Unfounded Infatuation
In “Beguiling,” the narrator describes in a very brief poem the lengths to which he is willing to go to garner the attention of an unnamed woman. The narrator describes her as beguiling—a word that means captivating and charismatic. The narrator is wholly and completely infatuated with this woman, even though he has not provided us (the readers) with any context for this infatuation. An assumption could be made, therefore, that there is little reason for him to be so fascinated with her. Similarly, in “The Leader,” the narrator desperately wants to be the leader of an unknown and unnamed group or activity. He nearly begs to be so and, in this way, is similarly infatuated with the idea of being in a leadership role that he does not consider the responsibilities that follow. As such, once he is finally made the leader, he passes the responsibility to someone else.
Tranquility
In “The Time I Like Best,” the narrator uses a very brief poem to share and describe why 6:00 in the morning, directly following a snowfall is his favorite time of day. Though this poem is short, its simplicity captures and shares with the reader the intense sense of peace that the narrator feels early in the morning. The unfettered snowfall soothes the narrator in the early hours of the morning, when humans will not have had time to trudge through the snowflakes and ruin its perfection.
Specificity (Or A Lack Thereof)
A clandestine theme that is subtly present in each of Roger McGough’s poems is a complete lack of specificity. Each of McGough’s very brief poems thrusts readers into the middle of a situation, experience, or emotion with little to no background, context, or information. This is a powerful literary technique, as it allows the reader to construct most of the context for each poem. In “Q,” for example, the narrator describes the frustrating irony in waiting in a line, only to have to move to another line, once the front is reached. Similarly, in “Beguiling,” which is a shockingly short poem of only four lines, the narrator simply describes a woman who is so beguiling that merely the sight of her can instill in the narrator a powerful sense of motivation and drive. In this way, most of McGough’s poems are purposefully vague; he intentionally withholds context, setting, and details, as this allows the reader/audience to create the poem in their own image.
