Home Quotes Flashcards
“Water touching down on sand, stone and mud”
(asyndeton, organic imagery)
“Water touching down on sand, stone and mud” establishes a comforting sensations of her hometown as water has connotations of tranquillity and freedom.
“Braille and I must stand in a dark room at midnight, sweeping and running my fingers over two stone tablets”
(metaphor, biblical allusion)
The poet utiles the motif of biblical allusions within the phrase to show the personas search for home suddenly becomes murky and directionless, as if the persona is blind or lost in the dark. The persona is metaphorically ‘blind,’ fumbling and attempting to find their place and learn the new language.
“A thin wafer of honey, the bitter salt taste of my husband’s sweat”
(juxtaposition, biblical allusion)
“A thin wafer of honey, the bitter salt taste of my husband’s sweat” juxtaposes the delicate nature of honey symbolising the comfort and nostalgia of homeland to bitterness and harshness of sweat and the physical toil of trying to survive and thrive in a new country.
“It will” “It will”
(high modality, anaphora)
Through the anaphora of “It will” “It will” the persona places emphases on the certainty and conviction of her beliefs repeating it as her personal mantra and objective within the poem.
“I will not have to lock the door”
(high modality, connotations)
“I will not have to lock the door” connotates to the idea of safety and security in her new context whilst the use of first person suggests personal experiences of trauma in her memories and its lingering effect on her present.
“Can only be seen with eyes shut”
(paradox)
This paradox presents the heartfelt intensity of her new experiences showing the audaince omething she can feel deeply within her instead of a physical sensation with the introspection of ‘home’ and peace being achieved through one’s self and spiritual fulfilment, not just through peace.
