Give - Simon Armitage

Give - Simon Armitage

Of all the public places, dear to make a scene, I've chosen here.Of all the doorways in the world to choose to sleep, I chose yoursI'm on the street under the stars.For coppers I can dance or sing, For silver - swallow swords, eat fire,For gold - escape from locks and chains.It's not as if I'm holding out for frankincense or myrrh, just change.You give me tea. That's big of you. I'm on my knees. I beg of you

Presentation by Ben Smith

Presented by Ben, Daisy, Esme, Nicole and Niamh

An analysis of the poem:

Give by Simon Armitage

"Of all the public places, dear to make a scene, I've chosen here"

"Of all the public places dear to make a scne, I've chosen here"

This could mean, out of all the places in the entire world that are public and can be lived from, they have chosen this place. They could have chosen this place because it has a special meaning to them or they could be choosing to live there because there might be a lot of foot traffic, therefore making it a good place for begging. They could have also chosen there because it would be the most comfortable place to sleep and the easiest place to get food.

Nicole

"For coppers i can dance or sing,for silver - swallow swords, eat fire,for gold - escape from locks and chains"

"For coppers i can dance or sing,for silver - swallow swords, eat fire,for gold - escape from locks and chains"

In this extract from the poem, the homeless person is listing all the different things that they could do to earn money, it is almost as if they are daydreaming about it. As they list these things they use repetition, saying “For coppers”, “For silver”, and “For gold”, this makes the reader pay special attention to this part in the poem. It tells me that he is basically saying that the higher the value of money, the more extreme things he will do. This could show that they would be earning the money instead of just being given it because people feel sorry for them.. It shows a broken man who will do anything for even a little bit of money.

Esme and Daisy

"It's not as if i'm holding out for frankincense or myrrh, just change"

"It's not as if i'm holding out for frankincense or myrrh, just change"

The person could be asking for change as in money (like they might do if they are homeless). However, they could also mean a big change in the way their life s going. "Holding out" could mean trying to survive for as long as they can, or it could mean trying to survive for as lomg as they can, or it could mean reaching out for help. Futhermoe, frankincense and myrrh are both seen as valuable, yet change is more important to this person. Maybe this is because they are not looking for riches, but something more abstract. "Just change" makes it sound like a basic, simple thing, when they could be asking for something more complex. In addition, by "change" being the last word of the stanza, it sounds like it's something the person desperately needs, even though they haven't told us their reasoning for it.

NIamh

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