What does the poet want to say in poem "photograph"?what does she laments about and why
Answers
Question 1.
The poet talks about a particular cardboard. How is it special to her?
Answer:
The poet talks about a particular cardboard to which is pasted her mother’s photograph taken at the sea beach. The mother seems to have been enjoying her sea holiday. The photograph is special as she has lost her mother sometime back and looking at the photograph makes her happy as well as sad.
Question 2.
What can you say about the childhood of the poet’s mother?
Answer:
The childhood of the poet’s mother must have been filled with fun and happiness. This is clear from the snapshot of the sea holiday. They are enjoying their holiday.
The mother of the poet laughs when looking at the snapshot even after many years have passed since the sea holiday. All this shows us that it was a very pleasant childhood.
Question 3.
What moment does the photograph depict?
Answer:
The photograph clicked by. the uncle of the poet’s mother depicts a sea-holiday being enjoyed by the poet’s mother and her two cousins Dolly and Betty. They are full of smiles in their beach dresses, not worrying about their flying hair.
Question 4.
Were the three cousins camera friendly? Who was taking their photograph?
Answer:
The three cousins appear to be camera-friendly as they stood at the sea beach without moving when the uncle took the photograph.
Question 5.
The poet’s mother would laugh looking at the photograph. Why?
Answer:
The poet’s mother was in middle age when she looked at that photograph and used to laugh remembering those golden days of her childhood, enjoying a sea holiday. She would also laugh at the beach dresses which looked weird after many years.
Question 6.
What impression do you form about the poet’s mother?
Answer:
The poet’s mother was very pretty at the age of twelve. She enjoyed the sea holiday. This is indicated by the happiness that she gets in middle age after looking at her childhood photograph.
Question 7.
The sea ‘appears to have changed less’ in comparison to the three girls who enjoyed the sea holiday. Comment.
Answer:
The poet compares the mortal nature of human beings with the eternal nature of the sea or natural objects. With the passage of time, the poet’s mother died but the vast sea has remained as it was since the photograph was taken.
Question 8.
Why does the poet feel nostalgic?
Answer:
The poet sees an old photograph of her mother in which she was standing on the beach with her two cousins — Dolly and Betty. They were enjoying themselves. The photograph captured her mother’s sweet and smiling face. At that time, she was around twelve years old. The poet remembers how her mother used to laugh whenever she looked at that old photograph. But time has passed and now the poet has been left only with the memories of her mother. Thus, she feels nostalgic
Question 9.
What does the poet say about her mother’s face?
Answer:
The poet remarks that her mother had a sweet face, smiling and caring for her cousins who were younger to her. The poet also says that her mother used to enjoy these sea holidays, and would laugh heartily, later on when she saw the photograph.
Question 10.
How does the poet react to her past? Why has she not mentioned anything about her mother’s death?
Answer:
The poet remembers with sadness her mother’s laughter which she cannot hear any more. The poet is full of a sense of loss and does not mention about her mother’s death, as it may bring more gloom to her and make her speechless.
Question 11.
Does the poet appear to be grieving?
Answer:
The poet is certainly filled with a sense of loss. Her mother is long dead and though the poet has adjusted to her absence, she is not able to completely overcome her loss.
She remembers how it used to be when her mother was still with her. The last line is an apt depiction of her state of mind. The loss has filled her life with silence.
Question 12.
Comment on the tone of the poem.
Answer:
The tone of the poem is that of sadness. Shirley Toulson looks at an old photograph of her mother and is sadly reminded of her mother who is no morE. She mentions about death of her mother indirectly only but this photograph has made her speechless and silent.