Like Dolmens Round My Childhood Analysis
Like Dolmens round my childhood analysis
In this poem John Montague compares old country characters to megalithic tombs.
In the first stanza Montague describes the personality of the loner Jamie McCrystal, a man who sang tuneless songs to himself. Jamie was a kind man who fed the birds and gave John a penny for sweets every week. John Montague states the fact that his house was robbed and ransacked for money after he died at home.
In the second stanza, the poet describes an unusual old lady who lived with animals. She had a dog, pups and a goat inside her house. She was a source of local gossip. Her gossip was like a fang, a long tooth, in her mouth. Maggie was a lonely woman who was addicted to mocking her neighbours with gossip.
In the third stanza, the poet describes a family who were all blind, the Nialls. They lived in a remote and mountainous place. It seems a place of beauty with mountain flowers that they cannot see. The Nialls lived off social welfare. They had a free radio [wireless] from the state. As a child, Montague remembers running into their house for shelter. The Niall’s couldn’t see them and their eyes just flickered like snake eyes at him when he ran in. Montague could hear crickets chirping in the dark house until the sunlight broke through the clouds.
In the fourth stanza, Montague describes the house of Mary Moore. She lived in a decayed house, with slanting walls, located at a gate to a landed estate. She farmed cattle wearing a sack as an apron. Mary Moore had a terrifying reputation with the local children, though she sat at her fire every night reading romantic novels.
In the fifth stanza, Montague describes a cross Protestant man who married a lower class Catholic girl. Billy Eagleson faced social isolation as a result. Mixed marriages were unusual in John Montague’s childhood. As a result, Eagleson became an outsider in his society. The Catholic children jeered at his political beliefs. He tried to frighten them off with his
In this poem John Montague compares old country characters to megalithic tombs.
In the first stanza Montague describes the personality of the loner Jamie McCrystal, a man who sang tuneless songs to himself. Jamie was a kind man who fed the birds and gave John a penny for sweets every week. John Montague states the fact that his house was robbed and ransacked for money after he died at home.
In the second stanza, the poet describes an unusual old lady who lived with animals. She had a dog, pups and a goat inside her house. She was a source of local gossip. Her gossip was like a fang, a long tooth, in her mouth. Maggie was a lonely woman who was addicted to mocking her neighbours with gossip.
In the third stanza, the poet describes a family who were all blind, the Nialls. They lived in a remote and mountainous place. It seems a place of beauty with mountain flowers that they cannot see. The Nialls lived off social welfare. They had a free radio [wireless] from the state. As a child, Montague remembers running into their house for shelter. The Niall’s couldn’t see them and their eyes just flickered like snake eyes at him when he ran in. Montague could hear crickets chirping in the dark house until the sunlight broke through the clouds.
In the fourth stanza, Montague describes the house of Mary Moore. She lived in a decayed house, with slanting walls, located at a gate to a landed estate. She farmed cattle wearing a sack as an apron. Mary Moore had a terrifying reputation with the local children, though she sat at her fire every night reading romantic novels.
In the fifth stanza, Montague describes a cross Protestant man who married a lower class Catholic girl. Billy Eagleson faced social isolation as a result. Mixed marriages were unusual in John Montague’s childhood. As a result, Eagleson became an outsider in his society. The Catholic children jeered at his political beliefs. He tried to frighten them off with his