'In the Snack Bar' by Edwin Morgan is an emotional poem that explores the theme of bravery through the character of an old blind man. The characterisation of this old man and the imagery, word choice and line structure Morgan employs help to convey to the reader the main theme of bravery and also help to evoke sympathy and compassion for the disabled old man.

The most significant poetic technique employed by Morgan in this emotional poem is undoubtedly imagery; the transferred epithet 'dismal hump' helps to convey to the reader the old man's plight and the burden he literally has to carry with him all his life. Morgan furthers the notion of the man's plight through his use of the simile 'like a monstrous animal caught in a tent/in some story'. The comparison of the disabled man to a monster dehumanises the man and further emphasises the extent of his plight and his isolation from society. This simile also conveys the man's bravery as it shows that despite him being a prisoner of his own disability - or metaphorically 'caught in a tent' - he refuses to give in to the pressures of his disability and his detachment from society. Morgan here, in my opinion, very effectively employs the simile and the transferred epithet to appeal to the reader and also to evoke sympathy for the disabled man which further augments the reader's understating of the man's bravery and endurance.
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Furthermore, Edwin Morgan's clever line structure throughout the poem helps to emphasise the power of the human spirit. For example, the repetition of the cliché 'inch by inch' emphasises the endurance of the old man and could also suggests that his life is like a cliché - overused to him and perhaps monotonous but he still fights. The poet furthers the notion of this through further repetition:

'He climbs, and steadily enough. /He climbs, we climb. He climbs /with many pauses.'

By placing a line break after 'he climbs' and 'steadily enough', the poet places deliberate ...

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