Q. How does Carol Ann Duffy make the poem Originally a touching one for you?

“ I lost a river, culture, speech!” Carol Ann Duffy’s realization of her loss and how these
have defined her identity forms the main idea of this touching poem. In this autobiographical
piece, Originally, she considers and explores the sense of isolation and confusion she felt as
a child when her family moved from Glasgow to England. As the title suggests, she refers to
what extent our identity is shaped and reconstructed, not only by our environment but by
changes in dialect and culture. The poet’s varied use of concrete diction, unsettling imagery
and disorganised structure renders the poem as moving.

Duffy’s use of concrete diction throughout the poem helps depict it as a touching one. The
poem starts off with the line “We came from our own country”, the speaker referring to
themselves as “We” shows how the decision to move affected her whole family and how she
still identifies with her Scottish roots. The assonance of “our own” reiterates the sense of
belonging to her native land and emphasizes her attachment to it. Moreover, the alliteration in
“fell through the fields” draws attention to the lack of control she had of herself. The image
of open “fields” makes the reader feel warm and calm, similarly to how the speaker feels at
home. This is in stark contrast with the speaker’s chaotic and confused emotions that stifle
her and marks a disturbing tone that makes the poem extremely stirring. She then goes on to
repeat the capitalized word “Home” which reinforces the misery and overwhelming sense of
loss and separation that she associates with this time. The speaker “stares” at the “eyes of a
blind toy”. The fact that she “stares” rather than simply look at it, emphasizes how she’s
almost dazed and still in shock evoking the theme of change. Duffy also uses half rhyming
words like ‘more’ and ‘paw’ to create an English accent. This contrast in word choice shows
her confusion of identity and her trying to figure out who she really is. In the second stanza,
the simple sentence, “Your accent wrong.” emphasizes that life-changing events like
emigrating can be traumatic, highlighting how the speaker feels out of place and isolated. In
the last stanza, Duffy uses second person pronouns, “you forget”, in order to make the
audience feel empathetic towards her. The poem ends with the word “hesitate” which not
only ends it on a powerful note but also conveys her uncertainty as she is in between two
cultures – adapting but still with a vestige of her old Scottish self. The poem hence is
extremely moving due to Duffy’s choice of words.
Disturbing imagery is repeatedly used in the poem to help visualise the chaotic emotions of
the speaker, thus portraying it as a heartrending one. The speaker describes the train in a very
childish manner calling it a “red room”. This childish inference shows how Duffy isn’t ready
to grow up and let go of her Scottish roots. The colour “red” has connotations of anger and
danger and is unsettling, compared to a soothing green. Moreover, the “blind toy”, a symbol
of innocence, also suggests how her innocence blocks her sight and doesn’t allow her to
make sense of the new world she will inhabit. Additionally, she mentions how “big boys eat
worms”, a reference to the change that has come about her life. This creates a gory and
disgusting image in the reader’s mind. However, this reference is unlikely to be literal and
most likely is talking about ‘strange people’ doing ‘strange things’, hence showing her
confusion as she confronts language and behaviour that she is unfamiliar with. Her “parent’s
anxiety” is compared to a “loose tooth”, a simile that suggests how the family is conscious of
losing a vital connect with the homeland, the past and their identity. It could also suggest the
onset of loss of childhood, from when on she begins adopting a new identity. Furthermore,
the reader is astonished to see her brother “swallow a slug” another image of disgust. The
alliteration of ‘s’ indicates that her brother has adapted to their new environment and is
instinctively copying other children’s behaviours, which seems almost tragic. The hissing ‘s’
sounds also suggests that Duffy dislikes his ability to fit in and rues her inability to do the
same. Lastly, she remembers her “tongue shedding its skin like a snake” showing how she is
attempting to adapt and is no longer the person she used to be. It suggests how she may
“shed” another layer of skin as she continues to adapt and slough off her old self. Thus, the
use of unpleasant imagery clearly helps portray the poem as a poignant one.

By utilising disorganised structure, Duffy is able to render the poem as moving. The
enjambment in the line “as the miles rushed back to the city,” gives the poem a sense of
speed in order to make the reader feel as if they are in the speaker’s position and riding the
train with her, hence participating in the distressing change. The speed of the train also
evokes the theme of chaos and change; things are out of her control and in one train ride, her
whole life is now different. Moreover, the asyndetic sentence “the street, the house, the
vacant rooms” shows how she is narrowing her way of looking back. This could suggest how
she is slowly giving up on and losing hope for her old life. By not only bringing out the
theme of nostalgia, the use of the list also conveys how much she has left behind and how she
could go on endlessly about what she misses about her “own country” and its markers. She
goes on to talk about childhood and how “some are slow”, the long sentence represents the
slow process. Whereas, the abrupt sentence “Others are sudden” shows the rapid changes.
This again suggests the theme of nostalgia; she is leaving her childhood behind just like she
is leaving Glasgow. Adding on, the last stanza begins with a polysyndeton “you forget, or
don’t recall, or change” which shows how over time, the insecurity fades, attesting to the
adaptability of people, especially children. This change in tone of the speaker is indicated by
the conjunction “But” at the beginning of the stanza. Lastly, the caesura before and after the
emphatic word “Now” shows how she is finally in the present and not hankering after her old
home. The rhetoric question “Originally?” implies that she has moved on and is coming to
regard where she is now, as her home. Hence, the use of structure is seen as vital in order
make the poem a touching one.

Hence the poem is a poignant exploration of change and movement that affects the childhood
and the growing years of the poet. The change has reshaped her identity and the pathetic
attempt to fit in is amply illustrated through the use of various rhetorical strategies such as
structure, diction and images.

Themes -
Change
Childhood and family
isolation
identity

Points –
1. Imagery
a. Red room – train, colour red has connotations of anger and danger, and is
unsettling, as compared to a soothing green.
b. “All childhood is an emigration” – suggests a metaphor for the transition to
adulthood which is an enormous change. Appeals to a wider audience - Not all
emigrations are like hers but certainly every child has to emigrate. Be it of place
or even coming to age. Leaving childhood for adulthood in itself is an emigration.
c. “my tongue shedding its skin like a snake” – adapting and is no longer the person
she used to be. Alliteration of ‘s’ sound increases pace and suggests that
everything is changing so quickly but eventually is slowing down and life is
settling
2. Diction
a. “bawling” – the lyrical line ‘singing…turn of the wheels’ is juxtaposed by the
colloquial word ‘bawling’ – suggests fragments of memory and contrast in word
choice shows her confusion of identity and her trying to figure out who she really
is.
b. “blind” – shows uncertainty, toy suggests innocence and her innocence blocks
her sight and prevents her from making sense of the new world she’ll inhabit
c. “your accent wrong” - The abrupt minor sentence emphasises that changes can
be dramatic and thus traumatic, highlighting Duffy’s isolation as she feels out of
place in her new community.
d. “our own country” – repetition from first line, expression is childish, regression
based on insecurity
e. “hesitate”
3. Structure
a. “the street, … anymore.” – enjambment, narrowing her way of looking back,
gives a sense of giving up. Sense of speed, things happening out of control
b. “forget,… change,” – polysyndeton shows how overtime the insecurity is fading –
shows adaptability of people
c. “some are slow” – long sentence structure contrasts with slow process.