T HE E MIGREÉ

Carol Rumens
Context
 Carol rumens
Born 1944 in London

o Poet, lecturer and translator Summary:
 Has lived in Belfast and Wales Context – lived
o Also travelled widely throughout Russia and eastern Europe London/Belfast/Wales – travelled
 Most of her poetry is about foreign customs, cultures and language around Russia and Eastern Europe –
o Inspired by her travelling most poetry about foreign
 Collection – Thinking of Skins (1993) customs/cultures – from Thinking of
 Poems about political consciousness Skins (political consciousness)
 Focused on Russia and East Europe Structure – free
 Focus on identity and culture verse/enjambment/caesura – some
order from epistrophe and stanza
Synopsis length – motif of sunlight
 Telling a story about her memories of a country she left as a child Language – epistrophe and motif
 She thinks her memories are infallible (sunlight) – subjunctive case –
 Acknowledges there are now tyrants and wars there as shown in the news ambiguity of dark – sees herself as
 However she presents a positive perspective Emigreé
 As time goes on her opinion and view of it gets clearer Key idea – it is not the place she
 Importance of her language for who she is longs for, but the childhood it
 Can’t go back there but reminded of her city represents – how central place is for a
 Presents maternal emotions towards it person’s identity – recognition wider
 Either returns to how city is today OR comparing her city to the new place she cultures and origins to increase political
lives consciousness – giving up individual
 Threatening atmosphere from citizens liberties for legal stability (need to
 Contrast between positivity of her city and negativity of new city recognise the pros and cons of different
cultures) – resisting the redefinition of
Form
 Free verse
No rhyme of rhythm

o Could be seen to represent the chaos and a lack of control of a country without a stable government – chaos and
danger of war
o Yet this seems to juxtapose the positive imagery in the poem
o More likely that it is presenting freedom
 Her memories of freedom and happiness in her old city in contrast to the city she emigrated to which is a "city
of walls"
o OR internal chaos due to her inability to focus on the present
 He present is clouded by the past – cannot live without thinking of her old city because it is integral to her
identity and who she is
 Supported by ellipses – shows trailing off of thought – can’t remain in the moment she gets sidetracked by her
memories
 There is some limited order
 Similar stanza lengths (8,8,9)
 Each ends in "sunlight" and no enjambment across stanzas
o Order has been inflicted on the poem\
o She controls the reality of the chaos of her city with her memories of its beauty and culture
o Resisting the reported chaos with her memories of "sunlight"

Structure
 Enjambment
Covered in caesura and free verse

o Sense of chaos – could be of her old city, or of her mind
“Through the city//
o OR could be indicative of freedom
Of walls.”
 Caesura
 Possible to interpret last stanza as a description of her new city
 Through the city// of walls.

o “of walls” is separated from the main body of text by a combination of enjambment and caesura
o Rumens wants the reader to consider walls as an isolated idea
 Connotations of oppression, lack of freedom, rules, entrapment, restrictive regulation
o Yet this can be viewed as a description of her new city – the one she has arrived in
 It is “their free city”
o Contrast of her “tyrant” ridden country, presented as free and associated with “sunlight”, with the “free city” that is
also a restricted “city of walls”
 The cost of a city being free from tyrants is the loss of individual freedoms
 Prevent wars and tyrants but there are so many restrictions and exclusions it feels like you are trapped
 Ellipses
 See below - “there once was a country…”
 Gathering memories – consider statement key to poem in more depth
 Repetition
 Repetition of “they” gives it an aggressive tone > makes it seem threatening and hostile
o Reflect the aggression aimed at her from the citizens of her new city
o She is different – possibility of racism conjured by “accuse me of being dark”
 Could be a literal reference to skin colour
 Or a figurative reference to her being miserable in their city
o Seen as an affront to their city – she does not love it the way she loved hers
o It is not an affront to their city, but a homage to hers
 New form of threat – not of tyrants/war but of social rejection
o She doesn’t belong there
 Doesn’t share their culture, language or identity
 Can’t be like them – will be rejected
 Feels alienated
o She has left the country she loves to escape danger but still doesn’t feel safe
 Now she feels threatened and unhappy – no “sunlight”
 Emphasizes her sense of segregation and alienation
o Feels different to them and doesn’t belong there
o It is not her home – “their city” not hers
o “they accuse me of absence” – she is not mentally present in the city because she is still dreaming of and pining for
her city
 Living within the beauty of her past and memories
o Power of origin – she will always be different because she is from a different country
 Your place of origin shapes you so much that this difference is instantly recognizable and cannot be disguised

Opening / Title
 Fairy tale – fantasy place
 “there once was a country”
“There once was a
 Establishes a fantastical tone to highlight that the place described is not physical but
remembered country… I left it as
o Most probably unreliably so. a child"
 This tone is established from the very first line
o to ensure the metaphorical value of Rumen’s place is recognised
 Conjures the concept of a fairytale
o suggests that the place the speaker remembers is so romanticised and far from reality that it is itself little more
than a fairytale
o “there’s no way back” to the way the country was, because her memory of it isn’t true to reality
 This is a representation of the idealism of youth – too young and naïve to recognise the negative aspects of her
country
 Suggestion that it is an unreliable memory
o use of caesura through an ellipses
o suggesting that the pause is necessary for the speaker to gather their thoughts and memories in order to describe
her country
 imply it is not "sunlight-clear" and not reliable
 her memory is infallible – perhaps positive view of the city is also flawed
o But it also serves to force the reader to further consider the opening statement in greater depth ensuring the
unreliable, fairytale-like narrative perspective is acknowledged.
 This ensures the reader views the whole poem through a lens of scepticism in recognition of the poem’s subjectivity

It is fundamentally about how a place impacts identity and your view of the world so it is of course tainted by
o
emotion, and not an objective, realist view of the place
o View of the country is only an interpretation of reality
 Also a focus on the city being in the past
o Sets poem up as an exploration of losing your identity
o The positive descriptions are no longer relevant or accurate
 The whole poem can be seen as a thoughtful, emotional exploration of that statement
o It is key to the reader’s understanding of the poem that they recognise the city is no longer like this, that it is her
memory of it not its current reality
o Thus rumens emphasises the statement with an ellipses
 Keeps her message universal
 “a country” – never identifies the city
 It can represent any place that someone has loved and left
 It is even universal to everyone because we have all left our childhood
o This will shadow how we view the world – pining for a place/time we have left and cannot return to
 The Emigreé
 The title displays contrast between two different languages
o English article “the”, French “Emigreé”
o Immediately establishes a conflicting identities – two languages – two identities
 Viewing herself from the perspective of her country
o She uses the term “Emigreé” which refers to someone who has left the country, rather than “immigrant” (someone
who has arrived”, showing how her identity is still; built around the country she left, not the country she is now in
o Where she comes from is more mentally prevalent than where she is
o Cannot leave her past life behind

Language
 Epistrophe
 Every stanza ends with a reference to sunlight
o Epistrophe is repeated use of word at end of stanza / sentence
o "branded by an impression of sunlight"
 Juxtaposition of positive connotations of sunlight and negative connotations
of branded “But I am branded by the impression of s
 Her love for her country will always dominate her view of it regardless of the
pain that coexists with that beauty
 The presence of pain doesn’t stop it being beautiful
“It tastes like sunlight"
 Or even that it is painful to be “branded” by such a view – cannot move on or
live in a new place because she is always pining for her old city
o "it tastes of sunlight"
 Importance of language for identity – her "child’s vocabulary" is part of who “My shadow falls as evidence of sunli
she is
 Intrinsically connected to the place it came from
 It is a form of remembrance for her city – holds its impression on her as
valuable
o "my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight"
 Shadow can be seen as his misery and discontent in the new city
 This sadness sis thus evidence of the "sunlight" – the virtues – of her old city
o It must have been a good place for her to miss it
 That she is sad now proves she was happy before in her city
 The epistrophe helps to demonstrate that no matter what “news” of “tyrants” and “war” she hears, she will always
have a positive opinion of her city
o the leaving impression is always positive – always return to original view
o pervading impression is of beauty, peace, safety – override everything else
o regardless of the issues discussed in the main stanza she leaves with a beauty
 reflective of her attitude – may temporarily accept the change to her city but always returns to viewing it as she
did as a child
o demonstrate power and strength of memories and of place
 assortment of different sensory forms – be it the “taste”, tactile branding or visual shadow
o ability of place and identity to completely dominate your experience of the world
 “It may be at war,
 not just how you see the world, but how you experience all senses
it may be sick with
 Subjunctive case
 when referring to the negative attributes of her city the speaker uses the subjunctive case tyrants"
o "it may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants"
o The flaws seem hypothetical to her because she does not accept a new perspective of the city she knows from
childhood
 By contrast, the negative attributes of her new city and the fear she feels is certain, stated in definitive statements
o "they mutter death" "city of walls" "they accuse me"
o She is certain of the flaws of the new country
o The flaws of the new city are more tangible than the reported flaws of her home
 Possibly because she lives there as an adult and so no longer has the naivety of childhood to tint her perspective

Doubtful – subjunctive case Certain – declarative statements

It may be at war They mutter death
It may be sick with tyrants They accuse me of absence
I am told They accuse me of being dark in their free city
Identity
 Her memory of the place allows it to have an extended influence on her
"my memory of it is sunlight clear"

o Connects the anaphora of "sunlight" to her memory, implying that the positive associations are only with her
memory of the place - not with the place itself
 It has changed - "Once was a city" - "No way back" – no longer positive/ free, it’s just that she remembers it that way
o Shows how your identity shapes how you view the world
o She grew up their – can only view it positively because the place is so integral to shaping who she is
o Only knew it as a child – naïve perspective through rose tinted spectacles – unaware of any negative
aspects
“No way
 Continues to be reminded of it back"
o “my city comes to me on a white plane”
 Wherever she is she will be reminded of her place of origin and will be influenced by it because it has formed a
crucial part of her identity
 Impact of language
 Still views herself from perspective of country she left “That Child’s
 The “child’s vocabulary” – she learnt that language as a child so it has come to define who she is vocabulary"
o The words she uses are a sign of her identity
o Thus “they taste of sunlight” – positive

Extended Metaphor – Lost Childhood

 See subjunctive case point
Her childhood city can only be seen positively – negative attributes hypothetical due to idealism of youth

New city’s negative attributes are tangible and certain as she is now an adult – sees world more objectively

 Only ever saw it from child’s perspective
 “I left it as a child”
 Idealism of youth
o She was a child when she lived there – naïve and ignorant of its flaws
o Unaware of the wars and political strife
o Thus only remember positive things – doesn’t even remember there being a "November" (no winter)
 Could even be that she left the country as a metaphorical child
o It wasn’t fully developed yet – brought up with violence in her absence
o Gives a sense of innocence to the country if it was a “child”
 Personification / maternal relationship
 “I comb its hair and love its shining eyes” “I comb its hair
o This conjures images of a maternal relationship – she is acting like a mother to her city and love its
 Suggests that, like a mother, she has unconditional love for her city shining eyes"
o Love it regardless of its flaws – blind to them
 Views it as a child – something she needs to protect
 Reinforced by “my city hides behind me” – she is defending and protecting it
o Can’t defend itself against criticism of wider world
o She defends it by refusing to believe the truth – remember it as a good place
 Her perspective of her city is childish
Associated with dolls (hollow doll), combing hair and dancing

o Also starts like a fairy tale
 The description of the city seems like it has come out of a young girls imagination
o This is because it has – it has come from her imagination and memories of the city when she was a child – not
actually real
 Childish attitude remains into adulthood
o Still refuse to see flaws – hang on to her view of it - denial
 The city is a representation of her childhood
 It is not the physical place she wants to go back to, but rather the safety and innocence of her childhood
 A desire to return to her protected ignorance instead of being aware of all the flaws and threats in the world now
o Threats not associated with the city because she was only ever a child there
 "no passport" – she cannot return to it because she cannot return to her past
 Longs for her childhood back
o only remembers good memories, ignores bad so childhood becomes a presentation of the perfect period of her life
o sees it as a carefree time (she was too young to know of cause for care)
o only positive associations – halcyon days – associated with light
 also with innocence and purity - "white streets" "white plane" – purity and peace (contrast to reported wars)
o she can’t believe in the wars because she remembers it as a place/time of peace

Place “White streets”

"White plane"
 unable to change how she views her city
only remembers it positively - good memories, ignores the bad
o sees it as a carefree time (she was too young to know of cause for care)
o only positive associations – halcyon days – associated with light
 also with innocence and purity - "white streets" "white plane" – purity and peace (contrast to reported wars)
o she can’t believe in the wars because she remembers it as a place/time of peace
o contrast to "they accuse her of being dark" – no longer pure and peaceful
o she is now miserable
 use of epistrophe demonstrates that no matter what the speaker is told about her country, her resounding opinion is
defiantly positive (in line with sunlight’s connotations of peace and beauty) – see epistrophe analysis in language
section
 ability of place to fix the speakers opinion
o phrase “bright filled paperweight” which implies her opinion is (like paper under a paperweight) also fixed and
unchanging
 The adjective “bright” reiterates that this view is consistently optimistic
 “filled” suggests that her opinion is already fully formed
o There is no room for new information to influence her. “That bright
 Could also be the thing holding her down – provides stability filled
o By clinging to the positive memories and not shifting from her opinion it protects paperweight"
her from the negative news she has to face
o Worst news cant shift her because the memoires way down her view
 They provide the evidence it was a good place
 Or it could be holding her back – she is weighed down by her past “The worst news
o Unable to move on or find any happiness in her new life whilst constantly cannot break my
pining for what she has left original view"
o Also "the worst news cannot break my original view"
 Nothing negative will change the positivity she feels
 She ignores evidence because the influence place has is so strong
 "break" implies that changing her opinion wouldn’t be a good thing – negative connotations
o Breaking that view would be breaking herself, destroying part of her sense of identity
 Highly nostalgic and determined appreciation of a place that no longer exists
 Ties in with the larger theme of her poetry – the recognition of foreign customs, culture and language (as discovered
through her frequent travelling) in order to invoke greater political consciousness in her readers.
 Place as a victim of events
 "lies down in front of me" "docile" "hides behind me" "it may be sick"
o The place is not evil, it is just a victim of evil events
o Yet people judge it – she remains defiant in remembering it as it is – doing it justice by not being tainted by events
o Just because bad things have happened, it doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the
place
“Lies down in front
of me"
"Hides behind me"
  Docile and hides presents image of innocence and vulnerability
o Needs to be protected and defended by her – defend from criticism of others
 Only sees negativity as temporary
o It is "sick" with tyrants – not permanent – just a temporary issue that can be recovered from
 Personification of city allows reader to feel sympathy for it as a victim of conflict

Comparisons
 Checking out me History – identity
Conflict with culture

o Conflict against your own culture (identity in the past and past place vs new identity and new place)
o Conflict against those trying to suppress your culture – colonialism repressing their history
 Emotion attached to identity
o Anger at it being oppressed – e.g. repetition "dem tell me"
o Regret and sense of loss at losing father and losing part of yourself or recreating yourself - "live as though he had
never returned"
 Importance of identity
o Lost his identity as father and rejected by community – as though he has died even though he survived
o Refuse to view home negatively because it represents the source of your identity
 Importance of language for identity
o Refuse grammar and spelling of England – use Creole and no punctuation – defiant
o View herself linguistically from the perspective of her homeland - "Emigreé" not "immigrant" – also "child’s
vocabulary"
 London – Place
 Real place vs imaginary/fantasy
o Physical features of London act as symbols for suffering/corruption (i.e. church, palace, soldiers = religion,
monarchy, army)
o Homeland isn’t real – been romanticised OR metaphor for childhood – start fairytale like - "there once was a
country"
 Place is powerful
o Causes citizens to suffer - "mind forged manacles" and "marks of weakness" – place is oppressing and draining
them
o Place dominates memory – only remember positives
 London presents an entirely negative view of place
o A place that is hated and the source of suffering
 Emigree acknowledges the flaws of a place ("it may be sick with tyrants") but ultimately presents it positively
o A place that is loved and held as valuable
o Leaving it caused her to suffer
 Poppies – Memory/Individual
 Power of memory
o Memory overpowers reality – writes about place in a romanticised, fantasy-like way - "there once was a country"
o Denies the bad aspects of her home
o Memory of son interrupt everyday life – blend domestic and military in memories of him
 Memory can be painful / emotional
o Pain of remembering - "shadow falls as evidence of sunlight" – the city was a good place because in its absence
there is a shadow – if the city is light (joy), its absence is darkness (sadness)
o Written as elegy and starts with reference to "armistice Sunday"
o Enjambment shows emotional breaking and loss of control
o "turn to felt" – felt compacted by pricking as grief is compacted by pricking of pain and memory
 Memory causes chaos or disruption
o Can’t live in new place – she is "dark in their free city" and they "mutter death" at her Theme:
o Memory disrupts ordinary life and interrupts poem via caesura / enjambment Identity – COMH
 Kamikaze – identity Memory – Poppies
Place - London
 Split identity
o Your identity in your homeland and new country
o Identity as a soldier vs father
 The loss of identity
o Daughter lose her confidence in her culture and its view of those who come home – use of third person for "which
had been the better way to die" – not her perspective – doesn’t identify with the values
o Telling her father’s story to her children – wants to retain her father’s history as it is central to her identity