Submarine Demon

The Greatest Ocean Depth: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in Earth's oceans. The bottom there is 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) below sea level. If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, were placed at this location it would be covered by over one mile of water. The Challenger Deep is named after the British survey ship Challenger II, which discovered this deepest location in 1951.

 “Black Smokers" The temperature of the water coming out of these vents exceeds 360º. The real surprise was the discovery that a myriad of life forms actually live and thrive around these vents, totally cut off from the world of sunlight.

What sort of question does this poem suit?

• Questions on...– Nature– Rejecting something– A journey– A struggle– Loneliness??– Turning point – Strong emotions

Central tension

• Nature vs our (human) world

Themes

• Nature• Loneliness• Rejection of the modern world• Exploration

Poetry reminds us of something we have forgotten

• Reminds us that amidst all our smart phones, twitter, Starbucks, laptops, TVs that... – the wonder of nature still exists even if we tend to

forget that it does.– Perhaps dwarfs importance of everything we have

on the surface (‘tides, tempests the are toys’)

I love it at the bottom of the sea

• Rhythm– Starts with two stressed syllables– Highlights depth of feeling

• Tense– He has been there before this is somewhere he

returns to.

It’s all alive! It’s all alive I tell you!

• Punctuation – Great enthusiasm/ energy conveyed by lots of exclamation marks. Reputation of ‘alive’ conveys how much life is there and how amazed the demon is at that life.

• Adds to the Demon’s character – he is like a kid at Christmas!!

It’s seriousBelow.• Enjambment – Emphasises both words – links

them together and mirrors the descent. Skilful technique as if we are accompanying the demon on his journey.

Above you, shark and whale and whale shark/ Dwindle to points like

plankton• Antithesis (opposites of each other) OR• Simile

– Emphasised the incredible depths the Demon is descending to – huge creatures looking so tiny.

• Whale shark/ plankton = suggests the diversity of the sea

• ‘Above you’ – second person helps us imagine we are looking up at the creature – draws the reader into the poem

A pulse but it is not any that ruledMy life or yours, friend

• Personification– Giving the Earth a pulse the poet suggests it is a

living being (Making us feel guilty for poisoning us with chemicals etc.) This emphasises the narrator’s appreciation/ admiration for Earth.

• Word choice– The Demon refers to the reader as friend. We are

accompanying him on this journey he is taking us on this journey and trying to make us share his enthusiasm.

Factories of particles

• Metaphor – ‘Factories’ suggests a production line and

emphasises the scale of what the Demon is seeing.

• Double meaning??– Mirroring the factories on the surface polluting

the Earth which has been referred to a living being.

But I don’t sink I drive I fin I power

• Enthusiasm arrogance of the demon narrator conveyed by the lack of commas.

• Use of verbs show power and action.

Tucks and puckers the skin of the world

• Gives the earth a skin, making it seem living and delicate.

• Assonance of ‘uh’ sound in tucks and puckers. The sound the Earth is making as the Demon touches it??

I switch on my torch at last, can stumble walk, forward just back

But on and on then• Commas

– Breaking up the lines conveys the staggering motion of the Demon. Emphasises how difficult and extreme the conditions are, but also the determination of the Demon to explore.

• Word Choice– ‘torch’ is incongruous (out of place) emphasises

darkness but makes us ask, ‘why does the Demon need a torch?’ makes us question our preconceptions of what a demon is and in turn our preconceptions of the deep as a barren, lifeless place.

I switch on my torch at last, can stumble walk, forward just back

But on and on then• ‘On and on’ = assonance.

– Shows the Demon is a determined character.

The sun’s not needed...no angels here thank god

• Rejection of the two things that make humanity function– Spirituality– Food (no sun = no food)

Structure

• One long stanza which give us the impression we are slowly sinking down to the depths with the demon. If the poem was written in more than one stanza this flow would not be so apparent.

Character

• Why us a demon as a character?• What is the character of the demon?