A PHOTOGRAPH

By Shirley Toulson

About the Poet –

Kathleen Shirley Toulson (20 May 1924 – 23 September 2018) was a British writer, poet, journalist and local
politician
She worked with the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II and married Norman Toulson, an army
lieutenant, in 1944: they divorced in 1951. She then studied English at University of London, and worked
at bookshop before becoming a journalist. Later, she became a poet. In 1962 she was elected as Labour
councilor.
Starting in 1977 with her book The Drovers’ Roads of Wales, Toulson was the author of several books.

Theme of the Poem –

The themes of the poem are loss, memory, and the transience of life. The poem conveys the beauty of photos
being able to capture the past and how memories can be bittersweet as time passes by. The poem also explores
the emotions associated with the past, as the speaker reflects on a childhood photograph of her deceased mother.
Central Idea of the Poem –
The central idea of the poem is that life is ever-changing and no one or thing stays with us forever. The poem is
a loving tribute to the poet's mother and reflects the passage of time and its three stages. In the first stage, the
photograph shows the mother enjoying a holiday on a beach along with her two girl cousins. She was 12 at the
time. The second stage shows the mother laughing at her picture and the way she and her cousins were dressed
in the picture at a beach. In the third stage, the poet sadly remembers the dead mother with her broken
heart. The photograph revives nostalgic waves in the poet.

Summary of the Poem –

The poem begins when the poetess goes through her mother’s photo framed on a cardboard. In the photo poetess’s
mother seem edged by her cousins, who are younger than her. Also, she highlights her mother’s strength as she
supports her young cousins.

They all look into the camera when their uncle photographs them. Moreover, they look happy and excited with
their throwing locks and pleasant smiles. Further, the picture shows the sea waves smashing at them as the young
girls learn to keep up with the waves.

In the second part, in her older days, her mother looks back the day at the sea. Moreover, she remembers her two
cousins and recalls the day memorialized in the photograph. Also, she makes fun of her and her cousins’ outfits.
These lines have a tone of sadness as the mother tries to accept the continual motion of life as she grows older.
Looking back at her 12-years-old self maybe was an attempt to return to her childhood, which is a painful reminder
of time and age.

In the third part, the poetess remembering her mother as she died earlier. Further, the photo scripts a memory for
both. As it knots the mother and daughter together even after her mother has died. The poetess confesses that the
photo bliss at imagining her mother’s laughter much like her mother’s delight in remembering the day at the sea.
Eventually, both poetess and her mother learn to accept the change and make peace with their memories. Even, it
reminds her of the briefness of laughter, happy moment, etc. The death or end makes things go quiet and empty.
Lastly, she accepts (silently) her resignation to the final silence of death.

Poetic Devices –

1. Imagery: The poet uses vivid imagery to describe the photograph and evoke a sense of nostalgia and
longing.
2. Metaphor: The comparison of the mother's smile in the photograph to the "sweetness in the mother's
smile" is a metaphor that conveys the enduring impact of her mother's happiness.
3. Symbolism: The photograph itself serves as a symbol of memory and the passage of time.
4. Enjambment: The use of enjambment, or the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the
end of a line, creates a sense of flow and continuity in the poem.
5. Personification - cardboard shows ; sea, which appears to have changed less ; silence silences
6. Alliteration - stood still to smile ; terribly transient ; silence silences
7. Synecdoche – terribly transient feet
8. Oxymoron - laboured ease
9. Rhyme Scheme – Free Verse

Question and Answers –

Question 1: What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?

Answer: In the poem, the word ‘cardboard’ stands for the frame that supports and borders the photograph. The
photograph shows the poet’s mother as a twelve year old girl with two of her cousins, Betty and Dolly. The
word ‘cardboard’ has been used to depict that the photograph is many years old. The use of cardboard as a
photo frame was common in old times. Also, the word cardboard refers to mortality of everything, except
nature.

Question 2: What has the camera captured?

Answer: The camera has captured a happy moment from the childhood days of the poet’s mother. The
photograph was taken when the poet’s mother (at the age of twelve or so) went to a beach holiday with two of
her cousins, Betty and Dolly. The captured picture serves as a preserved memory both for the mother as well as
the poet.

Question 3: What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

Answer: The lines, ‘And the sea, which appears to have changed less’ depicts that the sea has stayed the same
over the years. It has not changed at all.

These lines suggest a sharp contrast to the mortal human life. Human life is transitory and temporary whereas
the sea symbolizes permanence, immortality and eternity. The poet makes use of the phrase ‘terribly transient
feet’ to highlight the mortal nature of human life.

Question 4: The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

Answer: The poet’s mother laughed while recalling a moment of her past captured in the photograph. She looks
back at her childhood days with nostalgia and recollects her innocent joys. Looking at the picture years later
brings in her mind the fond memories. She laughs at the way they were dressed up for the beach holiday.
But in the midst of these pleasant memories, lies the pain of loss. The pain comes from the acknowledgement
that the lovely days of her childhood will never come back to her.

Question 5: What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss”.

Answer: The context of the above lines is the mother’s recollection of her childhood days and the poet’s
recollection of her mother’s laughing face.

The mother has fond memories of her past but there is a sense of loss in recalling those moments as they make
her realise that the good old times of her childhood will never come back. For the poet, the ‘loss’ refers to the
loss of her mother. She has fond memories of her dead mother but she misses her laughter and her presence that
will never return to the poet. Thus, both remember their pasts with a laugh that conceals sadness as none can re-
live those lost moments.

Question 6: What does “this circumstance” refer to?

Answer: ‘This circumstance’ refers to the present situation of the poet wherein the poet is absorbed in the
painful memory of her dead mother. Looking at the photograph and thinking of her mother’s laughter, the poet
also realises that it has been the same number of years since her mother died as her mother’s age in the
photograph.

Question 7: The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

Answer: The first stanza refers to the childhood days of the poet’s mother when she was twelve years old or so.
The stanza depicts a photograph of her mother when she went for a beach holiday with her cousins and uncle.

The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood days when her mother had become an adult. It depicts her
mother recalling her childhood days while looking at the old photograph of hers that is mentioned in the first
stanza.

In the last stanza, the poet’s adult life is described in which her mother is not with her anymore. She has been
dead for almost twelve years. The stanza depicts the poet’s looking at the same photograph and recollecting her
mother’s laughter. The loss of her mother puts her in utter grief. She has no words to describe the terrible pain
of her mother’s death.

**********************