Blind Horse Essay

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Blind Horse By Norman MacCaig “Blind Horse”, by Norman MacCaig is a convincing and well written poem that is told as though it is an observation of a horse that has lost its sight. The poem communicates to the reader the horse’s confusion and frustration in a very clever way, using various poetic techniques. The poet successfully manages to create an emotional reaction that makes the reader feel very sympathetic by the clever use of the poet’s language and techniques. At first, to create the atmosphere of sympathy towards the horse, the poet conveys the horse’s boredom and confusion. This is done from the very start of the poem with the use of imagery. This also works well as it sets the scene in the reader’s head and makes it somewhat more realistic: “He snuffles towards Pouches of water in the grass and doesn’t drink when he finds them.” This quote is taken from the very start of the poem and it is clear to see that even from this point, the poet is creating an emotional atmosphere as the reader can clearly imagine the scene and sense the way the horse is feeling within the situation. This is the starting point of the sympathy towards the animal being created. The use of enjambment here also conveys the slow speed of the time passing and this indicates the boredom and hopelessness that the horse is feeling, which again creates an emotional reaction. The poet also begins to use techniques such as caesura as well as the frequent use of enjambment throughout the poem. Punctuation is often only used to end a verse in this poem. These techniques are both used to drag out the time, therefore reflecting the horse’s feelings and creating an emotional and sympathetic
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