The Photograph 

SHIRLEY TOULSON, an English author who lives in Somerset, was drawn into the spell of Celtic Christianity as she worked on her books dealing with the oldest roads and folklore of Britain and Ireland, and found herself following the routes taken on their journeys by the saints of the early church.

Text

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. 

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 ease of loss

Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance

There is nothing to say at all, 

Its silence silences. 

Introduction

In the poem "The Photograph", Touslon presents the emotions she and her mother felt once by seeing a photograph of her mother’s childhood and what it means to the poet now. The photographs captures a moment in author’s mother’s life and with that capture the emotions felt during the moment the photo was taken as well.

For the poet, the image brings out feelings of loss as her mother has passed away (12 years prior). The poet remembers her mother looking at the image and laughing as she recalled her holiday trip to the beach.

The title of the poem represents something very different for the poet than it did for her mother. As for the author the image evokes a sadness of the loss of her mother, while it evoked thoughts of happiness for her mother.

Materialistically, the poet can find sadness that those depicted in the image have changed while the scenery in the photo has been allowed to stay the same. Here, the poet could sense a feeling of the memory being unfair given the ocean has been allowed to exist, without change, over the years while her mother has changed dramatically and is now gone.

Therefore, the title of the poem creates a double meaning for both the poet and the poet's mother. For one it is sadness and the other is happiness. The poet finds this ironic given her sadness is associated with her mother's happiness.

According to poet a photograph captures something seen by many and can; therefore, evoke many different feelings for those depicted and those looking at the image.

SUMMARY

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 and while they were paddling, her uncle took a photograph of them. Each of the cousins was holding the hands of the poet’s mother who was the eldest among them. All the three of them stood smiling through their hair while the photo was taken. Her mother had a sweet face. All these happened before she was born. Years fled past since then. Her mother grew up into an adult. They all underwent changes while the sea stood still. After about twenty or thirty years the poet’s mother would look at the photograph laughing nostalgically and remembering the past. She would appreciate the dress worn by her cousins Betty and Dolly. The sea holiday belonged to the past of her mother and the poet still remembers how her mother would laugh looking at the snap shot. For the poet both these bring great sadness and an acute sense of loss. He mother died 12 years ago and now the poet has nothing to say about this circumstance of the photograph. 

Detailed explanation

This poem by Shirley Toulson is a tribute to her mother. One day, she finds an old photograph of her mother, pasted on a cardboard sheet; a photograph she remembered her mother talking about with fondness.

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

The cardboard (photograph) shows the narrator how it was that day when the two cousins went for a walk along the poet’s mother. Each of the cousins held one of her mother’s hands. And among all the three girls her mother was the eldest, about twelve years old at this time.

Poetic device used:

1)   allusion as the cardboard’s lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence of human life

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. 

 All three of them stood smiling, their hair possibly tossed by the beach wind or water and they were snapped by the uncle who was with them in the beach. In the photo poet’s mother was having a smiling happy face. May be the photo was taken long before poet’s birth. And the mother changed a lot. But the sea remains same. In the picture it seems to wash their feet which by nature are transient because human life is short-lived as compared to nature. 

Poetic devices used:

1.    Alliteration... stood still to smile

2.    Transferred Epithet. Human life itself is temporary not the feet. When the adjective for one noun like life is transferred to another noun like feet, it is called transferred epithet.

It is also alliteration due to the repetition of the ‘t’ sound but Transferred Epithet is the dominant device here.

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 ease of loss

Some twenty, thirty years later from when the picture was clicked, her mother had looked at the snapshot and laughed. She had pointed out her cousin Betty and Dolly and talked nostalgically of how oddly they used to be dressed for the beach. The sea holiday was remembered by her mother with a fondness as well as a sense of loss because that time would never return.  Similarly, her laughter would never return to the narrator. So, the sea holiday was the narrator’s mother’s past and her mother’s laughter is the narrator’s past. These pasts, the sea holiday as well as the laughter of her mother are remembered with a difficult and yet easy sense of loss.

Poetic devices used:

1)   Oxymoron: The coming together of two opposite ideas to describe the same entity. ‘Laboured’ and ‘easy’ are opposite words describing the same entity ‘losses. The loss of the holiday and the laughter was easy because these things have to be accepted as a part of life. They are merely a part of the past and cannot be brought back or relived. However, precisely because they cannot be relived, there will always be a tinge of difficulty letting them go completely. They will always be seen as loss.

“Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance

There is nothing to say at all, 

Its silence silences. “

Now, it has been twelve years since her mother passed away. The girl in the photograph seems like a different person altogether. Thus, the use of the words, ‘that girl’ and about the fact that her mother has passed away leaving behind nothing but memories and photographs like this one. There is nothing to be said. It is a part of life and on thinking of it, one really has no words to express how one feels. The silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet.

Poetic device:

1.    Personification : The situation has been given the human quality of silence

2.    Alliteration :  The sound of ‘s’ has been repeated

The camera thus managed to capture a moment in time. It kept the memory of the mother and for the mother alive. The sea holiday brought a sad smile (wry) to the mother’s face because she couldn’t relive it but was glad that she once had.
Similarly, thinking of her mother’s laughter brought a sad smile to the poet’s face because although that laughter was now gone she was glad to have once had it in her life.

Nature is perennial while human life is temporary or transient. The poet uses a transferred epithet (terribly transient feet) in order to make this comparison and highlight the terribly short-lived life of her mother.

As in the Portrait of a Lady, this poem also deals with the theme of loss and bereavement and the impact it leaves on those who are left behind.

TEXT BOOK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
‘Cardboard’ refers to the photograph only. In the past photographs used to be fixed to a cardboard and hung from the wall for everyone to see it.

2. What has the camera captured?
The camera has captured some happy moments from the childhood of the poet’s mother. It was a scene taken from a beach where she had gone with her cousins and her uncle for a sea holiday. The girls were paddling in the water.

3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
The sea has not changed over the years. It is still the same. The sea symbolizes eternity.
4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.
5. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease or loss”
‘Both’ refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet remembering her mother’s laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is no more now.
6. What does “this circumstance” refer to?
‘This circumstance’ refers to the circumstance when the photo was taken.

REFERENCE PASSAGE QUESTIONS
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.

a. What does the cardboard refer to?
The cardboard refers to the childhood photograph of her mother.
b. Who was the big girl and how old was she?
The big girl was the poet’s mother. She was then twelve years old.
c. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?
The girl cousins went paddling with mother holding her hand.

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

a. Who does ‘all three’ refer to here?
‘all three’ refers to the poet’s mother and her two cousins.
b. Where are they now?
They have gone to the seashore. They are paddling in the water.
c. Why did they smile through their hair?
They smiled through their hair because they were posing for a photograph.

3.
…………………………………………………..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.

a. Where was her mother?
Her mother was on the seashore with her cousins and posing for a photograph.

b. When did this incident took place?
This incident took place when she was twelve years old.

c. How is the poet able to remember her mother’s childhood?
The poet is able to remember her mother’s childhood when she looks into the photograph of her mother.
d. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?
The sea has stood the onslaught of time. It is still the same. However, her mother and her cousins underwent changes. Her mother grew up to be an adult and now she is no more.

4.
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.”

a. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?
The poet’s mother would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later.

b. How did mother remember her past?
Mother remembered her past with nostalgia.

c. Who were Betty and Dolly?
Betty and Dolly were her cousins who had gone with her to the beach for paddling.

6. ………………………………… The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
a. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?
The poet’s mother had gone for the sea holiday in the past when she was a young girl.

b. What does ‘both’ refer to?
‘Both’ refers to the poet’s mother remembering her past sea holiday as well as the poet remembering her mother’s laughter.

c. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?
The poet experiences great sorrow when she remembers her mother who left for heavenly abode twelve years ago.

7.
Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all,
Its silence silences.
a. How many years are over after the death of her mother?
Her mother died 12 years ago.
b. What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?
‘This circumstance’ refers to the sea holiday enjoyed by her mother.
c. Why has the poet nothing to say about this circumstance?
The poet has nothing to say about this circumstance as the memory of it brings pain to her.
d. What impact has the photograph on the poet?
The silence of the photograph silences the poet. She experiences the great loss of her mother.