A Photograph' by Shirley Toulson

A Photograph' by Shirley Toulson

Hello dear friends and my dear students welcome to  this page. In this page I am going to write something about the poet followed by recitation of the poem. Then I will give the word meanings from the poem. After that I will talk about the theme of the poem, the summary of the poem , poetic devices of the poem. Then finally I will discuss the question and answers from the poem. I hope that this page will help you. I have included two videos for your help.

About the poet

Shirley Toulson was born on 20^th May in 1924 in Henly-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. She has been a prolific writer. She also worked for many magazines. Celtic Christianity has greatly influenced her. “The Celtic Alternative” published in 1987 and “The Celtic Year” published in 1993 are her major works. This poem is a tribute to her mother. This poem is written in blank verse

The Poem

A Photograph by

Shirley Toulson

The cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling,

Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,

And she the big girl — some twelve years or so.

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.

Word Meanings:

1.    cardboard                 photograph

2.    it was                        it was the day

3.    paddling                   wading

4.    twelve years             (here) her mother was twelve years old

5.    All three                   poet’s mother, Betty and Dolly

6.    through their hair     they were smiling through their hair at their uncle as he was taking photograph. In the sea beach the wind was blowing and it scattered their hair on their face.

7.    A sweet face            poet’s mother had a beautiful face

8.    terribly transient      very short

9.    feet                           (here) human life

10.  snapshot                  photograph

11.  her past                   mother’s past( sea holiday)

12.  her laughter     mother’s laughter( mother’s laughter was the poet’s past)

13.  wry                  disappointed(sarcastically amused)

14.  labored ease    bore easily(bore the pain of loss)

15.  as many years         twelve years

16.  that girl           poet’s mother

17.  this circumstance    death of her mother

18.  There is nothing to say at all.         The poet has silently resigned to her fate that her mother is not with her anymore

19.  Its silence silences          Silence means the complete absence of sound. Here silence refers to the silence of the photograph made the poet and the whole ambience silent. She stoically accepted the the fact of her mother’s absence and became silent.

The theme of the poem

The theme of the poem is the loss of loved ones, mutability, and bereavement. It also deals with the loss of time and happy moments. The mother lost her youthful beauty when she looked at her photograph many years later. The daughter lost her beloved mother and her beautiful laughter as she looks at the photograph now. 

Summary of the poem

The poet looks at the photograph of her mother. It was the day in the photograph when her mother, a twelve years old girl and her two girl cousins, Betty and Dolly went on a sea holiday. They were wading along the shore holding hands when their uncle took their photograph as they stood smiling through their hair. Her mother was the oldest of the three. The cousins were holding her mother’s hands. Her mother had a beautiful face before the poet was born. The sea appears to have changed very less but there is a lot of change in the poet’s life; her mother is no more with her. She is dead.

About twenty or thirty years later poet’s mother would look at the photograph and laugh at the snapshot and nostalgically comment on how they were dressed up for the beach.  The poet says that the sea holiday was her mother’s past and her mother’s laughter is her (poet’s) past. Both the mother and the daughter suffered a loss each but they bore the loss easily. The mother had lost her youthful beauty when she looked at her photograph on the other hand the poet lost her mother.

Now the poet’s mother is dead for last twelve years. Nothing can be said about the death of her mother. The poet has silently resigned to her fate to accept the fact that her mother is dead. The silence of the photograph (Its) has silenced the poet.

Poetic Devices

1.  stood still                          alliteration/sibilance

2.  through their                     alliteration

3.  their terribly transient       alliteration

4.  transient feet                     transferred epithet/hypallage

5.  feet                      synecdoche (here feet refers to human                                                  life)

6.  Both wry/With the            alliteration

7.  labored ease                      oxymoron(apparently these                                         words are opposite in meaning)

8.  silence silences              alliteration/sibilance/            personification    (silence has been personified)

Think it out, Understanding the text

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

Ans. The word “cardboard” denotes a photograph in the poem.

The cardboard signifies just an ordinary board used to have the photograph fixed on it to be displayed.

2. What has the camera captured?

Ans. The camera has captured the picture of the poet’s mother and her(mother’s) girl cousins.

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

Ans. The sea has not changed over the years.

It suggests mutability and ephemerality of human life.

4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh

indicate?

Ans. This laugh indicates how she enjoyed cherishing youthful moments of her past.

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

And. Both the mother and the daughter suffered a loss so they were disappointed. The mother had lost her youthful beauty and the daughter lost her mother. However both of them bore the pain of loss easily.

6. What does “this circumstance” refer to?

Ans. The circumstance refers to the death of her mother.

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

Ans. The first stanza refers to the description of the photograph and the mother’s childhood. The second stanza refers to the mother’s adulthood and reminiscence of the past. The third stanza refers to the death of her mother and stoic resignation to her (poet’s) fate.