Singh Song! Flashcards
quote about romantic love?
“my bride”
-repetition = reinforces portrayal of his love for her, he can’t get her out of his head
-“my” - personal pronoun, connoting endearment & possession and reminding us their marriage is associated w intense passion
“is priceless baby”
-neglecting material goods, suggests that immaterial things such as spending time together = more important that the work he does in father’s shop
-“baby” = final addition to semantic field of love
-“priceless” - in final couplet indicates that, despite faults & flaws, he truly loves her
-poem delves into the raw authenticity of genuine romantic love and adoration.
quote about obsession?
“tummy ov a teddybear”
-juxtaposes his wife’s appearance w conventional standards of beauty, perceiving every deemed imperfection as a perfection
-therefore he declares his everlasting obsession with her, showing their love to be boundless
context
Daljit Nagra was born in 1966 in London. His parents emigrated to Britain from India - the experiences of Indian immigrants in Britain influence Nagra’s poetry, which can be seen in ‘Singh Song!’, published in 2007.
summary
1) The narrator is a British Indian. He talks about his life working in his father’s corner shop.
2) He’s just got married and keeps sneaking out of the shop to spend time with his new wife.
She’s Indian too but dresses in British clothes and acts in a modern, Western way.
3) The narrator neglects his shop duties - customers complain that he’s bad at running the shop.
4) When the shop’s shut, the couple sit and talk. He tells his wife how much she means to him.
form
1 FORM - There’s no regular rhyme scheme, but the poet uses some rhymes to create a light-hearted tone.
The poem features the voices of the narrator’s wife and customers, showing how he fits into the community. It’s like a song, with verses and a chorus, which makes it sound lively and rhythmic.
There’s little punctuation - this makes the poem flow in a way that sounds confident and cheerful.
structure
STRUCTURE - The poem alternates between descriptions of the narrator’s marriage and his customers’ complaints. The repeated complaints emphasise how often he neglects his work. At the end of the poem, the pace slows down to reflect the intimate scene, and the couple’s similar language emphasises their closeness.
humorous descriptions
HUMOROUS DESCRIPTIONS -The narrator uses entertaining images to describe his wife and family.
He also mixes humour with romantic descriptions, which adds to the light-hearted feel.
contrasts
CONTRASTS - Lots of seemingly contradictory things are brought together in the characters within the poem. The narrator shows that people can embrace elements of different cultures to form their own identity.
phonetic indian english
PHONETIC INDIAN ENGLISH - The words in the poem are spelt the way they sound when spoken aloud - this helps to give a strong impression of the characters. The voices in the poem combine Indian and English words and accents, which shows the influence of both cultures on the characters.
