Poems Originally Flashcards
in a red room
She saw the train just as a big red room suggesting she was young at the time
We came from our own country
She’s trying to say that this affected her whole family, the use of we draws us into the poem as if it is a shared experience
which fell through the fields
Personification, shows she felt that she had no control over moving so everything fell past her
our mother singing
Mother feeling optimistic in contrast with Duffy
our mother singing-our father’s name
Enjambment, suggests that the father isn’t travelling with them
My brothers cried, one of them bawling, Home, Home
Bawling shows how upset he is, Home is capitalised as if home is the name of a place, repetition is used to show how much he wants his home
the street, the house, the vacant rooms
Lists all the things she has left behind
where we didn’t live anymore
We suggests that the move affected the whole family
I stared at the eyes of a blind toy
Symbolic of her not knowing where she is going
All childhood is an emigration
Childhood is about change and transition
Some are slow,
Shows some changes are slow, like growing up
leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays
The lines draws on to emphasise that some changes are slow
Others are sudden.
Sentences become short very fast to show that change can also happen very fast
Your accent wrong.
Suggest acceptance is more than just about being able to speak the same language
Corners, which seem familiar, leading to unimagined, pebble-dashed estates
Creates a sense of uncertainty, she is not quite sure of where she is or who she is
