Gooseberry Season

Gooseberry Season

By Simon Armitage

Which reminds me. He appeared
at noon, asking for water. He’d walked from town
after losing his job, leaving me a note for his wife and his brother
and locking his dog in the coal bunker.
We made him a bed

and he slept till Monday.
A week went by and he hung up his coat.
Then a month, and not a stroke of work, a word of thanks,
a farthing of rent or a sign of him leaving.
One evening he mentioned a recipe

for smooth, seedless gooseberry sorbet
but by then I was tired of him: taking pocket money
from my boy at cards, sucking up to my wife and on his last night
sizing up my daughter. He was smoking my pipe
as we stirred his supper.

Where does the hand become the wrist?
Where does the neck become the shoulder? The watershed
and then the weight, whatever turns up and tips us over that
razor’s edge
between something and nothing, between
one and the other.

I could have told him this
but didn’t bother. We ran him a bath
and held him under, dried him off and dressed him
and loaded him into the back of the pick-up.
Then we drove without headlights

to the county boundary,
dropped the tailgate, and after my boy
had been through his pockets we dragged him like a mattress
across the meadow and on the count of four
threw him over the border.

This is not general knowledge, except
in gooseberry season, which reminds me, and at the table
I have been known to raise an eyebrow, or scoop the sorbet
into five equal portions, for the hell of it.
I mention this for a good reason.

 Summary of Gooseberry Season

• Popularity of “Gooseberry Season”: The poem, ‘Gooseberry Season’ was written by Simon Robert Armitage, a popular English novelist, poet, and playwright. This colloquial poetic piece was first published in his collection, The Shout, in 2005. The poem is currently known as a classic piece, containing host’s argument of why he killed his guest and dumped his body mercilessly. This indifference to a horrible act makes this poem of Armitage memorable.
• “Gooseberry Season” As a Representative of Callousness: The narrator states that something reminds of an incident that had happened a few days ago. It was about the man who comes to him to stay with him as a guest. The visitor had lost his job. So he had left a note to his wife and brother, and locked his dog in the coal bunker before visiting the narrator. They have made him comfortable but he continues sleeping until Monday and then spends time with them until they are fed up with his presence. And to top it all, he has been enjoying their hospitality without expressing gratitude to the host. He has not paid them anything neither for the food nor boarding while the host was spending their resources on him. To their surprise, he casually mentions gooseberry sorbet to make fun of the host. The host does not take it lightly and the entire family musters up the courage to kill him, making him “between something and nothing.” After that, they load him to throw his body on the country boundary and then forget about him. However, someday the host sees gooseberry in the season. The incident comes to his mind when the entire family members share gooseberry sorbet, throwing the incident into oblivion forever. He just mentions it because of the season of gooseberry.
• Major Themes in “Gooseberry Season”: Murder, callousness, and remorselessness are three major themes of the poem. Although the guest has teased the host much by his behavior, habits, and character, this is is a simple murder in which the entire family is involved. The way the narrator tells everything about it and feels nothing shows his callousness and indifferent attitude. He even does not feel remorse for this apparent murder and just recalls that moment after a long time when gooseberry season arrives. His aim is to tell the readers that it is a good reason to recall that old murder of his guest.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used In Gooseberry Season

literary devices often bring variety into simple literary works, adding sense to the hidden message of the poet. Simon Armitage also used some literary devices, and the analysis is as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /a/ and the sound of /aw/ in “at noon, asking for water. He’d walked from town” and the sound of /ee/ and the sound of /i/ in “after losing his job, leaving me a note for his wife and his brother”.
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound /w/ in “week went”, the sound of /s/ in “smooth seedless” and the sound of /w/ in “weight whatever.”
3. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

Which reminds me. He appearedat noon, asking for water. He’d walked from townafter losing his job, leaving me a note for his wife and his brotherand locking his dog in the coal bunker.

4. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /l/ and /k/ in “and locking his dog in the coal bunker”, the sound of /s/ and /r/ in “for smooth, seedless gooseberry sorbet” and the sound of /k/ and /r/ in “Than a month, and not a stroke of work, a word of thanks.”
5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “and locking his dog in the coal bunker”, “for smooth, seedless gooseberry sorbet” and “Where does the hand become the wrist.”
6. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poet has used the metaphor of gooseberry as a memory.
7. Motif: The poem shows the use of gooseberry as a motif to show the murder.
8. Paradox: The poem shows the use of a paradox such as “between something and nothing.”
9. Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. The writer posed rhetorical questions in the beginning of the poem to emphasize his point, such as, “Where does the hand become the wrist?” or “Where does the neck become the shoulder?”
10. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The pot has used gooseberry as a symbol of reminder.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Gooseberry Season

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Diction and Tone: The poem shows smooth and colloquial diction with a serious, somber, indifferent, as well as casual tone.
2. Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
3. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are seven stanzas in this poem, with each comprising a different number of verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from ‘Gooseberry Season’ are suitable to use when telling about guests having no manners to live and teaching how to behave as a guest.

A week went by and he hung up his coat.
Then a month, and not a stroke of work, a word of thanks,
a farthing of rent or a sign of him leaving.