The Bright room
Transcript: The Bright room Bright room! WHAAT? As I was reading the poem, the title photograph made me imagine the old dark rooms, filled with the dull red light filling negatives with colors! This is my take on the title, as I try to process "THE PHOTOGRAPH" in this bright space! 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. Shirley Toulson's "A photograph" undermines the usual human thought of the permanence of materialistic things and highlights how short lived humans and their actions are along with the joys, sorrows, achievements and material assets they have. Eternity is an illusion ! A Photograph The poem is written in free-verse and a lot of tropes find place in the poem - Synecdoche: This device is used to represent one thing with the help of an entirely different one. ( line 9 - the word feet is used for the entire body ) Oxymoron: When two or more entirely opposite things are paired to convey a different perspective and meaning. ( line 15 - laboured ease of loss ) Alliteration: repitition of initial sound - stood still to smile - line 5 and many more..! The poem comprises of various tones through out! It gives a nostalgic feel as the poet describes the photograph of her mother and the joyous times ( 5 ) and moving on also conveys a sad tone as the poet shares her loss with the audience and how the grief of the loss of her mother cannot be conveyed in words and only silence prevails! ( 14-15, 18-19 ) Summary Tone The poet begins this poem by describing a photograph of her mother in her childhood. The photograph was taken when the poet’s mother was twelve years old, and on a day when she had gone to the beach with her cousins. It was a favourite photograph of her mother’s, and her mother often used to reminisce about the day when it was taken. It has been twelve years since the poet’s mother died, and since the poet cannot talk about her death, she chooses instead to celebrate her mother’s life by looking at an old photograph of her glory days. As the eternal nature outlives the impermanent, it tends to reflect our uncertain human life and how precious it is ! Sources The poem addresses deep concerns about the brevity of human life and conveys the inability to describe human loss. The loss of the holiday and the laughter is easy because these things have to be accepted as a part of life. They are merely a part of the past and cannot be brought back or relived. However, precisely because they cannot be relived, there will always be a tinge of difficulty letting them go completely. They will always be seen as loss. These ideas are conveyed through the phrase "laboured ease of loss" The poem is written by Shirley Toulson and among many books has been published in a collection of readings namely "Hornbill" published by National Council of Education Research and Training, India. https://beamingnotes.com/2016/04/28/critical-analyhirley-toulson/ http://liveenglish11.blogspot.com/2012/07/detailed-explanation-photograph-by.html Rhetorical Devices Theme
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