A Photograph by Sherley Toulson for Class 11 English, Summary/Explanation, NCERT Solution, Stanza based Question-Answer
A Photograph
By Shirley Toulson
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A Photograph (Class 11 English) Summary/explanation, Question-Answer, Word-Meaning & NCERT Solution
Introduction
The theme of the poem "A Photograph"
Explanation/Summary and stanza based Question-Answer
Stanza 1
The poet finds cardboard upon which there is the photograph of her mother and her two cousin sisters ( mother's cousin sisters). The photograph was captured when all the three went to the seashore for enjoyment.
The poet's mother was standing in the middle and her two cousins were holding the poet's mother's hands. The poet's mother was the oldest of all. She was around 12 years of age. All three girls smiled through their hair. As the poet's mother was only 12 years old, she had a sweet face.
In the last two lines, the poet Shirley Toulson compares human beings to nature. On the one hand, nature is permanent while human life is temporary. There has not been any change in the sea during these years. But the footmarks of the poet's mother and her two cousins can be found nowhere.
Q. Name the poem and its poet.
Ans. The name of the poem is "A Photograph" and the poet is Shirley Toulson
Q. What does the cardboard show?
Ans. The cardboard shows the photograph of the poet's mother and her two cousins when they went on a sea holiday.
Q. Who is the big girl?
Ans. The poet's mother.
Q. Whose face has been referred to as a sweet face?
Ans. The poet's mother's face has been termed as a sweet face
Q. What was the age of the poet's mother when she went for a sea holiday?
Ans. 12 years
Q. Whose feet have been called transient feet?
Ans. The poet's mother and her two cousins’ feet.
Q. “Terribly transient feet”. What does this refer to?
Ans. It indicates human life which is temporary or transitory.
Q. Which poetic devices have been used in the last line "terribly transient feet".
Ans. Alliteration and transferred epithet.
Stanza 2
Some 20-30 years later after the photograph had been captured, the poet's mother used to laugh when she looked at the cardboard. Even she passed comments saying how they had dressed them for the sea.
The sea holiday was the past of the poet's mother. She used to remember her past when she was a child and went on a sea holiday and how happy and excited she was. But for the poet, her mother’s laughter was the past because she was no more.
In the last line, the poet wants to say that it is not easy for anyone to bear the loss. But life is an ongoing process. It does not come to an end at all. Therefore with some difficulties, she continued to live life.
Ans. She used to laugh looking at the photograph of her childhood.
Q. Who were Betty and Dolly?
Ans. Both of them were the poets’ mother's cousins.
Q. “ Sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter”. What does it mean?
Ans. The poet’s mother lost her childhood and so the sea holiday just remained a past memory for her. In the same way, the poet has just the memory of her mother because her mother is no more.
Q. Which poetic device has been used in the last line of the stanza?
Ans. Oxymoron.
Stanza 3
Here the poet expresses that her mother died almost 12 years ago and she does not have anything else to say now. It is quite impossible for the poet to express her feelings and emotions. Death has Silenced her mother and made the poet speechless. A kind of vacuum has been created in her life. This cannot be filled at all in any way. Nothing can compensate for the loss of her mother.
Q. Which poetic device has been used
Ans. Alliteration
Q. Who refers to ‘she’ in the first line?
Ans. The poet’s mother
Q. Which circumstance has been referred to here?
Ans. The death of the poet's mother
Q. What does the expression “its silence silences” mean?
Ans. The death has silenced the poet's mother and also it has made her speechless. Moreover, it has created a kind of vacuum in her life.
NCERT Solution
Q. What does the word 'cardboard' denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
Ans. The word cardboard has been used because it contains a photograph of the poet’s mother. It is connected with the past memory. The word 'cardboard' has been used to highlight memories connected with the photograph.
Q. What has the camera captured?
Ans. The camera captured the poet's mother and her two cousins when they went on a sea holiday. The poet's mother was quite young at that time. They were standing on the beach, and the poet's mother was in the middle while her two cousins held her hands.
Q. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans. The sea has not changed over the years. Here the sea is an example of nature. The poet wants to express that nature is permanent.
Q. The poet's mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate
Ans. The poet's mother laughed when she looked at the photograph as she recalled her past. At this point, the poet's mother possibly missed her childhood.
Q. What is the meaning of the line “both wry with the laboured ease of loss”?
Ans. The expression “both wry with the laboured ease of loss” suggests that both the poet's mother as well as the poet lost something. On the one hand, the poet's mother lost her childhood, and on the other hand, the poet lost her mother. Neither of them could get back what they lost. But we know that life is an ongoing process and so one has to move on despite the losses.
Q. Three stanzas depict three different phases: what are they?
Ans. In the first stanza, the poet describes her mother's childhood when she went on a sea holiday and enjoyed a lot there. In the second stanza, the poet describes her mother's reaction when she used to look at the photograph after many years as well as the losses we go through with the passage of time.. In the third stanza, the poet describes the death of her mother and expresses that her mother became silent and she was speechless after the death of her mother.
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