look we have coming to dover Flashcards
structure
-5 stanzas, 5 lines each, quite even
-form looks like waves coming in and out (they also could look like cliffs)
-lines run over into the next
pace
fast, represents whirlwind rhythm of immigrant life
title
gramatically incorrect, mimics the predudice towards immigrants not fluent in English
So various, so beautiful, so new…’
– Matthew Arnold, ‘Dover Beach’
significant quote, written by english british poet idealising dover and national pride
analysis part 1
Stowed in the sea to invade
the lash alfresco of a diesel-breeze
ratcheting speed into the tide, with brunt
gobfuls of surf phlegmed by cushy come-and-go
tourists prow’d on the cruisers, lording the ministered waves.
‘stowed in the sea to invade’
-hints that they’re illegal
-‘stowed’ suggests an object, not a person
-‘invade’ suggests perception of a threat
-poet criticises xenaphobes and asks who really is the invader
‘the lash alfresco of a diesel-breeze’
‘alfresco is italian and refers to italian culture (frescos etc)
-used in the sense that imigrants are taking away british culture
-deilsel refers to the motorboat they arrive on, also emphasises frantic speed of travel they take to seek refuge
‘phlegmed by cushy come-and-go’
-says immigrants are essentially coughed up on shore
-british see them as a disease
-‘cushy’ suggests british see immigrant struggles as easy
‘tourists prow’d on the cruisers, lording the ministered waves.’
ironic as leisure of tourists is the struggle of immigrants in same setting
analysis part 2:
Seagull and shoal life
Vexin their blarnies upon our huddled
camouflage past the vast crumble of scummed
cliffs, scramming on mulch as thunder unbladders
yobbish rain and wind on our escape, hutched in a Bedford van.
-Assonance of ‘u’ sounds in stanza empathises to the reader the relentless and dangerous endeavour they were required to undertake and intensifies the harsh weather and atmosphere
‘Seagull and shoal life’
return to natural imagrey after the diesel boat
-sibilance on animals to emphasise the dehumanisation of immigrants (ironically a seagull has more freedom)
‘Vexin their blarnies upon our huddled’
-BLARNIES IS IRISH, refers to ability to speak well, ironic as seagulls are viewed as higher than immigrants
‘camouflage past the vast crumble of scummed
cliffs’
-camoflague suggeests immigration is taboo and hidden
-scummed shows how cliffs are being washed away as cliffs represent culture , brits blame foreigners for this change despite it being natural
yobbish rain and wind on our escape, hutched in a Bedford van.
-‘yobish’ emphasises england is difficalt for immigrants to get their hands on, as the terrain is slippery
-bedford b=van is a furniture van showing bad quality of life of immigrants as they have to mocve from one place to another
-hutched emphasises how they are stuck
-PATHETIC PHALLACY-can be compared with caged animals
-contrasts to the end of the poem where they do not need to hide anymore and the weather is good
analysis part 3:
Seasons or years we reap
inland, unclocked by the national eye
or stab in the back, teemed for breathing
sweeps of grass through the whistling asthma of parks,
burdened, ennobled, poling sparks across pylon and pylon.
‘Seasons or years we reap
inland,’
-we removed identity of immigrants, their world goes unnoticed by the national eye (colletivised and dismissed doing essential jobs)
‘teemed for breathing’
refers to how immigrants are confined together
‘whistling asthma of parks’
-treatment of immigrants as suffocating
-FEELS SUFFOCATED BY JUDGEMENT IN PUBLIC SPACES
analysis part 4:
Swarms of us, grafting in
the black within shot of the moon’s
spotlight, banking on the miracle of sun –
span its rainbow, passport us to life. Only then
can it be human to hoick ourselves, bare-faced for the clear.
‘Swarms of us, grafting in’
-swarms reduces immigrants to animals/ pests
-grafting shows manual labour done by them
‘the black within shot of the moon’s
spotlight’
-contrasts moons association with purity and whitneness
-refers to black people invading purity and whiteness of britain
‘miracle of sun –’
-significance of the sun, symbol of daytime and new opportunities
-britain should give new opportunities to them
‘span its rainbow, passport us to life. Only thencan it be human to hoick ourselves, bare-faced for the clear.’
-immigrants can only elevate their status whemn they have a passport
analysis part 5
Imagine my love and I,
our sundry others, Blair’d in the cash
of our beeswax’d cars, our crash clothes, free,
we raise our charged glasses over unparasol’d tables
East, babbling our lingoes, flecked by the chalk of Britannia!
-stanza is havily enjamed as speaker talks fast showing movement of their viewpoint
-speaker acquires dentity through use of I
‘our sundry others, Blair’d in the cash’
-repetition of s and c sounds potentially evoke slurs
-blair’d references tony blairn(coul provide opportunity as powerful)
‘we raise our charged glasses over unparasol’d tables’
-hopes to no longer hide themselves from the world
-parosols tradoitionally used to keep victorian women pale
-removing parisol represents fantasy of a diverse world
‘mulch as thudner unbladders’
-assonantly rhymed
-pathetic fallacy + thunder personified
use of anthimeria (nouns made verbs)
prow’d
unparasol’d
beeswax’d
ETC
About the Author- Dalit Nagra
-son of immigrant parents coming to settle in uk from india
-known for writing abt experiences of Indians living in uk and struggles of adapting to British society
-punjabi is his 1st language explaining use of ‘Punglish’ in many of his poems, a language mixing Punjabi and English
Look We Have Coming To Dover!- lexical Field
‘invade’ ‘teemed’ ‘swarmed’-lexical field hinting at the threat immigration poses against British culture/identity
‘invade’ connotes danger and attack- may refer to how many British politicians and people feel that immigrants are ‘taking their jobs’ and conquering all areas of British life
this comes from the speaker, an immigrant themselves, implying that they feel alienated and excluded and therefore feel guilty for seeking refuge in a country people do not want them in.
Look We Have Coming To Dover!-Language
many words are hard to decipher/written in British Slang-may reflect the speakers defiance in completely conforming to British ideas of how to speak ‘proper’ English. still wants to retain his own identity even when he starts to live among them-babbling our linguos’
