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CBQ 5

Shirley Toulson's poem 'A Photograph' explores themes of loss and separation through the depiction of her mother's childhood photograph, capturing moments of joy that contrast with the poet's current grief after her mother's passing. The poem is structured in three stanzas, reflecting on the passage of time and the enduring nature of memories, with the sea symbolizing constancy amidst change. Toulson employs various poetic devices such as alliteration, oxymoron, transferred epithet, and personification to enhance the emotional depth of the poem.

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4 views1 page

CBQ 5

Shirley Toulson's poem 'A Photograph' explores themes of loss and separation through the depiction of her mother's childhood photograph, capturing moments of joy that contrast with the poet's current grief after her mother's passing. The poem is structured in three stanzas, reflecting on the passage of time and the enduring nature of memories, with the sea symbolizing constancy amidst change. Toulson employs various poetic devices such as alliteration, oxymoron, transferred epithet, and personification to enhance the emotional depth of the poem.

Uploaded by

harshyudi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3.

COMPETENCY BASED QUESTIONS


A Photograph

1. What do you understand about Shirley Toulson’s poem,” A Photograph”?

‘A Photograph’ by Shirley Toulson is a poem that depicts three different moods and
situations in three stanzas. The theme also revolves around the universal theme of loss and
separation, the void created by death and how it has made the poet’s life dull and eventless.
Shirley Toulson tells us that the photograph had been taken when her deceased mother had
gone to the beach for some paddling in the company of her two girl cousins Betty and Dolly.
Then Toulson’s mother was twelve years old and she had a sweet smile. The sea waves
appeared to be washing their feet which changed fast with the passage of time. Only the sea
is unchanged. After a time gap of some 20-30 years the mother looks at the photograph and
would laugh at the way in which she and her cousins had been dressed for the beach. The
sea- holiday was the mother’s past, but after she had passed away, her laughter became a
thing of past for Shirley Toulson and both of them were laboring to ease the loss. In the third
stanza, the poet mother died twelve years ago and she remembers her with a heavy heart.
She says that she has nothing to say and its(photograph) silence silences.

2. Mention the poetic devices used in the poem, ‘A Photograph’ with examples.

Poetic devices can be used to create a powerful memorable poem, to create rhythm ir
intensify a mood or feeling.
a. Alliteration: The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more
neighbouring words or syllabus.
EX: Stood still
Through their
My mother’s
Terribly transient
Silence silences

b. Oxymoron: A combination of contradictory or incongruous words


EX: Laboured ease

c. Transferred epithet: A description which refers to a character or event but is used


to describe a different situation or character.
EX: Transient feet

d. Personification: Attribution of personal qualities (or) representation of a thing (or)


abstraction as a person (or) by the human form.
EX: its silence silences

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