LINES ON A YOUNG LADY'S PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM

Question 1

title LOAYLPA

Answer 1

polysemic meaning - literal lines or reflecting the age of the photos- worn/lines on them

alludes to her past being distanced from him

Question 2

at last you yielded up the album

Answer 2

put into in middle of event at beginning of poem - reflects the momentuous nature and the speaker’s own rush of adrenaline

connotations for richness and abundance - speaker’s anticipation and desire

Question 3

matt and glossy on the thick black pages

Answer 3

photos as being compiled- speaker is faced with a new world of possibilities which heightens his excitement

Question 4

rhyme scheme in stanza 1 LOAYLPA

Answer 4

ABABB refelcts the almost childish excitement of the speaker as he rapidly flicks through the pages

Question 5

too much confectionery, too rich: I choke on such nutritious images

Answer 5

sf of field reflects the speaker’s excessive gluttony and overindulgence - almost sickly as he’s unable to control his desires= knows its unhealthy but continues

rapidly wants to claim her as a commodity

Question 6

my swivel eyes hunger from pose to pose

Answer 6

frenzied state of the speaker as he almost becomes predatory - emph his desire to claim the woman

Question 7

in pigtails, clutching a reluctant cat; or furred yourself, a sweet girl-graduate; or lifting a heavy-headed rose/ beneath trellis, or in a bilby hat

Answer 7

asyndethic listing emph the speed the speaker’s looking at the photos-frenzies and excessive joy as he claims he at various stages of her past (emph by enj = cannot control himself)

stereotypical images of youth and innocence reflects his control as he views her with simplicity and little complexity - past can be whatever he wants it to be

Question 8

disquietening chaps who loll at ease about your earlier days/ not quite your class, I’d say dear, on the whole

Answer 8

implies speaker’s implicit sense of threat he feels towards the presence of the men - threaten his fantastical narrative and control over her image (actually saw her in the past)

appears to make himself appear superior

Question 9

But o’ photography! As no art is, faithful and disappointing

Answer 9

argument marker reflects how the speaker shifts to consider the merits and downsides of photography

exclamatory - almost lamentful tone
oxymoron shows the degree of sincerity and truth the photos provide - leaves no room for imagination and fantasy

Question 10

and will not censor blemishes/ like washing-lines, and Halls distemper boards

Answer 10

photography removes the fantastical narrative/facade the speaker made himself believe in

zooms in on specific features on the woman’s face jxtp his prev frenzies flick through - wrinkles and more mundane aspects

Question 11

what grace/ your candour thus confers upon her face!

Answer 11

enj emph the blessed and graced nature of photography for the woman - truth gives the photo dimension

speaker almost idolises her

Question 12

these misty parks and motors, lacerates

Answer 12

describes the past with a nostalgic idealised/romantic tone - speaker’s yearning as he feels pain and suffering for not being able to claim her past

Question 13

we cry not only at exclusion but because it leaves us free to cry/… our grief/ I am left to mourn

Answer 13

sf death and suffering - mourns her past + deep grief - helpless of the speaker as he’s only let to cry - unable to fulfill his desires for control

Question 14

however hard we yowl across/ the gap from eye to page

Answer 14

speaker’s suffering and torment as the past is irrecovable- enj emph the distance between him and her as her past is inaccessible

Question 15

In short a past that no one now can share

Answer 15

speaker expresses how despite he is unable to actually her past - she is eternalised and reminsced in the photos (merits) = he can still make it to be whatever he wants it to be

Question 16

it holds you like a heaven and you lie/ unvariably lovely there

Answer 16

emph her belonging in an intangible/inaccessibly pure and desirable state that the speaker can only reminisnce- desires are out of reach

angelic imagery - speaker’s wonderment

Question 17

that this is a real girl in a real place

Answer 17

emph her belonging in the past and how the photo provides truth

Question 18

smaller and clearer as the years go by

Answer 18

her past will always remain the same - speaker can still admire/idealise in a way which gives him control but just can’t access

oxymoron- lack of control and distance

Question 19

AO3 LOAYLPA

Answer 19

larkin’s amateur photographer

winifredd arnott

easy misogynist- lisa jardin