The Émigrée Flashcards
’ T o w a c … I L i a a c b m m o i i s - c ‘ + suggests?
‘There once was a country… I left it as a child but my memory of it is sunlight-clear’
- Introduces the central tension of the poem: the contrast between the vivid, almost idealistic memory of the speaker’s homeland and the REALITY of its loss and inaccessibility.
- the phrase “There was once a country” has a fairy-tale like quality (like once upon a time), suggesting a kind of mythological, dreamlike status, a place that exists more in the realm of imagination and remembrance rather than in concrete, present reality.
- “sunlight-clear” - emphasises the idyllic memory she had of her homeland (due to child memories)
- this sets up the poem’s exploration of the complex relationship between memory, identity, and displacement, the way in which the experience of exile can both preserve and distort one’s sense of self and place.
“S” (motif)
Sunlight
“I m b a w, i m b s w t, b i a b b a i o s’
“It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight”
- this line develops the motif of sunlight as a symbol of the speaker’s lost homeland, suggesting the way in which this memory has become an indelible (unforgettable) part of her identity.
- use of repeated modal verb “may” - suggets that she hears the stories and realities shes being told, but is blinded by this “sunlight” memory of her homeland - refuses to accept (may - sense of uncertainty).
- use of adjective ‘sick’ suggests her homeland supposedly can be cured? Which is not the case.
- the verb “branded” implied a kind of violent, permanent marking, a searing of the skin that leaves an irreversible trace - suggests this memory of her homeland is permanent.
- branded by sunlight - suggests she is blinded by her own childhood memories and blind to realities because sunlight is blinding, and you can only look at it temporarily, suggesting her memories will fade?
- The speaker’s identity is defined by a kind of negative space, a haunting by what is no longer there.
‘m o v, t b f p’
“my original view, the bright filled paperweight”
- “paperweight” - suggests that her homeland has important memories to her in which they make up her identity, she felt stable and secure in her homeland as we know paperweights are souvenirs that hold memories and hold down paper (security), however perhaps her memories are futile as a paperweight has really no other purpose (futile memories).
‘T c ‘s v i c h L a h d, o a s a g’
That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar
‘I L d i f o m, d a p; i c i h a L i s e’
It lies down in front of me, docile as paper; I comb its hair and love its shining eyes
“b i c’t g i o m t, f i t o s’
‘but I can’t get if off my tongue, for it tastes of sunlight’
- This line further Presents, Something Can Be Taste and Felt Even in its Absence.
- The phrase “cant get it off my tongue” suggest a kind of persistence or stubbornness, I refuse all of the memory to fade or dissipate.
- The explanation “for it tastes of sunlight” present a synaesthetic image, blurring of the boundaries between different sensory experiences (her memories blind her to the realities)
- The idea of sunlight having a taste captures the intense, almost physical nature of the speakers memory, the way in which it pervades and saturates her entire being.
- This line reflects the poems exploration of the way in which memory can become a kind of sustenance, a way of keeping the past alive and present even in the face of irrevocable change.
Form/structure points?
- 2 stanzas with 8 lines BUT the final stanza has 9, why? Perhaps suggesting the speaker cannot/doesnt want to let go of the memories and just doesnt want the poem to end - tries to hold onto the memories as long as possible
- The poem does not use rhyme, but there is a suggestion of a rythmic pattern of five stresses to the line – although this pattern never fully establishes itself as a regular rhythm, perhaps this reflects the speakers state of mind: which though positive in many ways is also uneasy, unsettled and complex.
T a m, t c m
They accuse me, they circle me
Context + Poet’s message/s
- Carol Rumens was born in london, but also lived in belfast and wales
- travelled widely through russia and eastern europe (her work may link to ukraine vs russia)
- neither the city nor the country is ever named in this poem - lack of specific detail seems intentional
^ rumens wants her poem to be relevant to as many people who have left their homelands as possible - key message: highlights the pain and confusion of the emigrant’s experience to convey an impression of what it is like to have to leave your home (and perhaps family even) behind.
