look we have coming to dover Flashcards
‘stowed in…
…the sea to invade’
What is the AO2? ‘Stowed in the sea to invade’
The poem opens by referencing the cliche of migrants as a hidden, enemy force
‘The alfresco…
…lash of a diesel-breeze’
What is the AO2? ‘The alfresco lash of a diesel-breeze’
The natural world provides a hostile ‘welcome’ to the migrants
What is the AO2? ‘cushy come and go tourists’
Migrants, who are deeply restricted, are contrasted with the treatment of those seen as legitimate
‘lording the…
ministered waves’
What is the AO2? ‘lording the ministered waves’
Suggests there is a regality to the tourists
What quotations present the migrants as instead fearful and disempowered
‘our huddled camouflage’ (although this also has opposing ideas of strength)
‘hutched in a Bedford van’
How is nature personified in the second stanza?
‘thunder unbladders yobbish rain and wind’ - nature is personified as a violent, intolerant thug
‘Seasons or…
…years we reap inland’
What is the AO2? ‘Seasons or years we reap inland’
Shift in time and place - the migrants beging to force a life and work
‘unclocked by…
…the national eye’
What is the AO2? ‘unclocked by the national eye’
The work of the migrants seems to go unnoticed/unacknowledged, seeming like a ‘stab in the back’ to the migrants, who face betrayal from the communities they contribute to
What is the AO2? ‘burdened, enobled’
The oxymoron conveys the dual experience of migrant life, defined by both struggle and dignity/meaning
‘Swarms of us…
…grafting in the black’
What is the AO2? ‘Swarms of us, grafting in the black’
Presents the migrants as threatening, inhuman and pest-like. ‘In the black’ could be a literal reference to night work or could be a metaphor for working without acknowledgement
‘banking on…
…the miracle of sun’
What is the AO2? ‘banking on the miracle of sun’
The migrants are hopeful of recognition and a better future
What is the AO2? ‘passport us to life’
Only once are the migrants legally documented are they truly seen as human
What is the AO2? ‘Blair’d in the cash’
This reference to Tony Blair is a satirical comment about migrants exploiting Britain for economic gain
What quotations does the writer use to describe the imagined success of the migrants?
‘beeswax’d cars’, ‘crash clothes’ - shiny cars and loud, garish clothes either critique financial exploitation or celebrate the success of the migrants
‘over unparasol’d tables…
…East, babbling our lingoes, flecked by the chalk of Britannia!’
What is the AO2? ‘over unparasol’d tables East, babbling our lingoes, flecked by the chalk of Britannia!’
The migrants acknowledge their heritage, yet, to an extent, feel mildly embraced by Britain
