what conclusions drawn seeing the photograph class 11 English poem "A PHOTOGRAPH".
Answers
Answer:
A Photograph Summary compares the internal state of nature and the momentary state of humans. In the poem, poetess describes a photograph of her mothers’ childhood. In the photograph of time when she went for a sea holiday with her two girl cousins. Also, poetess contrasts between nature, altering at the pace of a snail and the fast-changing human life. Poetess remembers how her mother laughs at the photograph and feel disappointed at the loss of her childhood joys. However, then, the sea holiday was her mother’s past and now her mother’s laugh is the poetess’s past. At different periods of time and with great difficulty, both resolve with their respective losses and the pain that involves in remembering past. Besides, for the poetess, his mother’s death of her mother brings great sadness and a dire sense of loss. Moreover, the painful ‘silence’ of the situation leaves her without words
Answer:
Shirley Toulson’s poem ‘A Photograph’ is a tribute to her mother. The poem describes three stages in the passage of time. In the first stage, the photograph shows the poet’s mother standing at the beach enjoying her holiday with her two girl cousins. She was around 12 years old at that time. The second stage takes us twenty or thirty years later. The mother would laugh at the way she and her cousins were dressed up for the beach holiday. In the third stage, the poet remembers the dead mother with a heavy heart. The photograph revives a nostalgic feeling in the poet.
Explanation:
An old photograph of the poet’s mother which was pasted on cardboard makes the poet recall the old memories of her mother’s childhood. The photograph is a depiction of her mother’s enjoyable moments at a sea-beach with her two cousins who were younger to her. They were walking in shallow water with bare feet near the beach. The mother was standing in the middle and holding hands of her two cousins, who were standing on each side. The poet’s mother was twelve years old then. It shows that the photograph was very old but the poet has kept it very carefully as it reminded her of sweet memories of her mother’s childhood. The photograph also indicates how enjoyable her mother’s childhood was. The photograph shows that all three girls – the poet’s mother and her two cousins – stood still and smiled at the camera when their uncle clicked their photograph at the sea beach. As the weather was windy at that time, their hair was flying over their smiling faces. The expression on the faces of the poet’s mother and her cousins was that of happiness and enjoyment. The mother was looking very pretty at that time and the photograph was taken a long time ago. Everything has changed since then, her mother grew up; now she was dead and the poet was reviving her memories. The only thing that has remained unchanged is the sea which was washing the feet of all three girls. The mention of the word ‘transient’ indicates the ever-changing lives of human beings as well as the shortness of their stay on this World, in contrast to the eternality of nature. The girls’ life changed drastically during this period but the sea has not changed. The stanza beautifully explains the transient nature of human beings. Even 20-30 years later the mother would look at the photograph and laugh nostalgically remembering the happy memories of her past. Mother would look at the photograph and comment on the dresses worn by the cousins Dolly, Betty and herself. Sea holiday was her mother’s past and her mother’s laughter has become a thing of the past for the poet as her mother was now dead. The poet still remembers how her mother would laugh at the photograph remembering the sea-holiday with a fondness as well as a sense of loss because that time would never come back. In the same way poet feels nostalgic thinking about her mother and her laughter which has become a thing of the past. The poet recalls that it is nearly twelve years since her mother died. The poet is consumed with grief but is left with no words to express her loss and pain. The poet is totally absorbed in memories of her dead mother. The painful silence of this situation leaves the poet speechless. The poet can feel the grief but is unable to express it through words. The silence caused by death makes the atmosphere gloomy, where no one is able to utter words.