Today in class, we read a poem called Magpies by Denis Glover.
It's a poem about a couple Tom and Elizabeth and how hard life was for them.Then we did a question sheet which asked about what some of the words mean't.
Here is the poem and the question sheet we had to do too. Let me know what you think of my reflections, Amelia.
When Tom and Elizabeth took the farm
The bracken made their bed
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said
Tom's hand was strong to the plough
and Elizabeth's lips were red
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said
Year in year out they worked
while the pines grew overhead
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said
But all the beautiful crops soon went
to the mortgage man instead
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said
Elizabeth is dead now (it's long ago)
Old Tom's gone light in the head
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said
The farm's still there. Mortgage corporations
couldn't give it away
and Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies say.
“The bracken that made their bed”
I think this means that their bed was made up of the plants around the farm, I think this means it was a challenge because they didn’t have anything, which makes it sound like their kinda poor.
2. “Tom’s hand was strong to the plough.”
Well they lived on a farm, so that means that Tom and his wife would of had to many jobs, so that the farm was always up and running.
But you would have to be strong and fit, to be able to deal with all the fitness needed to run a farm, and I’m sure he would be steady on the handle when it comes to keeping the farm safe.
This shows that when they first bought the farm, they were nice and young.
3. “But all the beautiful crops soon went to the mortgage man instead.”
I think this means that they might be getting old, and their jobs are in the farm. They probably don’t have any children either for extra help.
Which means they can’t produce as much crops, so all their hard work on the farm, only just covers the mortgage bill, for the farm.
4. “Old Tom’s gone light in the head”
I think it means he’s getting old and that he gets overloaded with pressure to make the crops and pay the bills, but he could get sick. Really sick.
5. “The farms still there, mortgage operations/couldn’t give it away”
I think it means they died, but they can’t find anyone with the money to pay to renovate the house and still have the money to buy it and live well too.
6. I think they changed what they magpies say in the last stanza because the magpies, had been in the past before.
Maybe they were finally in the present looking forward to the future.
7. I think it’s a sad story because the magpies, don’t have their “family.”
The mortgage man of course would have needed to have the money so that he could have a nice life, but it just reminds you how many families would have gone through this, in real life.
The magpies also sounded kinda like they are making fun of the pair, so maybe the weren't so family like.
