;’’

We find these lines very interesting because of the way Gilian starts describing the setting of the poem using very specific vocabulary that allows the reader to be part of the poem by visualising it.

Tone/Rythm

We found that the rhythm of this poem creates an ocean wave with the repetition of the sound SH and the length of the sentences, which vary so it can create this sound. However, this pattern is not presented in all the stanzas.

‘‘Two horizons:

a far blue line where a ship

diminishes and the evening sun

lets slip;

and submarine

where we glimpse stars and shoals

and shadowy water-gardens

of what’s beyond us.’’

What is your more personal connection to this poem?

Personal Connection

We don't have any personal connection with this poem but we see it nowadays in our lives. When we go on vacations to the beach, we see all the teenagars swimming in the ocean, surfing, kitesurfing, enjoying the waves, etc. Many older people don't enjoy nature as much as younger people do. Most of them don’t play with the sand, swim in the ocean and most of the time they spend a few hours on the beach. This poem gives as memories of summer holidays when we go to the beach with friends and families. We find the message transmitted very relevant as older people lose interest in life’s nature and instead of enjoying life they live preoccupied.

Creative Rendition - Drawing

Drawing

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