Tissue Flashcards
What is the poem Tissue about?
The poem explores the fragility of human power and structures, using paper as a metaphor for life, control, and impermanence. It suggests that human systems (money, borders, governments) are fragile, unlike nature or faith.
How does Dharker structure Tissue?
Free verse – No strict rhyme or rhythm, reflecting the fragility of paper. Representing human inability to control their lives or nature.
Enjambment – Flowing lines mimic the delicate movement of paper. May reflect poets desire for freedom or humans inability to control nature
Four-line stanzas (quatrains) – Suggests order, but the last stanza breaks away (only one line), emphasizing impermanence.
What are the main themes in Tissue?
Power of humans vs. nature – Paper (human creation) is weak compared to natural forces.
Transience – Nothing lasts forever (buildings, money, borders).
Control & Freedom – Paper represents both control (maps, receipts) and freedom (flight of a kite).
“Paper that lets the light shine through”
Metaphor for transparency and fragility.
Suggests human systems should be more open.
Light = truth and religion, or nature’s power.
“Might fly our lives like paper kites”
Simile – Life is fragile and temporary like a kite.
Could imply freedom or lack of control.
“Turned into your skin”
Human connection – Paper (man-made) merges with skin (natural).
Suggests unity between humans and their creations.
Context of Author:
Dharker is a Pakistani-British poet who explores identity, migration, and cultural conflict.
The poem critiques rigid systems (borders, money) and suggests flexibility.
Islam may influence the idea of light (divine truth) and impermanence.
Compare how Tissue and Ozymandias present human power and impermanence.
- Natural Forces as Justice
Symbols & Differences:
Tissue: Light (“let the daylight break”)
Represents truth, transparency, and spiritual redemption.
Gentle and penetrative—exposes flaws but offers hope for reform.
Ozymandias: Desert sands (“lone and level sands”)
Symbolize time’s indifference and inevitable erasure.
Harsh and obliterating—mocks human pride with brutal finality.
Thematic Importance:
Dharker uses light to suggest human systems could evolve if they embrace humility.
Shelley’s sands declare all tyranny will be buried, with no chance of redemption.
- Material vs. Ephemeral Power
Symbols & Differences:
Tissue: Paper (“buildings were paper”)
Represents modern constructs (borders, money)—flimsy yet pervasive.
Ephemeral but malleable; implies power could be reconfigured.
Ozymandias: Stone statue (“colossal wreck”)
Embodies historical empires—solid but brittle under time’s pressure.
Monumental yet static; pride fossilized into ruin.
Thematic Importance:
Dharker critiques contemporary power’s illusion of control.
Shelley exposes ancient power’s delusion of permanence.
Shared insight: Both materials fail, but paper’s fragility hints at adaptability, while stone’s ruin signals irreversible decay.
- Difference in Symbols of Legacy
Symbols & Differences:
Tissue: Books/Koran (“smoothed and stroked”)
Symbolize knowledge and cultural memory—durable yet evolving.
Human touch (“stroked”) suggests legacy requires active engagement.
Ozymandias: Sculptor’s art (“those passions yet survive”)
Represents art’s power to immortalize truth beyond the subject’s intent.
Irony: The tyrant’s likeness survives only to mock him.
Thematic Importance:
Dharker prioritizes collective wisdom (books) as a guiding force.
Shelley elevates individual artistry (sculptor) as the true conqueror of time.
Contrast: Tissue’s legacy is shared and fluid; Ozymandias’s is isolated and fixed.
“pages smoothed and stroked and turned transparent with attention”
Tactile verbs (“smoothed,” “stroked”) suggest care and reverence, as if handling something sacred (e.g., religious texts or art).
“Transparent” metaphorically implies clarity or honesty, contrasting with the opaque, rigid systems (like borders or money) criticized earlier in the poem.
“If buildings were paper, I might feel their drift”
Fragility of Human Power: Buildings symbolize permanent structures of authority (governments, borders, religions). By imagining them as paper, Dharker undermines their solidity, suggesting they are as easily shifted as drifting paper.
Control vs. Freedom: “Drift” implies unpredictable movement, contrasting with the rigid control humans try to impose. The speaker desires connection (“feel”) to this fluidity, rejecting static power.
Nature’s Superiority: Paper’s lightness mirrors natural forces (wind, light), which outlast man-made constructs—a link to Ozymandias’s desert eroding stone.
Metaphor (“buildings were paper”) – Reduces concrete symbols of dominance to fragile, disposable material.
“the marks / that rivers make, roads, / rail tracks, mountains/roads.”
Listing: Emphasizes humanity’s obsession with dominating nature (e.g., borders, infrastructure).
Oxymoron: “Mountains/roads” juxtaposes natural permanence with man-made intrusions.
“With living tissue, raise a structure never meant to last”
Paradox of Human Creation: The line critiques humanity’s obsession with building permanent structures (governments, borders, economies) using ephemeral materials (“living tissue” = human life).
Futility of Power: The phrase “never meant to last” suggesting all human systems are doomed to decay.
Biological vs. Constructed: “Living tissue” (natural, fragile) contrasts with “structure” (artificial, rigid), highlighting our unnatural desire for control.
What does tissue mean?
Tissue refers to Human skin or Human power and comparing it to the fragility of paper
Significance of the Koran/Qu’ran
Symbol of Immortal Knowledge vs. Temporary Power
Contrast with Political Systems:
The Koran is juxtaposed against fragile human constructs like “credit cards” and “borderlines.” While man-made systems decay, the Koran represents timeless wisdom that “lets the light shine through.”
Link to Ozymandias: Unlike Ramesses’ statue (a symbol of failed earthly power), the Koran’s spiritual authority transcends time.
Why Not Another Text?:
Dharker, a Muslim-born poet, uses the Koran to personalize the poem’s critique. Its inclusion suggests faith as an alternative to corruptible political/economic systems.
- Metaphor for Transparency and Truth
Light Imagery:
The Koran’s pages are “turned transparent with attention,” implying that truth emerges through engagement—unlike opaque structures of control (e.g., governments).
Contrast: In Ozymandias, the statue’s “frown” and “sneer” are fixed in stone, mocking the tyrant’s rigidity. The Koran, by contrast, adapts through interpretation.
Spelling Choice (“Koran” vs. “Qur’an”):
The Westernized spelling (“Koran”) may reflect Dharker’s multicultural perspective—highlighting how sacred texts cross linguistic and cultural borders.
- Human Connection and Legacy
Tactile Imagery:
The verbs “smoothed and stroked” evoke reverence and intimacy, framing the Koran as a living text passed through generations.
Link to Mortality: Later, “turned into your skin” ties this legacy to human impermanence—suggesting spiritual knowledge outlasts flesh.
Contextual Autobiography:
Dharker found her father’s Koran after his death, making it a symbol of personal and collective memory. This mirrors the poem’s focus on what endures (faith, ideas) vs. what fades (power, money).
