A PHOTOGRAPH

Shirley Toulson

Index
About Poetess Summary About the poem Poetic devices References to context And the sea, which appears to have changed less Washed their terribly transient feet. With The laboured ease of loss.

Shirley Toulson
Shirley Toulson has been writing books on the social history of the countryside since 1974. She is a leading authority on ancient tracks and drove roads . She lives in Somerset and was drawn into the spell of Celtic Christianity as she worked on her books dealing with the oldest roads and folklore of Britain and Ireland, and found herself following the routes taken on their journeys by the saints of the early church. Another famous work by Shirley is 'The Drovers Roads of Wales.

Summary
The poem A Photograph is written by Shirley Toulson. A cardboard shows the picture of three girls- the poets mother and two of her cousins holding hands. The poetess' mother is in the middle. It portrays the occasion when they went for a swim on the beach. It is a time before Shirley was born. Their feet , which were being washed by sea water have left imprints on the sand. The sea hasn't changed in so many years. It is a precious memory for the poetess. Her holiday and her laughter are amusing in an ironic way as they are linked with her loss that requires a forced state of freedom from pain. Now the poets mother is dead. The poet feels at a loss of words to comment on this eventher death. It is the old photograph that moves him to silence. The poet pays a tribute to his mother.

About the poem

MOOD

The mood of the poem is nostalgic and sad .

THEME The poem talks about how death can silence you and leave you speechless .. It talks about helplessness , change and acceptance .

Poetic Devices
1. The mood of the poem is nostalgic and sad . MOOD: the emotional effect of poem or story

2.

All three stood still to smile through their hairs. The poetic device used in this phrase is alliteration. ALLITERATION: the repetition of a beginning sound With the laboured ease of loss The poetic device used in this phase is hypallage. HYPALLAGE: an exchange within a statement between the epithets assigned to specific nouns.
Its Silence Silences. The poetic device used is personification. PERSONIFICATION: the giving of human traits to nonhuman things incapable of having those traits.

3.

4.

 And the sea, which appears to have changed less,

With time , things change .. The poetess life is changed in many ways . The poetess mother has died and lost her laughter . The scene captured by the photograph has also changed in certain ways . But the sea remains unchanged with time . Men may come and men may go , but I go on forever

 Washed their terribly transient feet.

The words "transient feet" has a special significance. They show how transient, temporary human life is as compared to nature.... Transience, in a way, indicates death as well.
TRANSIENT: [noun] one who stays for only a short time; "transient laborers"

With The laboured ease of loss.

The poetess has lost her mother , and so the laboured ease of loss sets in. It is difficult for her to put her past behind and move on . Acceptance :- The poetess has had to bow down in front of destiny and accept the turn of events in life .

Its silence silences .

Here, the poetess expresses the silence of sadness . The event death seems to have covered everything in a shroud of silence.