Class 11 Poem-1(Hornbill)

 Poem-1

A photograph... 

Poet: Shirley Toulson

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✍️ Introduction about the Poet:

Shirley Toulson (1924–2018) was a British poet, journalist, and editor. She often wrote about family, memory, and loss, reflecting deep emotions through simple language. In the poem “A Photograph,” she beautifully captures the pain of losing a loved one—her mother—and the memories attached to a photograph.

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📝 Summary of the Poem:

“A Photograph” is a heart-touching poem that reflects on the loss of the poet’s mother. The poet describes a photograph of her mother taken when she was a young girl, standing on the beach with her cousins. The image brings back sweet memories of the past and highlights the contrast between life and death. It shows how time changes everything, and how grief remains silent yet deep.

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📷 Stanza-wise Explanation:

📌 Stanza 1:

                      " 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. "        

• The poet describes a photograph of her mother taken when she was 12 years old.

• She is standing on the beach with her two cousins.

• All three girls are smiling; the moment was captured by the poet’s uncle.

📌 Stanza 2:

                       " 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 case of loss. "

• The poet reflects on how her mother used to look at the picture and laugh.

• Her mother would recall that beach holiday fondly.

• Now, her mother has been dead for several years, and the poet feels a deep sense of loss.

📌 Stanza 3:

                      " Now she's been dead nearly as many years                                                                                                As that girl lived, And of this circumstance                                                                                                 There is nothing to say at all.                                                                                                                       Its silence silences. "

• The poet expresses that her mother has been dead for years, and there is nothing to say.

• The silence of death is overpowering.

• Her grief is beyond words—only silence remains.

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🎯 Themes:

• Passage of time

• Loss and grief

• Memories and nostalgia

• Contrast between life and death

• The permanence of a photograph vs. impermanence of life

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💬 Important Lines / Quotes:

• “The cardboard shows me how it was...”

• “She’d laugh at the snapshot.”

• “And of this circumstance, there is nothing to say at all, its silence silences.”

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💡 Poetic Devices Used:

Device	Example
Alliteration	“stood still to smile”
Irony	The girl in the photograph is now dead
Imagery	Describes the sea, beach, and smiling faces
Personification	“Its silence silences” – silence is personified
Enjambment	Sentences run across lines without punctuation

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✨ Message / Moral:

The poem shows how memories captured in photographs stay forever, while life and people move on. It reminds us of the fragility of life and the power of memory and emotion, especially after the loss of loved ones.

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