A PHOTOGRAPH
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUMMARY
POEM
SKETCH
LITERARY DEVICES
INTRODUCTION
The poet sees the photograph of her mother at a seaside holiday along with her two cousins. The mother is only
twelve years old in the photograph. Now she has been dead for twelve years. The poetess is actually conscious of her
loss. She speaks of the shortness of human life against the permanence of the sea.
The finality of death is stressed in the last stanza – particularly in the last two lines. She recalls her mother and her
memories while looking at a childhood photograph. She has been deceased twelve years ago and she cannot explain
her grief on mother’s loss.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shirley Toulson, who has died aged 94, was a highly
regarded poet and an innovative writer about
Britain’s walks, ancient tracks and traditions. Her
poetry was broadcast and published in journals (The
Listener, Tribune, Ambit and Outposts), in a book,
Shadows in an Orchard (1960), and in a poetry
collection, A Group Anthology (1963), edited by
Philip Hobsbaum and Edward Lucie-Smith. Further
books included Circumcision’s Not Such a Bad Thing
After All (1970) and The Fault, Dear Brutus: A Zodiac
of Sonnets (1972), both published by Roy Lewis, the
commonwealth correspondent of the Times, on his
Keepsake Press for which she became adviser and
commissioning editor following his death in [Link]
then, as well as continuing to write poetry, Shirley
had made a breakthrough with her eloquent account
of the lives, countryside and people involved in
bringing livestock from Wales to England.
SUMMARY
A Photograph Summary compares the internal state of
nature and the momentary state of humans. In the poem,
poetess describes a photograph of her mothers’
childhood. In the photograph of time when she went for
a sea holiday with her two girl cousins. Also, poetess
contrasts between nature, altering at the pace of a snail
and the fast-changing human life. Poetess remembers
how her mother laughs at the photograph and feel
disappointed at the loss of her childhood joys. However,
then, the sea holiday was her mother’s past and now her
mother’s laugh is the poetess’s past. At different periods
of time and with great difficulty, both resolve with their
respective losses and the pain that involves in
remembering past. Besides, for the poetess, his mother’s
death of her mother brings great sadness and a dire
sense of loss. Moreover, the painful ‘silence’ of the
situation leaves her without words.
The cardboard shows me how it was
POEM
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
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.
Its silence silences.
SKETCH
DEVICES
Allusion: An allusion is a reference or an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication. An
example of allusion in this poem is ‘cardboard’ which actually refers to the photograph.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the initial letter (generally a consonant) of several words marking the
stressed syllable in a line of poem. Examples of alliteration in this poem are ‘stood still to smile’, ‘terribly transient’, ‘Its
silence silences’ etc.
Transferred Epithet: A transferred epithet is a description that refers to a character or event but is used to
describe a different situation or character. ‘Transient feet’ is an example of the transferred epithet in the poem. It refers
to human feet but it is used to describe the lack of permanence of human life.
Oxymoron: In this literary device, there are two opposite ideas that are joined to create an effect. ‘Laboured ease’ in
the poem is an example of an oxymoron. Laboured meaning with ‘great difficulty’ and ease means ‘comfortably’. Both
words have opposite meanings but here they are clubbed together.
Personification: The example is ‘Its silence silences.’ The situation has been given the human quality of silence.
MADE BY:-
PRIYA GAUR (21)
RITIK RAI (22)
RITIKA KOTNALA (23)
SHIVAM KUMAR (24)
SURAJ KUMAR (25)
YASH GOYAL (32)
