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After discussions on the forums, I wanted to sort of collate all my thoughts and ideas about John Cooper Clarke's 'Beasley Street' - and here seemed to be the best place!

I've read John Cooper Clarke poetry before, but very different in style. The main one I remember is 'I Wanna Be Yours' (http://www.cyberspike.com/clarke/yours.html) which has a totally different tone, so I was surprised to see him crop up as a protest poet.

I like this poem a lot; it's one I felt very drawn to when first listening to all of the poems at the start of this unit. It's cutting, witty and wry, detailing a run-down (probably council-owned) area and its inhabitants: a social commentary on the way people were forced to live in this awful deprived way. John Cooper Clarke lived in the Thatcher years: this is most likely based on real observation.

There is strong use of metre and rhythm; it feels like a song - and indeed works very well with the musical accompaniment as there are in some recordings. John Cooper Clarke delivers this poem aggressively and swiftly. Each verse (it is composed in 12 stanzas/verses) has the rhyme scheme ababcdcd, with the last line being the refrain of 'Beasley Street.' Mostly, the rhymes are full and powerful, although there are instances of half-rhyme (e.g. laughs/photographs). The rhyme really highlights the end words, allowing a vivid and dark picture of 'Beasley Street.' On the penultimate verse, there is use of internal rhyme ('easy, greasy, queasy,/ beastly Beasley Street) which has the effect of building intensity; the augmentative effect really hammers home the sense of unpleasantness, and the harsh, bitter tone of the whole poem/song.

John Cooper Clarke also uses alliteration to great effect. The alliterative 'p' sound in 'People turn to poison/ Quick as lager turns to piss' makes the speaker sound disdainful; the harshness of the consonant sound helps with this. Another example of alliteration is: 'When the yellow cats are yawning.' The long vowel sound of 'yawning' is really highlighted here, and it stands out because it slows the pace down in an otherwise fast-paced poem. This instance of alliteration perhaps indicate the never-ending mundanity of life on down-trodden 'Beasley street.' One further example of alliteration is: 'Rats all have rickets' - even the vermin in this place suffer. There are many more examples to be found; alliteration is a key device for imagery in Cooper Clarke's work here.

It's striking that that recordings even now muffle out the name of 'Keith Joseph'; I think this shows the power that poetry has as a vehicle for protest.

I didn't really understand the reference to the Fu Manchu moustache in the fifth verse? I'm hoping someone will come forward with a bright idea... 

As pointed out by another student, there is a sort of film theme going on through it. On rereading I feel it adds to the poem - perhaps this is is so awful that it could only be a movie. Or, on the converse, that it's just going through the motions, here we go, another film. Possibly a reference to never feeling totally included and being a part of the community, as one is merely a spectator at a film. JCC is a spectator here, but perhaps the inhabitants of Beasley Street are too - there's no community spirit, no camaraderie.

I also noticed a shift from general 'Beasley Street' to 'number 16' but I'm not sure this has particular significance.

I've really enjoyed reading this poem, and reading other people's responses too; I wasn't alive during this period, so it's been interesting to hear people's personal experiences. I was particularly interested in the possible allusion to Sid Viscous from the Sex Pistols (I love the Sex Pistols!), in the line 'Eyes dead as vicious fish.' It was really great to be able to come on the main forum and read other people's responses; it helps me build up a more complete picture in my own mind.

I found a quote from the man himself about this poem:

“To me it’s a very patchy piece, some of it works better than others,” Clarke revealed, “Yet I think it’s the one the people seem to think is a very important piece. The reason why people probably hold Beasley Street in such affection is down to the Beasley Streets that we all know,” he continued. “The fully furnished dustbins that lurk in provincial northern towns or London outskirts. With almost Dickensian colour and flare.”  _{(Jon Kutner (2014) 'Beasley Street (John Cooper Clarke)', accessed at http://www.jonkutner.com/beasley-street-john-cooper-clarke/ 16th November)}

A new week, and a new way of working. I have to say I prefer working from books, but that's just a personal preference (there's something about the feel of a book in your hands...); I know that any student will need to be able to assimilate information from many different sources.

Today, I completed the exercise about interpreting a poem in another language, in this case French. I could understand the majority of the poem without the translation as I have studied French, which is a bit of a shame, because it meant it was harder to just listen to the sounds. 

I enjoyed reading Rimbaud's poem 'Le dormer du val' and it's made me want to know more about him! He wrote this poem when he was only 16, and continued writing poetry until 20, becoming more experimental. This poem is clearly an early work; it is in the classic sonnet format. 

According to Wikipedia: "Rimbaud was known to have been a libertine and for being a restless soul, having engaged in an at times violent romantic relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly two years. After the end of his literary career, he traveled extensively on three continents as a merchant before his death from cancer just after his thirty-seventh birthday.^[4] As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to Symbolism and, among other works, A Season in Hell, which was a significant precursor to modernist literature."

He appears to have been very influential on a number of very well known artists, including: Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller and Van Morrison. He has had a number of films made of his life from people of different nationalities, including 'Total Eclipse' featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as a lead role; he evidently made a huge impact. Many of his poems were published after his death. He also wrote a lot of letters which have been published, luckily for inquisitive people like me. At 16, he wrote:

"I'm now making myself as scummy as I can. Why? I want to be a poet, and I'm working at turning myself into a seer. You won't understand any of this, and I'm almost incapable of explaining it to you. The idea is to reach the unknown by the derangement of all the senses. It involves enormous suffering, but one must be strong and be a born poet. It's really not my fault."

Obviously, a very intelligent and thoughtful young man. I wonder if his violent relationship was the reason he stopped writing? He died young - probably of bone cancer. As his father left early, he would have spent time with his mother who is described as a "withdrawn, stubborn and taciturn" person, apparently the opposite of his father. She appeared to have been very strict with her sons, making them learn hundreds of Latin verses by heart with punishment for not completing this meaning she starved them. He excelled at school, but I can see why he wanted to run away so much... (Poor kids!) Apparently he ran away through boredom and search for adventure, but it seems to me that his home situation might have had more to do with it than is credited! He became openly hostile and drank, stole and cursed - nothing that normal teenagers don't do nowadays! His father had nothing to do with his three children: he wasn't present at their births or baptisms, and after the birth of the third child, Isabelle (Arthur was the second child), he left. The couple never divorced, but never regained contact.

His relationship with the American Paul Verlaine (also a poet) was short, but violent. Verlaine behaved like a madman in many ways, and ended up in prison. Rimbaud is later said to have regretted not continuing their relationship...

He completely changed careers to become a tradesman after leaving the poetic world. There are many speculations as to why, but I suppose no one will know the true reason, despite there being a deluge of autobiographical information about Rimbaud (mostly letters).

"I saw that all beings are fated to happiness: action is not life, but a way of wasting some force, an ennervation. Morality is the weakness of the brain.''

Clearly, a very troubled man, but he went on to inspire future generations. I'd like to look more at his later work.

Having put aside TMA01 for the time being, I've got stuck into poetry! (Had yesterday off as I had a meeting with my local MP, John Penrose, on behalf of the lobby group Thirty Eight Degrees.)

I must say: it's rather wonderful to listen and read poetry and for it to be called 'working!' I know a lot of the poems already, which works in my favour and some of them off by heart. I always read poetry aloud if I can, so I didn't really need this pointing out to me but it was great fun listening to all the recordings. I took longer than the specified hour because I re-listened to some of them, and did a little background reading on some of the poets that I didn't know.

I particularly enjoyed 'Beasley Street' by John Cooper Clarke, and thought it was immensely powerful. Apparently they had to cut out the line referencing Keith Joseph on the BBC which I guess makes sense - it was in the middle of Thatcher's reign of terror, and he was supposedly the man behind the scenes with power. Really powerful poem.

I hadn't read the Sylvia Plath 'You're' poem before, but I enjoyed it. Both of Grace Nichols' poems I know and enjoy - particularly having them read to me; ditto John Agard and Benjamin Zephaniah (who I have heard speak aloud at an event when I was in year nine - what a long time ago!) Paradise Lost is a little more opaque to me; Milton is always going to be a struggle I think. 

Anyway, I could rabbit on about the poems - but basically, I listened to them and had fun.

In case anyone reads this, my idea for a definition of a poem was this: 'Poems are a type of text that, unlike prose, do not have to adhere to conventional 'correct' language usage. They may have metre or rhyme; likewise they may not. They are generally not written as a block of text, and tend to feature strong imagery and other literary devices.'

So - what do you think a poem is? (Imaginary person reading this)