KING BILLY
Grey over Riddrie the clouds piled up,
dragged their rain through the cemetery trees
The gates shone cold. Wind rose flaring the hissing leaves,
the branches swung, heavy, across the lamps.
Gravestones huddled in drizzling shadow,
flickering streetlight scanned the requiescats,
a name and an urn, a date, a dove picked out, lost, half regained.
What is this dripping wreath, blown from its grave red, white, blue and gold
'To Our Leader of Thirty years Ago'
Bareheaded, in dark suits, with flutes and drums,
they brought him here, in procession seriously,
King Billy of Brigton, dead, from Bridgeton Cross:
a memory of violence, brooding days of empty bellies,
billiard smoke and a sour pint,
boots or fists, famous sherrickings, the word, the scuffle,
the flash, the shout, bloody crumpling in the close,
bricks for papish windows, get the Conks next time,
the Conks ambush the Billy Boys, the Billy Boys the Conks
till Sillitoe scuffs the razor down the stank -
No, but it isn't the violence they remember
but the legend of a violent man born poor,
gang-leader in the bad times of idleness and boredom,
lost in better days, a bouncer in a betting club,
a quiet man at last, dying alone in Bridgeton in a box bed.
So a thousand people stopped traffic for the hearse of a folk hero
and the flutes threw 'Onward Christian Soldiers' to the winds
from unironic lips, the mourners kept in step, and there were some who wept
Go from the grave. The shrill flutes are silent, the march dispersed.
Deplore what is to be deplored, and then find out the rest.
Edwin Morgan, 1963
A poem about the gang leader
of the Brigton Billy Boys.
In order that a reader may think deeply about a poem, it is often the intention of a poet to lead the reader along one train of thought before changing that notion radically to the exact counter (opposite) argument.
One such poem is "King Billy" by Edwin Morgan. At first the poet makes us feel disapproval towards Billy and his actions and then twists our impression around to make him seem like a product of his time.
This is a poem with a sudden change or surprise ending!
King Billy or Billy Fullerton was a real person who you can read about here: http://www.glesga.ukpals.com/profiles/billyboys1.htm
Stanza 1:
"Grey over Riddrie the clouds piled up,
dragged their rain through the cemetery trees."
Immediate feeling of doom/gloom/depression.
"Piled up" Lovely word choice which suggests there are so many clouds moving so slowly that they are having to wait as if they are in a traffic jam in the sky.
"Dragged" This is another lovely example of word choice creating a gloomy/depressing atmosphere as the clouds sound as if they are really heavy with water and will not run out of rain or blow quickly on.
"The gates shone cold" = So much rain the gates are running with water which shines in the streetlights. The image we get is of cold misery.
"Gravestones huddled in drizzling shadow." This is an example of personification where the gravestones are having to huddle together for warmth. It is effective because the gravestones are items we would expect to know how to put up with the cold.
"A name and an urn..." Clever use of punctuation to imitate the effect of the light being deflected by wind and branches so that gravestones are picked out and then lost as the light changes.
"What is this dripping wreath, blown from its grave red, white, blue and gold
'To Our Leader of Thirty years Ago'"
The wreath is a clever trick to link the dramatic opening to the rest of the poem and the funeral scene.
STANZA 1 puts the reader in a bad mood with all this horrible weather and sets the reader up to hate Billy Fullerton as we are already feeling depressed when we imagine the scene. Therefore this dramatic opening is important to set the reader on their voyage of discovery.
Stanza 2 The flashback
The long second verse is started by flashing back to Billy Fullerton's funeral."Bareheaded, in dark suits, with flutes and drums,
they brought him here, in procession seriously,"
The poet uses inversion (changes the natural word order to put emphasis on the first word)
He places "bareheaded" first to show the level of respect people had for Billy at his funeral.
The people play flutes and drums which hints towards the orange order. A group of people who celebrate the life of King William of orange who championed the protestant faith.
FURTHER FLASHBACK
"a memory of violence, brooding days of empty bellies,
billiard smoke and a sour pint,
boots or fists, famous sherrickings, the word, the scuffle,
the flash, the shout, bloody crumpling in the close,
bricks for papish windows, get the Conks next time,
the Conks ambush the Billy Boys, the Billy Boys the Conks
till Sillitoe scuffs the razor down the stank -"
Here Morgan desribes the descent from poverty to quick violence.
The 1920's was a time of great depression and Morgan uses the phrase "Brooding days" to show how people spent their time thinking in a frustrated angry way as there was nothing else to do.
"Empty bellies" shows that people had not got enough to eat due to the high levels of unemployment.
"billiard smoke and a sour pint" shows that the young men were spending their days in the snooker halls trying to make 1 pint last all day.
"the word, the scuffle,
the flash, the shout, bloody crumpling in the close".
The frustration at not being employed leads to violence as Billy Fullerton uses these young men to fight in his gang. The commas are used to create a sense of speed to show how quickly a word/shout turns to somebody being left crumpled and beaten in an alley way.
THIS VIOLENCE IS TOTALLY SENSLESS AND THE READER IS ANGRY AT BILLY FULLERTON FOR USES THESE YOUNG DISILLUSIONED MEN.
"get the Conks next time,
the Conks ambush the Billy Boys, the Billy Boys the Conks"
Morgan uses repetition to show the repetitive nature of the fighting as it could go on forever with no clear winner. The reader hates what this sensless violence is doing to young men and to the city of Glasgow. Think of how violence like this would ruin areas of the city as they would become dangerous places for your children to play or for you to live. The reader hates Billy Fullerton and disapproves of the way he uses these young men.
"till Sillitoe scuffs the razor down the stank -"
Sillitoe is the police officer who squashes gangs. The use of alliteration (s) shows Billy's disgust at his livelihood being taken away.
STANZA 3
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