All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.
(i)Name the poem and the poet.
(ii) Who do the words ‘All three’ refer to?
(iii) What were ‘All three’ doing?
(iv) What has happened to the girls and the sea?
Answers
The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.
All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face
My mother’s, that was before I was born
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.
Some twenty- thirty- years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all,
Its silence silences.
Introduction
The poet describes how deeply she feels the loss of her mother. Her mother has been dead for more than twelve years. The poet recalls how her mother used to look at a photograph and remember her own childhood.
Summary
The poet looks at the photograph of her mother which was taken when her mother was 12 years old. She had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly. While they were paddling on the beach, her uncle clicked a photograph. Each of the cousins was holding the hands of the poet’s mother who was the oldest among them. All the three of them stood smiling through their hair while the photo was taken. Her mother had a sweet face, but it was a time before she was born. Years fled past since then. Her mother grew up into an adult. They all underwent changes while the sea stood still.
After about twenty or thirty years the poet’s mother would look at the photograph laughing nostalgically and remembering the past. She would appreciate the dress worn by her cousins Betty and Dolly. The sea holiday belonged to the past of her mother and the poet still remembers how her mother would laugh looking at the snapshot. For the poet both these bring great sadness and an acute sense of loss.
Her mother died 12 years ago and now the poet has nothing to say about this circumstance of the photograph. The silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet.
Main Points
1. The poet looks at a childhood photograph of her mother.
2. She had gone for a sea holiday with her two cousins Betty and Dolly
3. While they were paddling on the beach, their uncle photographed their sweet smile in a camera.
4. Both the cousins were holding the hands of her mother who was the oldest among the girls.
5. This was before the poet was born.
6. Time fled past since then and all those who are in the photograph underwent changes while the sea remained the same.
7. Her mother would look a
t the photograph after about twenty or thirty years and laugh at this photo nostalgically.
8. Now for the poet her mother’s laughter and her sea holiday is a thing of the past.
9. Her mother died about 12 years ago.
10. The silence of the photograph silences the poet.
11. She experiences great loss.
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