IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE SET POEM 14 GUIDE: TOUCH AND GO
IGCSE English Literature Set Poem 14 Guide
TOUCH AND GO BY STEVIE SMITH
Context/Background
• English Poet, born in 1902 in Kingston upon Hull. Her real name was Florence Margaret
Smith and ‘Stevie’ was a nickname.
• She received The Queens Medal for poetry in 1969. Her work was admired by many well
known poets, notably Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath also wrote a poem entitled Touch and Go
• One of her best-known poems ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ appears in several exam board
anthologies.
• There was a film made of her life which starred Glenda Jackson.
• She struggled with a Christian faith, describing herself as a ‘lapsed atheist’.
• Much of her poetry is about death and fear. This could be because she had TB when she was
very young and spent several years in a sanatorium. This was common at the time. She also
lost her mother when she was quite young.
• She published three novels and several essays on a wide range of topics.
Introduction/Summary
The poem metaphorically tells us of the struggle to break away from an unhappy and unsatisfactory
life. The poet asks us to ‘be patient’ with the man because it is a challenging task he faces. Stevie
Smith is trying to draw the reader in to sympathise with this ‘man’ who is ‘bowed with passion and
fret’ (fret means to worry). The poem reflects on the ‘enemies of man’ linking this to trees and
rubble, both hard substances potentially found on mountains. We are left at the end wondering if he
will free himself. ‘It is touch and go’.
Themes
• Life challenges/Pressures: The idea that life is a series of challenges is seen throughout this.
What can one man or mankind do to overcome these and live well? There is always someone
or something to pressure us. ‘The enemies of man are like trees’ They are everywhere.
• Changes/Development: This also reflects the development of mankind from original cave
and mountain dwellers to where we are today. Consider the way Stevie Smooth shows the
progression from ‘head in the dust’ to ‘Look he moves’.
Language, Imagery and Techniques
Tone
• There is an empathetic tone throughout this alongside the questioning of the slow progress.
The questions make us feel as though we should help.
© 2023, Wolsey Hall Oxford. All rights reserved. 1
IGCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE SET POEM 14 GUIDE: TOUCH AND GO
Language
• The use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ could be seen as ‘God’. The speaker (unidentified)
feels some responsibility for ‘my creature’.
• Consider the use of the word ‘tail’ in line 2. Think about the theory of evolution. The
animalisation of humans.
• The extended metaphor of mountains reflecting the man’s desire to ‘free himself’ from his
unhappiness. The mountain is the metaphorical barrier the man has to cross in order to be
free and happy.
• ‘Look he moves’ draws our attention with an almost imperative phrase.
Imagery
• The imagery of the struggles is effective ‘his tail caught’, ‘his head in the dust’. The contrast
between the image of the trees ‘with the sun in their branches’ is notable.
• The images created by the poet create a sense of great effort and ensure we see just how
hard the man has to work.
Techniques
• Consider the rhetorical questions. Stanzas 1,3,5 & 7 end with a rhetorical question.
• Stanza 7, ‘Ah,’ the comma makes us stop and think. Reflecting on the fragility of the human
body.
• ‘Will he come out of the mountains?’ Smith is offering the reader an opportunity to decide
for themselves.
• The capitalisation of ‘Man’ tells us that she is referring to Mankind, all of us.
Form/Structure
• Comprising 7 four-line stanzas. The first half talks about ‘Man’ alone and the second half
bring in the idea of people to help him and in contrast ‘enemies’ who ‘cough and spit’.
• There is an ABCB rhyme scheme.
Example close textual commentary
The phrase ‘Touch and Go’ means that someone is in a precarious or potentially dangerous situation,
it is often used when someone is seriously ill.
In this poem Smith uses a metaphor of a mountain to express the challenges faced by ‘Man’. The
character in the poem is struggling to break free from an unfulfilling life. He has ‘sorrowful eyes’ and
‘torn cheeks’ the use of the adjective sorrowful makes us see how unhappy he is. Whereas the image
of ‘torn cheeks’ reflects what he has gone through to get this far.
Exam type questions for you to consider.
• How does the poet use language to create sympathy of ‘Man’?
• To what extent do you feel that the poet is showing the growth and development of society
from a long time ago?
© 2023, Wolsey Hall Oxford. All rights reserved. 2
