Think It Out
Q1: What does the word 'cardboard' denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
Ans: 'Cardboard' refers to the old photograph mounted on cardboard. The word is used to suggest that the photograph has become old, faded, and lifeless over time.
Q2: What has the camera captured?
Ans: The camera captured a moment from the poet's mother's childhood, where she stood on the beach with her two cousins, holding hands and smiling at their uncle who was taking the photograph.
Q3: What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans: The sea has not changed over the years. It is still the same. The sea symbolizes eternity.
Q4. The poet's mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
Ans: This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.
Q5: What is the meaning of the line "Both wry with the laboured ease of loss".
Ans: The line means that both the poet and her mother experience a sense of loss. The mother looks back at her past, while the poet mourns her mother's death. The word "wry" suggests a mixture of sadness and irony, showing how loss becomes easier to bear with time, yet never fully disappears.
Q6: What does "this circumstance" refer to?
Ans: 'This circumstance' refers to the present situation of the poet wherein the poet is absorbed in the painful memory of her dead mother. Looking at the photograph and thinking of her mother's laughter, the poet also realises that it has been the same number of years since her mother died as her mother's age in the photograph.
Q7: The three stanzas depict three different phases. Name them.
Ans:
- The girlhood of the poet's mother-the period before the birth of the poet.
- Her middle age-the period during the childhood of the poet
- Period after the death of the poet's mother.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Why does the poet feel emotional on seeing the photograph?
Ans: The poet feels emotional because the photograph reminds her of her mother's happy childhood, and now her mother is no longer alive.
Q2: Who are the people in the photograph?
Ans: A smiling girl, about twelve-year-old and two younger girls, Betty and Dolly holding her hands; the 12-year-old girl was the mother of the poet and the other two her cousins.
Q3: How has the poet expressed her sense of loss?
Ans: The poet feels a sense of loss by looking at an old photograph of her mother. She remembers her mother's reaction to that photo later in life. These memories make her personal loss acute.
