Important comprehension question!

Question

Hello!

Some parts are really
really diffucult to unterstand for me! [:^)]
It would be very nice if someone would answere some of my questions!

Title:
Overheard in Country Sligo
----> what does the word overheard really mean in the context?

I married a man from County Roscommon
and I live at the back of beyond
with a field of cows and a yard of hens
and six white geese on the pond

At my door's a square of yellow corn
caught up by its corners and shaken,
and the road runs down through the open gate
and freedom´s there for the taking

I had thought to work on the Abbey stage
or have my name in a book,
to see my thought on the printed page,
or still the crowd with a look.

But I turn to fold the breakfast cloth
and to polish the lustre and brass,
to order and dust the tumbled rooms
and find my face in the glass.

I ought to feel I'm a happy woman
for lie in the lap of the land,
and I married a man from County Roscommon
and I live in the back of beyond.
Gillian Clarke

1.) In stanza two I have a problem with the sentences "caught up my its corners and shaken" what does the author want to explain with it?
2.) Also not really clear is what he means with "freedom's there for the taking"?
Does he want to describe that there is the freedom on the land but she do not use it?
3.) Stanza three: What is the Abbey stage? I think this stanze describes what the woman wish but it is only a wish. Maybe she wants reputation for her work?
Or describes she what the does before the marriage?
4.) What are her wishes does she want to be an actress? or work with literature?
In stanza 4 it is nor clear for me what "tumbled" rooms in the context mean!?
5.) In stanza 5: Is a problem for me what the writer want to say with "I lie in the lap the land"?

Thank you very much for your help!

best wishes! bye
kasopaya (*)<---- should be a star but the emoticons doesn`t work

Guest · Accepted Answer

Most Poetry is like this..The writers do this so that people will think and get into the characters.You can say what you think about the lines in the poem.
But you will need:
P->Point
E->Evidence
A->Analysis

You can say anything you like but you have to prove that you can understand it in the exams.Like I can say The title is wierd-Point, Evidence->The word Overheard, Analysis-> I think the writer is trying to say the woman in the poem was overheard by someone when she was talking to someone or to herself.

MrPedantic · Answer

Hello Kasopaya

Some tentative suggestions:

'Overheard...': the poem is a soliloquy. Since a soliloquy = someone talking to
himself (or herself), there is a convention that all soliloquies are in effect
'overheard' by the writer (and the reader).

At my door's a square of yellow corn
caught up by its corners and shaken

The field of corn ripples in the wind like a tablecloth
shaken out of a door.

and freedom´s there for the taking

The speaker can set off along the road whenever she
wants - she has the freedom to depart. When fruit is 'there
for the taking', for instance, it can be picked whenever you
want. Although the speaker is conscious of this freedom, she
seems unable to take advantage of it.

I had thought to work on the Abbey stage

The Abbey Theatre is a famous theatre in Dublin, where some
of the plays of W.B. Yeats were first performed. The speaker
wanted to write plays, or to be an actress, when she was
younger. She would also have liked to write books. We are to
assume she did neither.

'Or still the crowd with a look' may be a reference to Maud Gonne,
a famous political activist in Ireland in the late 19th/early
20th centuries. Yeats wrote a large number of poems for her. She was
well known for her statuesque appearance, and also for her ability
to control a crowd with her oratory.

to order and dust the tumbled rooms

'Tumbled' as in disorganised, like a bed that's been slept in. There
is also probably a reference to the woman's private life with the man
from Roscommon: we are to assume that this has a strong
physical element. ('Tumble' can mean 'go to bed with'.)

I ought to feel I'm a happy woman
for lie in the lap of the land

I think this means 'for I lie in the lap of the land'. We talk about
'living in the lap of luxury', to mean 'having a very luxurious
lifestyle'. This woman does not live in luxury, though; she lives in the
'lap' of the countryside, i.e. the 'middle of nowhere'.

At the beginning of the poem, we look out of the door with the woman. She
seems to want to 'take the road of freedom'. She remembers her
previous aspirations. Then she turns away from the door, and back to her
disorderly house and life. She feels she ought to be happy in her life;
but the reader can sense that she isn't.

P.

Anonymous · Answer

and freedoms there for the taking

by this gillian clarke is suggesting that the woman can leave at any time but she chooses not to do so because of the cultural influence of the region. in ireland catholics are very strict and divorce is not an acceptable option she may have also been presured into marrying young and if she did leave she would recieve nothing.

Becky

Anonymous · Answer

Overheard means something which was heard in some one else's conversation. Not said directly to the author, she over heard it in another conversation.

1. The author is comparing the corn with a domestic object. here she is conparing the corn with a table cloth (caught up by its corners to be shaken, to clean it)

2.Freedoms there for the taking means she can leave and be free, she is not trapped, she has the choice to leave.

3.The Abbey is a famous theatre in Ireland. This means she wishes to act on stage.

4.Tumbled meaning untidy, disordered rooms.

5.'in the lap of the land' meaning the best part of the land. A beautiful part of land.

I hope i have helped you in some way,Im 14 years old and am studying this poem at school.

Anonymous · Answer

hiya

im doing this for my GCSE now

1) In stanza two I have a problem with the sentences "caught up my its corners and shaken" what does the author want to explain with it?

this realy confused me to but it means

you no when you grab a dovet by it corners and shake it to get it all flat it means that

2.) Also not really clear is what he means with "freedom's there for the taking"?

it means she can go if she wants to but she dosent want to. its like there is freedom for her out sider of her house work but she dosnt want to leave.

3.) Stanza three: What is the Abbey stage? I think this stanze describes what the woman wish but it is only a wish. Maybe she wants reputation for her work?
Or describes she what the does before the marriage?

they were her ambitions but then she got married. she wanted to perform on the abbey stage but then got married so now she can't

i havent got a clue about the 2nd part of your question

but the first part they were just somethings that she wanted to do like two different jobs

dont no about 5) either might mean like shes the only one around

hope i could be of help

goodluck tra x

Anonymous · Answer

Hello everyone!

Firstly, thankyou soooo much to Kasopaya! [Y] I am also doing an essay on 'Overheard in County Sligo' and i looked eveywhere on the internet for a full copy of this poem and failed miserably. I was just about to give up completely, as no site had the full poem, when i saw you had pasted the poem into your question! Admittedly it did mean i had to do the essy, but still THANKYOU!

Secondly, I would like to say sorry to kasopaya!!!

I reallly tried to answer you questions to say thanks properly, but i found i was stuck on the same thing...

!! Please someone help me!!

Love Ffion ***

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, your probably done now on this but for other people who r probably doing this now for their GCSE rite now I think I understand a few bits of your questions. I believe that County Sligo is in Ireland, and divorce is quite frowned upon a bit likewith Henry the VIII... anyway I don't know if you noticed but it Repeats I married a manthe reason she can't leave is to do with marraige and the difficulty of divorce and that is the problem, she doesn't want this what seems to be a perfect life. The open gate means that she can go but i she can't let herself because its difficult.

'Caught up by its corners' is like a sheet its very clinical and methodic her life is the same everyday which can be seen in other bits in the poem. I also believe she's a house wife looking to be recognised instead of being at home unoticed. 'I lie in the lap of the land'?

I think that is due to the fact where she lives means its awkward to divorce.

Hope this helps

Anonymous · Answer

the first two lines of the poem are usually in italics. The reason for this could be that the only thing the author overheard are those two lines, and he made up the rest. It's an interesting way of thinking about the poem (and teaching it) , if you heard the first two lines would you feel negative or positive? Some people may dream of living in the back of beyond, others may see it as being just very very lonely.

Turning and folding the breakfast table is a pointer not only to folding the table cloth but also folding up her dreams that were at the beginning of her life and putting them away.

Anonymous · Answer

4) Her wish is actually - to be a 'someone' in the world. What she seeks is fame. She herself is actually not sure of what she wants (or wanted) to be but, whatever be it, she wanted 'lof and dom' (old english for 'fame and glory'). She wanted to be recognised by one and all. In short, she wanted to be famous.

The title is "overheard in country sligo" because the poet Gillian Clarke had overheard the lines-
"I married a man from County Roscommon
and I live at the back of beyond"
and she composed this poem taking inspiration from these lines.

Important comprehension question!

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