Emigree Flashcards
“There once was a country… I left it as a child but my memory of it is sunlight-clear”
“was a country” suggests that the country no longer exists
“Sunlight-clear” is symbolic of her childhood memories of the country, she had a positive interpretation
“It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight”
“branded” shows that she is owned partly by her childhood memories, she cannot escape the past.
“That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar”
“hollow” implies that in retrospect, she did not have a full view of the world as a child
“It lies down in front of me, docile as paper; I comb its hair and live its shining eyes”
The city is personified as a doll.
“Docile as paper” suggests that the city is brought to life by the writer’s poem on paper.
“Shining eyes” could say that her image of the past is fake and blinded like the eyes of a doll.
“My city hides behind me. They mutter death, and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight”.
“They mutter death” may allude to the people in her new country being unwelcoming.
“My shadow falls as evidence of sunlight” shows that because her body is still there casting a shadow, her original upbringing was a positive thing. She still carries happiness with her.
How does the form of the poem enforce the message.
The final stanza of the poem is 9 lines, breaking the pattern of 8 before. If the final stanza were to be 8 lines, we would end on “death”, however, the poet chooses to extend the poem, showing that the emigree managed to survive in her new life.
