The Emigrée Flashcards
Carol rumens
Carol Rumens is novels anoet, ecturer and translator. She has published over fiffen collections of poetry, as well a several novels and plays. The Emigre’ appeared in her 1993 collection, Thinking of skins
Form
The poem is written in the first person, with three eight-line stanzas but no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme. The first two stanzas contain lots of enjambment, but there’s more end-stopping in the final stanza. This reflects the speaker’s feeling of confinement in her new “city of walls”.
Structure
The speaker’s memory of the city grows and solidifies as the poem moves on — the city becomes a physical presence for the speaker in the final stanza. Each stanza ends with “sunlight”, reinforcing the fact that the speaker sees the city in a positive light.
Language of conflict
Vocabulary associated with war, invasion and tyranny shows that the city may not be as pertect as the speaker remembers it. In the second stanza, there’s the sense that the speaker is defying the authorities by accessing her “child’s vocabulary” that’s been “banned”.
“They accuse me x 2 “ - unclear who ‘they’ is but they are menacing and the repetition reinforces their threat to the speaker
“It may be at war ! It may be sick with tyrants “ - suggestion that the country has been invaded and that the speakers positive view may not be accurate
Language of light
The city is described in bright, colourful terms, emphasising the speaker’s
feeling that it’s a beautiful, positive place. The repeated link with “sunlight” suggests a vitality to the city.
“Sunlight “ at the end of every stanza
Ends on a positive note despite the threats of death the city is still associated with “sunlight” just as it was with the previous 2 stanzas
Personification
The city is initially personified as being “sick with tyrants”.
In the final stanza, it appears to the speaker, lies down and then later takes her dancing.
Describing the city in human terms emphasises the strength of the speaker’s love for it.
“Own white paper “ - the city is personified could represent the speaker’s memories
“Time rolls as it tanks “ - time is personified as an Ememy but it can’t affect the speakers memories
Nostalgia
- The speaker’s positive memories of the city are unwavering — nothing she hears will change her view of it. There’s a sense of yearning for the city and the past, which is partly fulfilled by the city appearing to the speaker in the final stanza.
Threat
There are suggestions that the city has been invaded or taken over by a tyrant, but the speaker chooses to ignore these things. She is threatened in her new city, and seems to have to protect her old city. The poem ends with “sunlight”, but this doesn’t entirely remove the sense of threat.
