Basking Shark Quotes

• "To stub an oar on a rock"


  Word choice - comparing the basking shark to a rock implies that it is dull, rough and indicates the shark's immovability
• "slounge out of the sea"


  Word choice - 'slounge' highlights the lazy and slow ponderous movement of the creature.

  
  

  Neologism - lounge and slouch combined to create this word.
• "is a thing that happened once (too often) to me."


  Tone - humorous, as he doesn't want to experience this encounter again
• "on a sea tin-tacked with rain"


  Compound adjective uses alliterative 't' sound, making it almost onomatopoeic as it mimics the sound of rain.

  
  

  Sound of tin tack dropping, replicates the sound of water droplets, and replicates the shape of it
• "He displaced more than water"


  Literal - but also metaphorical in the way in which his opinion about the shark changes
• "decadent townee"


  Word choice of 'decadent' which connotes to self-indulgence, mocking himself
• "Shook a wrong branch of his family tree"


  The family tree belongs to the shark - MacCaig that is out of place
• "so who's the monster?"


  Volta - turning point in his line of thought. On reflection he asks this question - realisation that HE is the monster
• "thought made me grow pale"


  Aware of the monstrous and primitive nature of humans
• "sail after sail, the tall fin slid away and then the tail"

  The sequence of long vowels suggests the gradual exit of the long shark.

  
  

  Word choice - 'slid' graceful, elegant, agile movements rather than clumsy or bulky. Reinforces the fact that the speaker no longer sees the shark as an imposing, inferior creature - now sees it as awe-inspiring
• "and then the tail"


  iambic - it's a release, mimics the slow disappearance of the shark.
• Structure

  The repeated use of caesura and enjambment create the effect of a natural, personal voice just speaking to us with an outpouring of emotion about a personal thing that happened to them.

  
  

  In contrast to this, there is a tight rhyme scheme, AAA,BBB,CCC, etc, and carefully controlled rhythmic patterns.

  
  

  The almost childish rhyme scheme mimics the innocence of the shark and the ignorance of the speaker. The slow and steady rhythm also mimics the slow and lazy movements of the shark.