By Shirley
Toulson
The poem ‘A
Photograph’ is composed by Shirley Toulson, a new age English poet, journalist
and local politician.
§ The poem explores
the passage of time, memory, and the enduring impact of loss through a memory
captured in a photograph.
§ The poem discusses three different phases in poet’s
life and only one of them shares active relation between the poet and her
mother. This shift in time is one of the themes highlighting the transience of
life and the inevitable changes that occur over the years.
§
The poem is
subjective as it describes the emotions of the poet associated with her
childhood and her mother. It brings her childhood memories back and separation from
her mother.
§
The poem is rich
in language and profound in emotional content with the wonderful handling of
words and expressions.
§
§
§
The poem is a
free verse without any rhyme scheme, stanza pattern and meter.
§
This beautiful
poem depicts a daughter-mother relation and the pain of losing one’s relations prevails through frequent use of pathos in the poem.
Summary /
Synopsis
§
"A
Photograph" intricately weaves together themes of time, memory, nostalgia,
and the complex emotions associated with the loss. The photograph serves as a
poignant memory of the poet and her mother’s life.
§
The poem also describes
deep impact of shared moments in their life through an image captured on a
beach holiday.
§
Poet’s mother
first laughs at funny dresses of the three girls on the holiday but later
realises the loss of her childhood while the poet laments at the loss of her
mother after death.
§
The poet feels
that sea hasn’t changed while there has been profound change in both the poet’s
life as well her mother’s.
§ The concluding lines contemplate the silence
surrounding death. The speaker's mother has been dead for as many years as the
girl in the photograph lived.
§ The poem suggests that there is a profound silence
associated with death, a silence so powerful that it itself becomes an
expression of the unutterable nature of loss.
Video on Poem 'A Photograph'
Line by Line Explanation
The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s
hands,
And she the big girl — some twelve years
or so.
All three stood still to smile through
their hair
At the uncle with the camera. A sweet
face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have
changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.
The poet is looking at a photograph
framed in a cardboard, which serves as a memory of the past.
The photograph captures a moment when
two female cousins of the poet’s mother were wading or playing in water with
her. The cousins were holding hands with her mother, indicating a
close and affectionate relationship.
The poet's mother is older or ‘big
girl approximately twelve years old at the time of the photograph. The trio
stopped moving and posed for the camera, smiling with their hair falling over
their faces. They smiled at the uncle who was taking the photograph. The poet's mother had a sweet smiling face. The photograph captures a moment
from a time before the poet was born.
The sea under their feet seems to have
undergone almost no changes but the people in the photograph have changed
drastically as they have grown old. The sea is described as washing the feet of
the three girls, emphasising the transient and fleeting nature of human life compared
to ceaseless and perennial nature.
Some twenty — thirty — years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how
they
Dressed us for the beach.” The sea
holiday
Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both
wry
With the laboured ease of loss.
Twenty or thirty years have passed since
the photograph was taken. The mother later used to laugh with the Poet as she found the
clothing and the dressing style of her cousins and herself funny on the day when she went out for the
beach holiday. The mother mentioned her cousins, Betty and Dolly and laughed at
their dresses as she felt that they looked funny in the dresses. The laugh of the mother is now a
history, her past for the poet.
The beach vacation depicted in the photograph
was her mother's past, while the speaker's own past is her mother's laughter as
she is dead and the speaker misses her mother and her laughter.
The laughter of both the mother and the
speaker is described as "wry" or bittersweet. Mother is sad as her childhood
has gone and her carefree days of childhood are over which is a huge loss for
her. The poet is in grief at the loss of her mother to death. There is a painful smile at poet's lips as she remembers her mother's laugh. This acceptance
of loss is not effortless as it is extremely painful and difficult.
Video on Laburnum Top
"Now she’s been dead nearly as many
years
As that girl lived. And of this
circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences"
The speaker's mother has been deceased
for a similar length of time as the girl in the photograph had lived. At the
time of the photograph the mother was twelve years old and it’s been same time
after her death now when the poet is looking at the photograph and missing her
mother. The speaker acknowledges the reality of death and the inability to find
words to express the circumstance and her emotions at this emotional loss. Now, the girl in the photograph is silent and this silence is hurting her, troubling
her.
The poem concludes with the tragic and
unavoidable fate of a living soul that is death. The poet feels unable and
incapable to express herself but this silence is troublesome and painful.
Video on Note Making
Theme
The poem highlights
the theme of impermanence and transience. The sea, which "appears to have
changed less," becomes a symbol of permanence of nature in contrast to the
fleeting nature of human life. The image of the sea washing their "terribly
transient feet" conveys the loss of life against perennial sea. The poet also reflects that aging and death though are natural and
unavoidable become scary and painful to accept.
Poetic Devices
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands – Repetition, Alliteration, Consonance, Imagery
And she the big
girl — some twelve years or so – Alliteration
All three stood still to smile through their hair – Alliteration, Consonance, Imagery
At the uncle with the camera. A sweet
face – Repetition, Enjambment
My mother’s, that was before I was born – Alliteration, Repetition
And the sea, which
appears to have changed less - Contrast, Consonance, Imagery
Washed their terribly transient feet – Alliteration, Contrast, Consonance, Synecdoche
Some twenty — thirty — years later - Assonance
She’d laugh at the
snapshot. “See Betty – Alliteration, Apostrophe
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they – Repetition, Enjambment
Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday – Repetition, Enjambment, Imagery
Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry – Repetition, Consonance, Enjambment, Pathos
With the laboured
ease of loss – Alliteration, Oxymoron, Pathos
Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
– Alliteration, Pathos
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance – Alliteration,
Consonance, Enjambment
There is nothing to say at all – Assonance, Pathos
Its silence silences – Alliteration, Assonance, Pathos
Rhyming Scheme
The poem is composed in free verse without any rhyming words at the end of the lines. The line length is irregular and stanza division is also not equal. No meter is followed hence, the poem doesn't follow any rhyming scheme.
Important Question Answers
Q1. What does the word cardboard denote in the poem?
Ans. In the poem the cardboard is referred to as the photograph of the poet and her cousins in which they are spending good time together on their beach holiday. This word has been used because carboard is impermanent and symbolised the temporary state of human life. Cardboard is something that holds the photograph which shows timeless memories while the cardboard is perishable.
Q2. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans. The sea, which the poet refers in the poem has not changed much over the years. This suggests that the sea is an example of eternal nature which goes on flowing ceaselessly despite the fact that the poet's mother grew up, became old and died. It is presented as something perennial in contrast to the transitory nature of human life.
Q3. The three stanzas depict three phases, what are they?
Ans. In the first phase the poet depicts the scene of the beach where the poet's mother and siblings are enjoying beach holiday and posing while the photograph is being clicked by their uncle. In this phase mother's childhood is described.
During the second phase the poet's mother recalls her childhood and joyfully laughs while looking at the photograph. Now the poet's mother has grown up and is happy as well as remorseful at the loss of her beautiful childhood while sharing her memories with her daughter.
In the third phase poet laments the death of her mother. She tells that the beach holiday was her mother's past and her mother's laughter is her own past after her death.
RTC
The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl
Q1. What does the card board refer to?
Q2. Where have the girls gone?
Q3. What does the card board show?
Q4. Which poetic device is predominantly used in these lines?
Q5. Who is 'the big girl'? How?
Answers :
A1. The word 'card board' refers to the photograph of poet's mother and her two cousins.
A2. The girls have gone to enjoy their beach holiday by the sea.
A3. The card board holds a photograph which shows poet's mother enjoying a beach holiday with her two female cousins and the sea is also visible in the backdrop. The photograph was clicked by their uncle.
A4. Imagery is predominantly used in these lines.
A5. 'The big girl' is poet's mother as she is older than her cousins. She was around twelve years old, then.
