Chapter 2 -:A Photograph:-

[Audio] Chapter 2 -:A Photograph:- Shirley Toulson Chapter 2 A Photograph Shirley Toulson.

[Audio] Topic : About The Author Shirley Toulson, who lives in Somerset, was drawn into the spell of Celtic Christianity as she worked on her books dealing with the oldet roads and folklore of Britain and Ireland, and found herself following the routes taken on their journeys by the saints of the early church Among her writings are : The Celtic Alternative (1987) and The Celtis Year (1993)..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph 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.

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Explanation of the Poem : In these lines, the poet is looking at an old photo album which is made up of cardboard. In the picture, there are three girls who are walking on the beach holding each other’s hands. The girl in the middle is the tallest and oldest, the other two girls on each side are younger than her. The girl in the middle is the poet's mother. She is around twelve years old when the picture was taken..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph 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.

[Audio] Explanation of the Poem : In the above lines, the poet describes how the photograph was taken. Her mother's uncle took the photograph and told them to stop and pose. All three of them left their wet hair open and smiled at the camera. The poet's attention is drawn towards his mother's face which is described as a 'sweet face). The photograph was taken long before the poet was born. The poet calls their feet 'terrible transient' as they were so young by then and now they had grown older. On the other hand, the sea which touched their feet has changed less..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph 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.

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Explanation of the Poem : After twenty-thirty years later, she would laugh at the photograph. She would tell me to look at her cousins, Betty and Dolly and how their parents would dress all three of them up for the beach. They would have planned to take a photograph beforehand..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry With the laboured ease of loss..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Explanation of the Poem : The poet recalls the sea holiday was her mother’s favourite moment from the past. While the poet’s favouritemoment from the past was her mother's laughter. Both the women would think about those past memories which they cannot live again. They tried their best to adjust to what they lost..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Now she’s been dead nearly as many years As that girl lived. And of this circumstance There is nothing to say at all. Its silence silences..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Explanation of the Poem : In the above lines, the poet says that her mother died twelve years ago, the same age her mother was in the photograph. Whenever the poet thinks of her mother's death, she cannot explain what effect she has of her mother's death. Death has silenced her mother which has also left her speechless..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Summary : A look at the cardboard with the photograph of her mother and her two cousins shows the poet, how they once went ' paddling. Het mother, some twelve years of age then, was the eldest of the three. Each one, holding one of the poet's mother's hand, stood still, smiling through their hair to pose for the photograph their uncle clicked with his camera. Her mother had a sweet face then..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph It was before the poet was born. The sea which seems to have changed little since that time washed the small, tender feet of these children. Time passed, the mother grew older and some twenty or thirty years later she would laugh at the innocence of her own childhood. A look at the snapshot would remind her of that cherished moment and langhingly she would comment at the way they were dressed for the beach..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph The poet reminisces that the sea holiday was the past of her mother and for her the laughter of her mother is past now. Both the moments of life have been permanently stched in the poet's mind with a feeling of eternal loss..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Death now has overpowered the innocence of those moments and the pleasure they treasured. The poet concludes the poem on a melancholy note with the comment that there is nothing to say or comment upon this sad event. The silence of the death seems to prevail and this silence seems to silence all other thoughts..

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph Poetic Devices : 1) Alliteration : Repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive words. The instances of alliteration in the poem are as follows- i) Stood still ii) Through their iii) My mother’s iv)Terribly transient v) Silence silences.

[Audio] Topic : The Photograph 2) Epithet : A phrase expressing a quality of a person or something. i) Terribly transient 3) Oxymoron : A term which contradicts itself. i) Laboured ease.

[Audio] THANK YOU. THANK YOU.