The poem 'A Photograph' is written by Shirley Toulson. In this poem, she recalls her mother and her memories while looking at a childhood photograph when her mother was twelve years old or so.

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Correspondingly, who is the poet of the poem a photograph?

Shirley Toulson

Subsequently, question is, what emotions does the poet's mother have when she looks at the photograph? The mother feels nostalgic looking at her bygone years. She laughs out loud and tells her daughter how her cousins had dressed up for the beach. She recalls those days when she was innocent and playful.

what is the summary of the poem a photograph?

The poem, 'A photograph', contrasts the eternal state of nature and the transitory state of human beings. The poet describes a photograph that captures interesting moments of her mother's childhood when she went for a sea holiday with her two girl cousins.

Who clicked the photograph in the poem a photograph?

The poet looks at the photograph of her mother which was taken when her mother was 12 years old. She had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly. While they were paddling on the beach, her uncle clicked a photograph.

Related Question Answers

What is the meaning of silence silences?

Please find below the solution for your asked query: The photograph reflects a dear, old memory of the poet's mother. However, after the mother's death, the photograph elicits no words from the poet. It is a reminder of her mother's death. This harsh realization of loss silences her.

What is the irony in the poem a photograph?

Shows what the irony is because the silence in itself is the one thing which falls silent as the end nears. The photograph is amusingly a dysphoric one. The condition of mother being happy in the photo and the joy of the artist to see her mother in a joyful or happy state both are associated with depressed side.

What is a photograph poem?

“A Photograph,” a poem by the English writer Shirley Toulson, describes the adult speaker's discovery of a photograph showing her mother, at that time a girl, and some even younger cousins swimming during a holiday at the sea. Yet the poem can also be seen as a response to, and minor victory over, such loss.

What is the theme of a photograph?

A Photograph is a tribute by Shirley Touson to her mother. The poem expresses the thoughts of the poet after seeing her mother as a child playing on the beach with her two cousins. She is the eldest cousin and is holding her cousins' hands on either side. The photo was taken on a windy day by their uncle.

What is the central idea of the poem the Laburnum top?

The poem symbolises that happiness is short lived which is evident from the poem as with the arrival of goldfinch the tree suddenly becomes active,noisy and full of life. But this happiness is temporary as with the departure of goldfinch,the tree becomes silent once again.

What is the philosophy of the poem a photograph?

What is the philosophy of the poem PHotograph? 'A Photograph' is about impermanence of life. The poem also tells that Photograph is not just a positive print which is recorded by a camera; it is rather a captured moment which later becomes a beautiful memory. It holds those moments which might never get back.

What is the significance of the sea in the poem a photograph?

In the poem 'Photograph', the sea represents timelessness. The poet says that the sea ' appears to have changed less'. The sea is an element of nature where time has little or almost no influence.

What are the poetic devices used in the poem a photograph?

The Poetic Devices used in the poem A Photograph are:

• Alliteration in "stood still to smile", "terribly transient" and "silence silences".
• Transferred Epithet in "Washed their terribly transient feet".
• Oxymoron in "laboured ease".
• Personification in "Its silence silences."

How has the poet expresses her sense of loss?

The poetess expresses her grief by composing this poem where she talks about her mother laughing which might symbolize her reminiscing the past. She looks back at her childhood days with nostalgia and recollects her innocent joys. Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.

Why does the poet feel nostalgic?

The poet feels emotional because the photograph is of her mother's childhood. It had been captured by her mother's uncle when she along with her cousins had gone to the beach to have fun. The photograph brings tears to her eyes because now her mother is no more in this world. This thought evokes pangs in her heart.

What does terribly transient feet mean?

Washed their terribly transient feet' Transient means something which is temporary or short-lived. Here, when the author says terribly transient feet, she refers to the ever changing imprints of the feet left on the sea sand. The sea never appears to change but the human life is transient.

What does the poet compare her laughter to and why?

what does the poet compare her laughter to and why? She refers to this laughter as having the laboured ease of loss. Laboured ease of loss refers to that ease which comes with bearing one's pain for so long that one has gotten used to carrying around that heavy burden.

What does the cardboard refers to?

The cardboard refers to the old photo frame that holds the picture of the poet's mother.

Why does the poet say girl lived?

?The poet says that , " Now she's been dead as long as the girl in the photograph lived " . Here she is hinting at the loss of her mother. She is no more with her now . So she says that her mother had been dead and it was a big loss for her .

What does the cardboard show the poet?

Answer: The cardboard shows the poet of her mother's lost childhood. It represented the photograph of her mother with her two cousins in the beach. Her mother remembered the past days and became nostalgic and happy for a moment but remembered that the photograph also shows the temporary lives of humans.

In which mood does the poet look at the photograph and why?

The poet look at the photograph with a mood of love and possesion. Because it touched poet's heart.

What does the poet mean by smile through their hair?

Answer: The phrase smiling through their hair refers to the fact that these women had long hair half covering their faces and their smiles were so bright that it seemed like sunshine penetrating through that cover. In other words, The breeze had swept the hair of the three girls at the beach onto their faces.

What does this circumstance refer to a photograph?

Answer: This circumstance' refers to the death of the mother of the poetess. The happy and carefree girl seen in the photograph is no longer alive. The poetess could not help being sorry and sad to think of her mother a objected person.

What is the tone of the poem photograph?

Shirley Toulson in the poem,''A Photograph" takes up a sentimental and memorial tone as she pays a tribute to her mother. The poetess develops a lamentable expression which is the crux of the poem. She says that the world has not changed, but the person that made her world is long gone.