Engl

ishLi
ter
atur
e
Cl
ass:11
Sessi
on:2020-
2021

APhot
ogr
aphPoem andExpl
anat
ion
Li
ne1–4
Thecardboar
dshowsmehowi twas
Whenthet wogi
rlcousi
nswentpaddli
ng,
Eachoneholdi
ngoneofmymot her
’shands,
 
Andshet
hebi
ggi
rl—somet
wel
vey
ear
sorso
Paddl
i
ng–wal
ki
ng
 
Inthesel
ines,thepoetisl ooki
ngatanol dphot oal
bum whichismadeupof
cardboar
d.Int hepictur
e,therear
et hreegirl
swhoar ewalki
ngont hebeach
holdi
ngeachot her
’shands.Thegirlinthemi ddl
eisthetall
estandoldest,
the
othertwogirl
soneachsi deareyoungert hanher.Thegi
rlinthemiddleisthe
poet’
smot her.Shei saroundtwel
vey earsoldwhent hepictur
ewast aken.
 
Line5–9
Al
l t
hreest
oodst i
l
ltosmilethroughtheirhai
r
Attheuncl
ewi t
hthecamer a.Asweetf ace,
Mymot her
’s,t
hatwasbef oreIwasbor n.
Andthesea,whichappearst ohavechangedless,
Washedtheirt
erri
blyt
ransientfeet
 
Transi
ent–shor
t-
ter
m;t
empor
ary
I
 ntheabov elines,thepoetdescr ibeshowt hephot ogr
aphwast aken.Her
mother ’
suncl etookt hephotogr aphandt ol
dt hem tostopandpose.Al lt
hreeof
them lefttheirwethai ropenandsmi ledatthecamer a.Thepoet’satt
enti
oni s
drawnt owar dshismot her
’sf
acewhi chisdescr i
bedasa‘ sweetface’
.The
photographwast akenlongbef orethepoetwasbor n.Thepoetcallsthei
rfeet
‘
terr
ibletransient’astheywer esoy oungbyt henandnowt heyhadgrownol der.
Ont heot herhand, theseawhi cht ouchedtheirfeethaschangedless.
 
Line10–13
Somet went
y—thi
rt
y—y earsl
ater
She’dl
aughatt
hesnapshot
.
“SeeBett
yAndDol
ly,
”she’
dsay,“andl
ookhowt
hey
Dr
essedusf
ort
hebeach.
”Theseahol
i
day
 
Snapshot–phot
ogr
aph
Af
  tertwenty-
thi
rt
yy ear
slater
,shewouldl
aughatt
hephotograph.Shewouldt
ell
met olookathercousins,Bet
tyandDoll
yandhowthei
rparentswoulddr
essall
thr
eeoft hem upforthebeach.Theywoul
dhavepl
annedtotakeaphotograph
befor
ehand.
 
Line14–15
Washerpast,mineisherl
aught
er.Bot
hwr
y
Witht
helabouredeaseofl
oss.
Wry–ironi
c;mocking
Thepoetr
  ecall
stheseaholidaywashermot her’
sfavour
it
emomentfrom t
he
past.Whi
let
hepoet ’
sfavouri
temomentf r
om thepastwashermother
’sl
aught
er.
Boththewomenwoul dthinkaboutthosepastmemor i
eswhicht
heycannotl
iv
e
agai
n.Theytr
iedthei
rbesttoadjusttowhattheylost
.
 
Line16–19
Nowshe’sbeendeadnearlyasmanyyear
s
Asthatgi
rll
i
ved.Andofthisci
rcumst
ance
Therei
snothingtosayatal
l.
I
tssil
encesi
lences.
 
Sil
ences–acompl
eteabsenceofsound
I
 ntheabov eli
nes,thepoetsaysthathermot herdiedtwel
vey ear
sago,thesame
agehermot herwasi nthephotogr
aph.Whenev ert
hepoetthinksofhermother
’s
death,shecannotexplainwhateff
ectshehasofhermot her’
sdeath.Deathhas
si
lencedhermot herwhichhasalsoleftherspeechless.