Student #2103863

English Poetry: Draft Essay

28/02/2019
Look We Have Coming To Dover!
The poem “Look we have coming to Dover!” by Dajit Nagra explores the theme of
immigration namely from India to the United Kingdom, Dover shore. Nagra communicates
his views of immigration through his use of formal aspects of the poems, respectively
language and diction, imagery, and structure.
The title of the poem “Look we have coming to Dover!” by Dajit Nagra establishes the scene
of an immigrant attempting to assimilate into British culture and language. The title is eye-
catching for its misuse of tenses and sentence structure. The poet uses the title as a means
of showing that the cultural influence of one’s birth language and heritage cannot be easily
changed similarly with immigrants it is not a matter of converting ones culture and heritage
but rather a matter of merging their culture and heritage with their ‘Dover Beach’. The
diction used throughout the first four stanzas of the poem have negative connotations, thus
alluding to the ‘negative connotations’ or stereotypes of immigrants. The poet dehumanises
the immigrants by referring to them as “Swarms” (a collective noun for insects). The
immigrants are viewed as unwanted invaders who “huddle” and hide from the “moon’s
spotlight” which suggests that they immigrants may not be traveling legally. The poet also
uses diction to subtly introduce the idea of the immigrants assimilating into British culture
with his use of English words and English names. The words “yobbish” and “gobful” are
examples of English slang which will not necessarily be in an immigrants’ vocabulary. Thus,
through diction, the poet reveals the unglamorous status of immigrants.
The poem uses vivid imagery to bring to life the struggle of an immigrant. People immigrate
due to unliveable circumstances in their home country or because they are in search of
something better. The plight of an immigrant begins with the decision to immigrate and the
work behind organising it. “Seasons or years we reap/ inland,” (line 11). The process of
immigrating is exhausting without the idea of still having to assimilate into a new culture
and fend off members of the community who disapprove of your arrival. “scramming on
mulch as thunder unbladdders” (line 9) the image created by the poet is unattractive and
heavy with foreboding. This description of the immigration brings to focus that immigrants
often move due to a lack of choice. The poem draws a contrast between tourists and
immigrants by juxtaposing lines 4 and 5. Immigrants are made to suffer through, “gobfuls of
surf phlegmed” whilst tourist are described as “lording the ministered waves”. It is evident
that whilst immigrants feel the need to hide below deck, tourist who aren’t partaking in the
brave leap of faith, can enjoy the journey traveling on the top deck. Through the use of
imagery, the poet makes it evident that immigration is not an easy journey and that it is
incomparable to any short term voyage.
The structure of the poem “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” is regular with five equal
stanzas. The poem begins with an intertextuality of Mathew Arnolds, ‘Dover Beach’. The
reference to the poem shows the dreamlike vision of what awaits an immigrant after their
troublesome journey. Mathew Arnold famously names the water in his “Dover Beach”, “The
Sea of Faith”. It is ironic that “The Sea of Faith” which rests on the “French coast” and
crashes into the “English cliffs” poses as a beacon of hope and salvation for immigrants from
the east who are willing to take the leap of faith. The structure of the poem visually
resembles the waves of the water with each stanza growing in line length only to reduce
again in the following stanza. The poet not only mimics the concept of travel through the
shape of the poem but through the use of enjambment too. “Swarms of us, grafting in/the
black within shot of the moon’s/ spotlight,” The rhythm created by this enjambment serves
as a subtle reminder of the rocking of the immigrants’ boat with this rhythm only ending at
the end of each stanza or wave. The image created by the structure is cyclical much like
waves of the ocean. In the context of the poem the cyclical pattern symbolizes the way life
has to continue for the immigrants and that regardless of where they are, they have to
continue surviving and returning much like the tide. The poem uses standard punctuation
only deterring in the last line with the enthusiastic introduction of an exclamation mark.
“babbling our lingoes, flecked by the chalk of Britannia!” (line 25). The poet uses “Britannia”
to refer to the United Kingdom. “Britannia” is the island as a personified female. By
personifying the island the poet alludes to the stereotype of women often being warm,
caring and welcoming which is an appealing location for an immigrant sans home. Thus, the
poet successfully uses structure as a means to further convey the message of an immigrant
and awareness to the taboo topic.

In conclusion, the poem “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” by Dajit Ngara uses formal
aspects of poetry namely diction and language, imagery and structure to convey a message
to the reader. The poem successfully expresses the voyage of immigrants from the east who
aim to travel to the UK in search of a better life and the issues that may arise with their
brave and desperate leap of faith.