The Emigrée Flashcards
Who wrote The Emigrée
Carol Rummens
What is The Emigrée about
the speaker talks about a city in a country that she left asa child which she has a purely positive view about, the city seems to be under attack and unreachable but in the third stanza it appears to the speaker that the unknown ‘They’ accuse and threaten the speaker but she still sees the old city in a positive way, the city may not be a real place - it could represent a time, person or emotion that the speaker has been forced to leave
What is the form of The Emigrée
first person, 3 8-line stanzas, no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme, first 2 stanzas contain a lot of enjambment but there is more end-stopping in the final stanza - shows speaker’s feeling of confinement in her ‘new city walls’
What is the structure of The Emigrée
the memory of the city grows and solidifies as the poem moves on - the city becomes a physical presence for the speaker in the final stanza, each stanza ends with ‘sunlight’ reinforcing the fact that the speaker sees the city in a positive light
What is the language of conflict of The Emigrée
vocabulary associated with war, invasion and tyranny shows that the city may not be as perfect as the speaker remembers, in the second stanza there is a sense that the speaker is defying the authorities by accessing her ‘child’s vocabulary’ that has been ‘banned’, ‘sick with tyrants’ - the speaker’s positive view is not accurate, ‘being dark in their free city’ - she feels it is restrictive but they say it is free
What is the language of light of The Emigrée
the city is described in bright, colourful terms emphasising the speakers feeling that it is a beautiful and positive place, the repeated link with sunlight suggest sa vitality to the city, ‘white’ ‘glow’ - the city is almost heavenly and pure, ‘tastes of sunlight’ - the use of senses increases the vividness of the experience, ‘I am branded by an impression of sunlight’ - her view cannot be changed
What is the personification of The Emigrée
the city is initially personified as being ‘sick with tyrants’, in the final stanza the city is described with human terms which emphasises the strength of the speaker’s love for it, ‘time rolls like tanks’ - time is personified as the enemy but it cannot affect her memories, ‘I comb its hair’ - childlike as if she is playing with a pet which shows innocence
What are the feelings and attitudes of The Emigrée
nostalgia - the speaker’s positive memories of the city are unwavering, nothing she hears will change her view of it, there is a sense of yearning for the city and the past which is partly fulfilled by the city appearing to the speaker in the final stanza, threat - there are suggestions that the city has been taken over by tyrants but the speaker chooses to ignore these things, she is threatened by her new city and seems to have to protect her old city, the poem ends with ‘sunlight’ but this does not entirely removed the sense of threat
What are the themes of The Emigrée
loss and absence, memory, identity, individual experience
What language/techniques does The Emigrée have
language of conflict, language about light, personification
