A PHOTOGRAPH

ABOUT THE POET

Shirley Toulson was born in 1924 in Henley-on-Thames, England. Her passion for writing was
encouraged by her writer father. She served as an editor for many magazines.

THEME
This poem deals with the theme of loss and bereavement and the impact it leaves on those who
are left behind.

OVERVIEW
The three stanzas depict three different phases.
The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother.

The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza
refers to the poet’s adulthood when she is not with her mother.

A photograph is something that captures a certain moment of someone’s life. The person might
change in course of time but the memories attachedwith the photograph are everlasting.

The poet’s mother is no more but the photograph makes her memories come alive.

LINE-WISE ANALYSIS
1) The cardboard (photograph) shows the narrator how it was on that particular
day (the cardboard’s lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence of human
life)
2) When the poet’s mother, along with her two girl cousins went paddling on the beach.
3) Each of the cousins held one of her mother’s hands.
4) Her mother was the eldest amongst them, about twelve years old at that time.
5) All three of them stood smiling, their hair strewn across their face(possibly
tossed by the beach wind)
(poetic device: alliteration... stood still to smile)
6) Her mother’s uncle clicked their picture with a camera. The picture showed her
mother’s sweet and innocent face.
7) The sea in the picture is still the same today (has changed very less)Symbolic of
permanence.

POETIC DEVICES

• Alliteration – stood still to smile

• Paradox – Its silence silences
• Oxymoron – The laboured ease of loss
• Transferred Epithet – Terribly transient feet
• Synecdoche – transient feet (indicating transience of life)
 Question—Answers

I. Read the given stanza and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct
option:

“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”

1. What does cardboard mean in this context?

A A thick paper on which the poet’s photograph was pasted
B A thick envelope
C A thick piece of paper with a photo of the poet’s mother attached
D A paper boat
Ans C A thick piece of paper with a photo of the poet’s mother attached

2. Who is the big girl mentioned here?

A The poet herself
B The poet’s mother
C The poet’s relative
D The poet’s friend
Ans B The poet’s mother

3. On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements
given below.
1. Each cousin held the hands of the poet’s mother.
2. The poet’s mother was the big girl.
A. 1 can be inferred from the extract but 2 cannot be inferred from the extract.
B. 2 can be inferred from the extract but 1 cannot be inferred from the extract.
C. Only 2 is true.
D. 2 is the reason for 1
Ans D. 2 is the reason for 1

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been
used?
• ‘Cardboard’ refers to the photograph.
• Signifies fragility, impermanence, transience of human life—mother
dead—all that remains is the photograph and her memories

2. What has the camera captured?

• Captured the scene where mother along with her two girl cousins—
Betty and Dolly, posed for a photograph
• They were smiling
• Hair tousled due to sea-breeze
• Sea-water encircled their tender feet

3. Explain—‘Both wry with labored ease of loss’.

• Both mother and daughter recall happier times nostalgically.
• Realise that they will not be able to experience those times again
• Mother recalls the happy times of her lost childhood
 • Daughter recalls the happy times she had spent with her mother
• Both make/ have made efforts to adjust with the loss—but it has left them
wry, cynical
4. Explain—‘Its silence silences.’
• Stillness of photograph and overwhelming sense of mother’s lossmutes the
poet—experiences loss of words
5. Happy moments are short-lived but provide a lifetime memory. They provide a
cushion to bear the difficulties which the future has in store for you. Comment in
the light of the poem A Photograph by Shirley Toulson.
Ans: Our life is a mixture of happy as well as adverse times. We must learn to move on
with the aid of those joyful memories. We must learn to go on. Everyone will certainly
experience hardships at some point in their lives because life is not always a bed of roses.

While we are going through a difficult situation, joyous moments can comfort us and
give us the positivity we need. Joyful moments will undoubtedly give us optimism that
bad times will also pass just as quickly as pleasant moments. One needs to develop
coping mechanisms. Happy memories can give us a support system to face challenges
with patience and tranquility.