The Emigree

Question 1

Poet

Answer 1

Carol Rumens

Question 2

Key Quotes

Answer 2

“There once was a country” - fantastical tone imitates childhood story (coped with change as a child)
“They circle me” - emphasises feelings of segregation (‘them’ against narrator)

Question 3

Form

Answer 3

First person
No regular rhythm/rhyme scheme - freedom from war and violence, but lack of welcome/belonging
Enjambment when talking about new country
End-stopping lines in final stanza - confinement in new “city of walls”

Question 4

Language

Answer 4

Conflict - connotations of war, invasion and tyranny

Speaker defies authorities by accessing “child vocabulary” that has been “banned”

Question 5

Themes

Answer 5

Loss and Absence
Memory
Identity
Individual Experiences

Question 6

Context

Answer 6

1993
UK confronted with increase in number of immigrants
Time of conflict in former Yugoslavia

Question 7

Structure

Answer 7

Memory of city grows and solidifies as poem moves on (becomes physical presence)
Each stanza ends with “sunlight”, reinforces immigrant’s mindset to be positive about new city