'Basking Shark' by Norman MacCaig

Quotes

'a rock'

metaphor. insulting the basking shark's intelligence, suggesting its dense.

'it rise'

word choice. MacCaig has no control over what the basking shark does. Whether he wants it to or not, it'll come out the water.

'slounge'

onomatopoeia. Word has connotations of lazy, slow and pondrous.

'(too often)'

sentence structure. Meeting just one is enough.

'but not too often- though enough'

sentence structure. he is being contradictory, he found it frightening, but a good thing.

'gain'

word choice. as frightening as he found it, it was a positive experience.

'met'

word choice. he feels this is more than a brief interaction.

'a sea tin-tacked with rain'

metaphor. provides an audio and visual of the rain.

'room sized monster... matchbox brain'

Word choice. He is suggesting the shark is of lesser value.

'he displaced more than water'

metaphor. MacCaig has been shifted mentally.

'he shoggled me centuries back'

word choice. he sees the shar as ancient and part of the evolutionary process.

'decadent townee'

word choice. someone who only cares about themselves. Someone who disregards nature.

'shook on a wrong branch of his family tree'

imagery. he believes humans shouldn't been at the top of the evolutionary process and the basking shark should be higher.

'swish up the dirt and , when it settles, a spring is all the clearer'

metaphor. his encounter has stirred his ideas and opinions.

'emerging... slime... everything'

word choice. since his experience understands his place in everything and nature's value.

'so who's the monster?'

sentence structure. MacCaig is suggesting that instead of the basking shark, humans are the predators.

'sail after sail'

metaphor. MacCaig now sees the shark as elegant and smooth.