A PHOTOGRAPH

Q.1 What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this
word been used?

A.1 The word ‘cardboard’ denotes the mounted photograph of the mother and
her two cousins. The poet has used this word because the photograph being old
is now worn out and faint. Moreover, it is surrounded by a moulding or frame.

Q.2 What has the camera captured?

A.2 The camera has captured the childhood memory of the mother and her two
cousins when they had gone for a sea holiday during their childhood days. Their
uncle had taken the photograph as the three stood still clutching their hands and
looking innocently through their hair.

Q.3 What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest
something to you?

A.3 The sea has not changed over the years. The expression suggests that
nature is perennial and everlasting. Whereas we humans change with our
growth, the objects of Nature like sea, river, brooks etc do not change or
perish.

Q.4 The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh
indicate?

A.4 The mother laughed whenever she looked at the snapshot. The sight
reminded her of the pleasures of her childhood days. She also feels amused at
the way their parents had dressed them up for the paddling. With the passage
of time, they begin to look funny and outof place.

Q.5 What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of
loss”?
A.5 The statement implies that with the passage of time various incidents of our
life become things of the past. For instance the sea holiday in the poet’s
childhood days was the ‘past’ for the mother and with the death of the mother,
her laughter is ‘past’ for the poet. Everything in life is thus transitory and gets
distorted with time and we accept this distortion with ease, without being much
troubled.

Q.6 What does “this circumstance” refer to?

A.6 “This circumstance” refers to the instance of her mother’s death. This
circumstance has created a vacuum in her life, a strange silence for there is none
with whom she can share her feelings.

Q.7 What does the poetess mean by ‘their terribly transient feet’?

A7. The dictionary meaning of the word transient is brief and fleeting. The three
girls were at a growing age. They underwent notable changes as time passed. But
the sea suffered no change over the years. The expression highlights the contrast
between mortal man and timeless, ageless sea.
Q.8Explain Its silence silences.

A8. The period of nearly twelve years since the poetess’s mother passed away,
has been painful for the poet. She can not hear her laughter anymore. There is
only silence now and the poet has to bear her loss in silence.

Q9. Explain: The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter.

A9. The determiner ‘her’ at both places refers to the poetess’s mother. The
picture taken during the sea holiday 20-30 years ago made the mother laugh. Her
sea holiday was her past. But twelve years after the mother’s death, her laughter
has now become a thing of the past for the poetess.

Read the stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
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

i) What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been
used?
(ii) Who were the three girls captured in the photograph?
(iii) Where had they gone for outing/paddling?
Ans.
(i) The word ‘cardboard’ denotes the photo or snapshot that is pasted
on cardboard in the photo frame.
(ii) The three girls captured in the photograph were the mother of the poetess
who was not married then, and her two cousins—Betty and Dolly.
(iii) They had gone out for a sea holiday. They were photographed on the sea
beach.

(2)
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.

(i) What does ‘three’ refer to?

(ii) When and where was the photograph taken?
(iii) Bring out the comparison between the sea and the ‘feet’.
Ans.
(i) The ‘three’ are Betty, Dolly and the mother of the poetess.
(ii) The photograph was taken on the sea beach by the uncle.
(iii) The sea is unchanging while human feet being washed by the sea waves are
fast changing.
(3)
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.”

(i) The poetess’ mother laughed at the snapshot. Why? What did her laugh
indicate?
(ii) When was the snapshot taken?
(iii) Who had dressed the speaker? What was funny about the dress?
Ans.
(i) The mother of the poetess was at that time some twelve years old. Now after
20-30 years, the mother cannot help laughing at her own picture in a casual,
holiday costume.
(ii) The snapshot was taken on the sea beach by the poetess’ uncle some 20-30
years ago.
(iii) The three girls, the poetess’ mother, two cousins—Betty and Dolly were
dressed for the beach by their parents. All the three were dressed in girlish beach
dresses.
(4)
The sea holiday
Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss.

(i) What is the significance of the ‘sea holiday’ here?

(ii) Explain: The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter.
(iii) Who does ‘both’ here refer to?
Ans.
(i) The significance of the sea holiday is that the mother was also a girl once and
it refers to a happy moment in her life on the sea beach.
(ii) The mother had seen her photo, taken 20-30 years earlier when she was just
twelve years old. So, that photograph denoted her own past. But the poetess who
had heard her mother laugh is also bereaved. The mother has passed away, her
laughter is also thing of the past for the poetess.
(iii) ‘Both’ here refers to the photograph and the mother’s laughter.
(5)
Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
as that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
(i) How many years ago had the poetess’s mother died?
ii) What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?
(iii) Explain Its silence silences.
Ans.
(i) It is some 12 years since the poetess’s mother passed away.
(ii) ‘This circumstance’ refers to the death of the mother.
(iii) The mother’s voice has been silenced forever. The photo cannot laugh. The
poetess also feels depressed and speechless.
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