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 - s ome twelve years or so.
All three stood still to s mile throu gh th eir hair
At the uncle with th e cam era. A sweet face,
My mother's, that was b efore I was born.
And the sea , which a ppea rs to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet.

Some twenty - thi rty - years later

She'd laugh at th e snapshot. .. See Betty
And Dolly:· s h e'd say, .. and look ho\v they
Dressed us for th e beach ... The sea holiday
Was her past . 1ni11e is her ]aughter. Both \\Tf
With the laboured ease of loss.

Now she's been d ead n early as many years

As that girl lived . And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.

Infer the meanings of the follo\liing words from the context .

• paddJinl transient
•
No\\r look up the dictionary to see if your inference is right.
 Date : / I

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 OK QUESTIO
fer the meanings of the followin NS SQ LV ED
i\· 111 paddling g wo rd s from th
tr . e context: (P ll)
,., UJ look up the dictionary to see ify . ans1ent age
1vo our inferen .
paddling' means 'wading' or 'rowing' a b ce is right .
.ti1§,
rv· "}rans1en me • t' ans t
. emporary. oat.
Dictionary meanings:
,paddling' means 'walking or standing with bar .
'\Vent paddling' means 'swam with short efeet m shallow water'.
. , , t · •
'Transient means s aying in a place fo movements of h an d c
. s or 1eet up and down'.
r on1Y short time'
T INK IT OUT (PAGE 12) .
B, What does the word 'cardboard' denot • h
~· used? e int e poem? Why has this word been
~ The word cardboard denotes the photograph t d
s. been used to refer to a practice in the ast tas e on a hard thick paper. This word has
amed with glass front t p w en photographs were pasted on cardboard
an d fr o preserve them.
2. What has the camera captured?
Ans· The carmera has. captured . the
. three
. girls-the p oe t' s mo th er an d h er t wo cousins,
•
Betty and D~lly, In t~eu sw_imming dresses with the poet's mother in the middle and
the two cousins on either side holding her hands and walking with bare feet in sea
water.
3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans. The sea has not changed over the years. Its waves are as fresh, shining and tireless as
they were years ago. The changelessness of sea reminds us of the changes in human face
with advancing age.
4. The poetess's mother laughed at the snapshot? What did this laugh indicate?
Ans. 'This laugh' indicated her joy at remembering an incident connected with her past life,
/when she was quite young and free from the tensions and worries of life.
✓5. What is the meaning of the line "Both wry with the laboured ease of loss".
Ans. The sea holiday and the laughter of the poet's mother are incidents of the past. There is
HN a sense of loss associated with them. Both are amusing yet_ disappointing_ as t~e sta_te of
feeling comfortable or relaxed is unnatural or forced one. This sense ofloss 1s qmte pamful
to bear.
6. What does 'this circumstance' refer to?
Ans. This circumstance refers to the death of the poet's mo ther.
v{The three stanzas depict three different phases. Name_ them.
Ans. (i) The girlhood of the poet's mother-the period before the birth of the poet.
H~ (ii) Her middle acre-the period during the childhood of t h e poet
(iii) Period after the death of the poet's mother.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS SOLVED

A. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTlO'iS h t?
An!· Which incident has been captured in e s;aps ~ in the sea and were standing
th
· The incident depicts three girls who had gone_ or asp photo captures their joy, buoyant
still for a short time smiling at the camera. This grou
spirits and freedom of girlhood. A PHOTOGRAPH ■ 433
~
 t t1w pot"t<'ss's n1otll<"r fron1 the photograph'>
2 ,\ritat do vou karn nl )Oll f' I Sl l ·
. • . tl ' ' \ \ ' \s'\lngtrtrll'\l'll~it flwnw•o t\\(' V(' l 1(! 1:tda swP(ltf:
-11s The µoeh'~s $ mo ll I ' .. r-. • tI l ' , . ace un1
· . . . ~ ,11, •\~ \\,ldtn• T 111 ~<'n - wal<'' w1 1 Hr cou s in s. Years I
t'njon"d .._,, 1mnnng ,1~ " l • • r:-:o 8Lc-r
· · .. 1 tll '" h ,d J>llt on for t lw sc•a ho 1,c 1ay. h
Iau1::hcd ~1t t 1H:' e1l)t w~ l . ' ,
3 Ho~· did the thrt'l'' girls fnt'l' tlw ,•nnwrn? . . .
• d l . . f: th 'ff f•H'l' ·uHi ~tpod ~rntl1ng 111 t lw s lwllo w wal'-'r near th
n~ TheY rl'llll'' r 1~n1 rom \ , • , I l I 1· e bea h
~ • d D ll .l •1tl1 'r ~1dl' of tlw pol'te~:-4 ~ mot 1er, 10 c ing on,! c,f h11r h c
Betty an o : ~ll)Ol \m L l •
1 , ? and
4. \rhat do you thh1k. ,nnde tlu" poct<.'SS s inothcr laugh.
ins. Th() dr~S$ J.nd bl'h,n wm· oflwr cousins Bett) and Dolly ~adc ihc poetess's mother lau h
It is e, ldt"lh t•1 ~1t tlw: had put on some quaint dress, which amused her.
5 • The poetess's niotber laughs at ~er past. How does t~e poet react t~ her Past?
a.::,.. The ~ea holid~lY ,, as a past experience for the po~tess s mother. A ghmpse oft
phl">tograph perhaps revived some feelings of sha~ed ~o~ an~ she laughed. For the
her laughter is an incident of the past. It is amusing in ironic manner. The senae
oYercomes the pleasure.
6. Why. do you think, does the poetess say nothing about her mother's
s The poet has no words to express her reaction to this solemn and painful inc:i
silences eyeryone. The extensive quietness and prevailing gloom silences h
7'. Why would the poet's mother laugh at the snapshot?
~. The poet's mother would laugh at the snapshot as it would revive her me
old happy days on the sea beach and the strange way in which they were
beach.
8. What are the losses of the poet's mother and the poet?
. The poet's mother's loss is of her old happy days on the sea beach while
poet is the beautiful smile of her mother as she is now dead.
LONG A~SWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What impression do you form of the poetess and the poetess's
reading the poem 'A Photograph'?
s The poem presents the poet as a sensitive person who is quite affectiona
mother and is deeply attached to her. She loves her 'sweet' face and notes th
as she advances in age. She remembers all the incidents connected with her
her laugh~er on looking at the photograph. She finds it hard to bear her dea:
of separat10n stun her to speechlessness.
~e P?etess'~ mother appears as a physically well formed person with s
~au:~ful ;m~e. She h~s a friendly temperament and free mixing nature.
ec i~nt odr er two girl cousins and goes with them for a sea-holiday wb
on quain resses She p •th h .
dresses in the sn~p sho:ss~:~~ t em smilingly for a snap. Her laughter OD
ine temperament and good humour.