Long blind, hunchback born, half paralysed.
The description is given in a mundane and list-like fashion, emphasising the multiple physical disabilities this man has to contend with. The reader is encouraged to see the man through the eyes of the onlookers in the snack bar. At first, the faceless, therefore inhuman, figure of the old man evokes repulsion, but, the clever positioning of the words ‘if he could see’ at the end of line 15, just as the speaker “notice[s] now his stick”, so too does the reader recognise the cruel physical disabilities the man is suffering.
What is particularly interesting is that it is the man himself who is given a voice in the poem, thereby affirming his humanity. However, the few words he utters reduce him once again to his feeble state and expose his vulnerability, as he must rely on others for even his most basic needs:
I want - to go to the - toilet.
This line removes any sense of horror that is conveyed at the start of the poem and highlights one of the poem’s main themes, that of the fragility of the human condition. Like a child, the man must depend on the goodwill of others to fulfill his needs. He is denied basic human dignity because of this dependence, and his sense of discomfort is highlighted by his broken statement – he does not choose to be this way, but must in order to survive.
The poetic technique adopted by Morgan, in conjunction with the raw use of language, serves to convey the unromantic nature of life, and the life of this man in particular. Perhaps one of the strongest messages that come across in the poem is the fact that our choices as human beings are limited by our circumstances. When the speaker helps the man to the toilet, the old man attempts to harness some control by instructing his helper:
I take his arm. ‘Give me-your arm - it’s better,’ he says.
In this way, he retains a sense of control over his life and the person that he must rely on. The trip to and from the toilet is, in itself, an achievement. The reader is confronted with the hazardous world of someone who is blind and disabled. The clear vision that is often taken for granted is stripped away and the reader, like the old man, must negotiate the dangers of the everyday world. Suddenly, even the most mundane items, “crunch of spilt sugar, slidy puddle from the night’s umbrellas, table edges, people’s feet”, take on greater significance. The imagery this creates is excellent as sounds and smells come to the fore as they are louder, more vivid, to the blind man. Although the speaker is neither blind, nor disabled, the poem conveys a sense that the speaker empasises strongly with the old man. Their actions merge in the line “And slowly we go down. And slowly we go down”. Despite their differences, they are linked by their mutual human condition, where they walk as one. This is mirrored later in the poem in line 63 when the man’s humiliating ordeal is over: “And slowly we go up. And slowly we go up”. This mirroring leaves the reader with a sense of inevitability, which suggests the inevitability of death.
The use of alliteration in line 60 of the penultimate stanza – “persisting patience of the undefeated” – draws attention to another of the poem’s central themes, that of the indomitable spirit of the human being, even in the most miserable of situations. The words “persisting patience” sum up the whole existence of this man and, as the following line suggests, that of all humanity.
“He climbs with many pauses but with that one persisting patience of the undefeated which is the nature of man when all is said”, clearly describes how Morgan admires this old blind man’s determination, reinforced using the paradox ‘The faltering, unfaltering steps’ showing that even though the man’s feeble old body may be slowly giving out on him, his spirit is as strong as ever. This is again reinforced in the final line of the poem, with this strong emotional statement:
“Dear Christ, to be born for this!”
Morgan conveys compassion at how this old blind man survives this life of hell he has been born into, while at the same time admiring that very survival.
The poem is particularly effective at using the fate of one individual to draw the reader’s attention to the wider understanding of the human condition. The irony is that it was not only the old man who was blind but also society as a whole who was blind to his basic needs. This is especially true in the final stanza when the speaker reflects on the man and considers the cruel reality of what he must contend with day in day out:
His life depends on many who would evade him.
But he cannot reckon up the chances,
having one thing to do,
to haul his blind hump through these rains of August.
The impact this creates on the reader is a stark and depressing one. Not only does it underline the misery of just one individual, it also accuses those who “would evade him” as if he carries a curse around with him to taint those who come into contact with him. However, there is an underlying sense that the evasion and the man’s solitariness is due to the fact that he is too strong a reminder of the fate that could befall any one of us, and the ultimate fate that we are all destined for - death.
Edwin Morgan’s poem is stating a clear message about the darker side of humanity, as suggested at the beginning of the essay makes a strong moral statement about the nature of humans being self-centred and uncaring, he does this by focusing on the treatment of this old blind man and his daily struggle. The poem’s real strength is Morgan’s use of imagery, the impact the vivid imagery left on me as the reader is one of great sadness as it reflects a side of life you try to avoid thinking about.