the emigree Flashcards
who wrote the emigree
carol rumens
There was once a country… I left it as a child but my memory as it is sunlight clear
starts like a story
past tense implying it no longer exists
sunlight is a motif for hope
It may be at war it may be sick with tyrant; but I am branded by an impression of sunlight
carries hope with her at all times
impression creates a false representation of her homeland
branding is usually a painful process suggesting that it isn’t as happy memory as she thought and can be dangerous
That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll opens and spills a grammar
The theme of language suggests she has not moved on from her childhood
simile
The hollow doll could a lead to a Russian doll that she’s trying to find the centre of the centre being the city
ironic as she no longer fits there anymore as she’s outgrown the doll
it lies down in front of me docile as paper i comb it’s hair and love its shining eyes
personifies the city
Only create doll like memories which suggest it’s false
trauma from being uprooted as a child
My city hide behind me them at a desk and my shadow falls is evidence of sunlight
she feels as though she’s saving her city
poet deliberately extend the stanzas so it has a happy ending with sunlight
The city could be something good but it’s hidden by war
