As the girl’s eyes start to adjust the bull becomes clearer:
“Then he was immense, his edges merging with the darkness”
The girl sees the bull for the first time. The connotations of “immense” are extremely large, immeasurable. She cannot tell where the bull ends or where he starts; to her it looks as if the bull fills up the whole outhouse. Clearly at this stage in the poem the little girl must feel threatened.
Later Lochhead uses an example of alliteration and synecdoche:
“Just a big bulk and a roar to be really scared of”
This comparers the little girl to the size of the bull saying he is so much bigger than her. This is followed by the use of present participle and onomatopoeia:
“trampling” and “clanking” clearly indicate the bull is really angry and is pulling at his chains to get away. Lochhead is describing that the bull is crazy and really angry:
“His eyes swivelled in great wedge of his tossed head”
The connotations of “swivelled” are of craziness or loss of control.
Near the end of verse one Lochhead continues this idea once again;
“He roared his rage”
This emphasis how the bull wants to escape and his anger. “His nostrils gaped”, continues this theme by further demonstrating how the bull is filled with rage and just about to lose control.
At the beginning of verse two Lochhead uses the conjunction “And” to show that she is changing direction. The poet then goes on to use contrasts to highlight the poem’s themes:
“and in the yard, oblivious hens picked their way out”
“And” is a turning point, telling us that something different is going to happen. “And” also indicates the persona changes. Additionally, “outside” shows the reader that there has been a change in scenery, which indicates that something different is going to happen. “Oblivious hens” is symbolism, referring to the woman being unaware, or none the wiser, of the dangerous “big bull” in the outhouse. This is basically saying that woman are oblivious of the danger that men can create and can put themselves into very dangerous situations, then don’t know how to get out of them. “Picked” is being contrasted with the “trampling” and “clanking” in verse one. This gives us a soft image of woman and a hard image of men.
Lochhead continues her contrast with:
“The faint and rather festive tinkling”
“Faint” is trying to tell us that the noise sounds muffled, and far away adding a sense of security for the hens. Even although the noise has actually been muffled by the outside it is much closer than the hens think, so the danger is closer. “Tinkling” is a contrasted with “clanking” in verse one. It is faint and muffled to the hens. It creates a positive image of Christmas, and festival music. This is ironic because the situation is the complete opposite. The clanking of the chains is nothing like the sound of the festive tinkling and music. Lochhead later indicates the strength of the bull by using the phrase, “Straining at his chains”, to indicate that the bull is trying really hard to escape and using all of his strength.
Later in this verse, Lochhhead returns to the voice of the mature persona in order to discuss the theme of gender stereotyping:
“I had always half-known he existed”
Lochhead is talking about women in domestic abuse relationships. It is suggested that she has always known the man could hurt her, but has never done anything to stop him. This makes the reader think Lochhead is passing judgement on women as well those who refuse to acknowledge the potential danger men possess.
Lochhead uses an effective symbol to indicate how threatening the bull or these men are:
“this antidote and Anti-Christ his anarchy threatening the eggs”,
This symbolises the threat of men to woman and children. It emphasises the contrast between men and woman in terms of nature and emotion, signifying that men pick on smaller defenceless beings. It suggests to the reader that woman feel men are capable of evil and have a lack of control.
However, in verse three, the poet returns to the young girl’s voice and she describes her escape from the black bull and the farm. Lochhead uses syntax and caesura to show the girl’s initial fear and reaction to the bull, “I ran”. Starting the verse with this creates a dramatic effect. It shows her fear as she runs from the bull. She also uses personification and onomatopoeia in this line:
“my pigtails thumping on my back in fear”
Lochhead indicated the girl’s heart is thumping because she is so scared and anxious.
The alliteration on the letter “B” is again used in verse three, but this time it makes the link between the bull and the new threat to the young girl’s safety, “big boys”. This shows a link between the black bull in the first verse and the big boys in the third verse as they both have alliteration in the letter “B”.
The boys in this verse are destroying small, defenceless elements of nature around them.
“who pulled the wings from butterflies and blew up frogs with straws”.
This indicates the boys indulge in reckless cruelty of nature, comparative of taking away women’s freedom and identity. These actions mirror the destructive nature and aggressiveness of the bull.
“Revelation” is thought provoking in that it challenges the reader to consider the relationship between the sexes and the impact that the male of our species can have over females. Lochhead does not allow her readers to be indifferent to her message, forcing them to consider her views. Agreement with her sentiments may not be total but readers will undoubtedly find themselves having to consider their own opinions.
