Hornbill - Poem 1 A Photograph - Shirley Toulson The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, and Answers The Poem- The cardboard shows me how ...
Hornbill - Poem 1
A Photograph - Shirley Toulson
The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, and Answers
The Poem-
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.
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.
Now she's been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
It's silence silences.
Glossary -
1. paddling - swim or walk with small movements.
2. transient - staying at a place for a short time
3. snapshot - photograph
4. wry - expressing both disappointment and amusement
5. laboured ease of loss - the acceptance of loss and living with it.
Summary -
The poem," A Photograph" is written by poetess, Shirley Toulson, and in this poem, the poet expresses her love, attachment, and tribute to her mother, who is no more in this world. The poem starts with an old photograph of the poet's mother which was pasted on the cardboard and when the poet looks toward the photograph, she recalls the beautiful past memories of her mother. In the photograph, the poet's mother was with her two cousins, Dolly and Betty at the sea beach paddling through the shallow water. It was clicked by the uncle of the poet's mother when she was just 12 years old three girls were smiling through their hair, and posing for the photograph by standing in the middle and each cousin was holding her hand. She was looking beautiful.
After 20-30 years, she used to laugh after looking at the photographs of how funny her cousins were dressed. She was fond of spending her holidays at the sea beach but after many years she missed her holidays and joyful innocent childhood and the poet missed her laughter.
At the end of the poem, the poet's mother is dead and it becomes hard for the poet to accept the bitter truth. She becomes silent and speechless because unable to cope with the emptiness created by the loss of her beloved mother.
The poet also highlights the eternality and stability of nature and the uncertainty of human life.
Think it out -
1. What does the word, "cardboard" denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
Ans - The word, "cardboard" denotes a hard thick paper on which a photograph of the poet's mother was pasted. Earlier, it was a practice of pasting photographs on cardboard and sometimes covered with glass to protect photographs for a longer time.
2. What has the camera captured?
Ans - The camera captured, "a photograph" of the poet's mother with her two cousins, "Dolly and Betty" when they were paddling at the sea beach. The snapshot was clicked by the uncle of the poet's mother when she was just 12 years old and all three girls were in swimming dresses, smiling through their hair, posing for the photograph by standing poet's mother in the middle and cousins catching each hand of the poet's mother.
3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans - In the poem, the poet mentions the changelessness or unchanged nature and behaviour of the sea by stating the line, " And the sea which appears to have changed less". Even after many years, the sea remained the same with its shine and freshness. Here the poet suggests that natural entities remain the same for years altogether as compared to human beings who change with the duration of time.
4. The poet's mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
Ans - The poet's mother laughed at the snapshot because she felt how funny her cousins were dressed many years before, also she was memorizing her beautiful past spent at the sea beach along with her cousins. She felt joyful and delighted because she always loved and enjoyed holidays at the sea beach.
5. What is the meaning of the line, " Both wry with the laboured ease of loss"?
Ans - This line indicates the loss of both the poet's mother and the poet too! After 20-30 years the poet's mother always missed the sea beach holidays and the poet missed her laughter but as the loss contained disappointment and amusement, the poet mentioned it as, "laboured ease of loss".
6. What does, " this circumstance" refer to?
Ans - " This circumstance" refers to the death of the poet's mother and as the poet was highly attached to her mother, she becomes speechless by the emptiness created by her mother's death, and for her, it becomes difficult to bear the loss.
7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?
Ans - The first stanza describes the joy and happiness of the poet's mother along with her cousins at the sea beach when the poet was not born.
The second stanza indicates the middle age of the poet's mother and how she used to memorize her beautiful past when the poet was in her childhood.
The third stanza denotes the loss of the poet's mother and how it became difficult for the poet to accept it.
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