Question

explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the poem. The Photograph
[First Stanza]​​

Answer 1

• The last two lines of the first stanza are mentioned below.

"And the sea, which appears to have changed less.

Washed their terribly transient feet."

• The last two lines explain that laws of human nature and nature itself are different from each other. The sea touched their feet while they were paddling on the beach which is now captured in cardboard. But They are now no more. we can see them only in photographs but if we want we can see the sea which has 'changed less'.
• 'A Photograph' was written by Shirley Toulson.

Answer 2

Answer:

The last two lines are in complete contrast with the first stanza. The first stanza is about poet's happy memory of her mother's childhood. She is looking at at a photograph that was clicked when her mother as a child had gone to a sea holiday where she had lots of fun.

However, the last two lines reflect poet's sadness over her mother's death.

Explanation:

This question is from the poem Photograph by Shirley Toulson. This poem is about transience of human life, death, and mysteries surroundings them. The poet is looking at the photograph of her mother and missing her. The photograph depicts the scene of her mother’s childhood when she along with her cousins, Betty, Dolly, and uncle had gone to the beach. The uncle had clicked this photograph.  

Many years later after the poet was born and grown up into a young lady, her mother and she would look at the photograph; the mother used to laugh at her childhood photograph.  

After a few more years, the poet’s mother died. The poet still preserved that photograph. Now she would look at the photograph and miss her mother’s laughter at her own photograph. The poet felt the sea-holiday was her mother’s past; and her mother’s laughter had become her past now.  

She also makes mention of man’s transience on the sands of life. When she thinks about all this she becomes miserably quiet with the sadness of separation from her mother.

The riddle of short human life has always confounded mankind. Poets, writers, philosophers, scientists, and researchers have not been able to find any clue to it. On the other hand, Nature is far more permanent than human life. The sun, the moon, the mountains, rivers, seas, and planets appear to be eternal (But actually they are also temporary, though their temporariness lasts longer than human beings).