Anne Frank Huis (Andrew Motion)

The poem Anne Frank Huis refers to Anneliese Marie who was born in 1929
in Frankfurt to Jewish parents. After the Nazi came to power in Germany
Adolf Hitler became the chancellor and the Frank family fled to Amsterdam.
The Nazis occupied in Netherlands in 1942 and Franks went into hiding. The
poem reminds us one of the three years of fear and suspense undergone by
Anne Frank and the family who took shelter in a narrow space in an upstairs
building.
Andrew Motion in his poem tries his best to make the reader feels the
actual tense, fear and suspicion towards Annes situation.
The first stanza begins with Even now signifies the narrators sense of
amazement that he is in Amsterdam visiting Anne Franks house. He is
unbelievable whether he is actually at Franks house. The remainder of the
first line indicates that 30 years have passed since Anne Franks death, but
still the world grieves for her. Next little by little the poet indicates and
stresses the ferocity that we all feel at the tragedy of the Holocaust. The
very place stresses once more exactly where the narrator is. The use of
the words whoever comes highlights that anyone can visit this house now
as there are no Nazis anymore. The use of these narrow stairs hints at the
oppressive nature of this building. It emphasizes that the family was hidden
away, out of sight. The use of climb and narrow also gives us an idea of
the discomfort and effort that the narrator is going through as he visits this
house and it hints at the strong emotions he is feeling. The last line of the
first stanza suggests the dark atmosphere and the peoples inability to help
the family.
The second stanza carries the sense of guilt towards the inability to help.
The clock outside from the church is described as the Westerkerk repeats
itself. The clock is still keeping time the same way it did fifty years ago it
is still there giving some hope. Furthermore the simile in this line highlights
that the clock would have been a constant reminder to Anne Frank and her
family of the time they spent in hiding.
The third stanza suggests the length of time that the Frank family spent in
this house and that they couldnt raise their voices or share their company
with anyone. Sadness comes through here as the Frank family quite clearly
could not enjoy an ordinary life. The phrase and plotting describes what
the Frank family were doing; hoping of a chance of escape. And day-byday suggests the repetition of the action. The family was longing for the
yellow chalk line to get nearer and nearer before the Nazis discovered
their hiding place. Sadness is evident at this point of the poem as it
becomes clear that even within this extreme experience. And there was no
hope for any kind of ordinary experience for Anne Frank.
The forth stanza too carries the same idea. Anne is presented as a young
teenager yearning for life and her interests are not different from an

ordinary modern girl. Here as pictures of her family suggests an extreme

The last stanza brings a huge contrast with the first four stanzas. With the
phrase Like my own; the poet contrasts his own life and the life of the
readers and all, with the life led by Franks. The poet emphasizes the idea
that how lucky we all are to live independently. He brings out a tranquil
pleasant scene that the Franks couldnt even imagine at that time. The
alliteration of c, in come clear of bridges, highlights the freeness of the
barge. This contrasts with the imprisonment of the Frank family who were
never to come clear of anything except under the arrest of Nazi guards.
The silent barge adds a relaxing romantic image yet it is also a reminder
of the silence that the Frank family had to keep while they were in hiding. It
could also be argued that the barge is silent in respect and mourning over
what happened here in Amsterdam to the Frank family. Throughout this
final stanza the words generally have softer sounds drift, watch,
barge, bridges which again contrasts with the sibilant words and the
harsh images evident in the rest of the poem. And all those images highly
contrast the tension of Anne Franks life with the freedom brought about by
the democratic forces. The poem ends with the idea that Anne was denied
the freedom enjoyed with the theme of independence, lack of freedom and
sadness.

Summary of poem
A first glance at the poem reveals an ordered structure of five lines of five
stanzas. The structure appears restrictive, but there is no rhyme scheme.
This ordered structure could symbolise the restrictive way Anne Frank and
her family lived their life in Amsterdam. The lack of the rhyme scheme adds
to the unexpected nature of each line and mimics the narrator discovering
the contents of the Franks home. If a rhyme scheme had been included the
reader may have had a more comfortable reading experience this is not
Motions intention.
In the title of the poem Andrew Motion uses the Dutch Huis rather than
house. Firstly this highlights that Anne Frank hid from the Nazis in
Amsterdam, Holland. On the other hand it stresses immediately the sinister
repetition of the s sound which gives the poem an uneasy feeling
throughout (sibilance).
Stanza One

Line 1: The poem starts with Even now, in line one, signifying the
narrators sense of amazement that he is in Amsterdam visiting Anne
Franks house he almost cannot believe he is actually there. The remainder
of the first line indicates that 30 years have passed since Anne Franks
death, but still the world grieves for her. Enjambement is used for the first
time at the end of line one.
Line 2: The reader almost stumbles into and anger in line two which
stresses the fury that we all should feel at the tragedy of the Holocaust. The
very place stresses once more exactly where the narrator is. The caesura
after place allows the reader a pause to consider the impact visiting this
house is having on the narrator. The use of the words whoever comes
highlights that anyone can come in to visit this house now there are no
Nazis anymore.
Line 3: Use of these narrow stairs hints at the oppressive nature of this
building emphasising that the family was hidden away, out of sight. The
use of climb and narrow also give us an idea of the discomfort and effort
that the narrator is going through as he visits this house hint at the strong
emotions he is feeling. The caesura between stairs and discovers
demonstrates that the poet is discovering the house for the first time; much
like the Nazis would have done when they found Anne Frank and her family.
Line 4: bookcase slides aside emphasis of the s sound gives the poem
a sinister tone (sibilance). Use of slides aside also mimics again how the
Nazis would have found the Frank family their secret would be revealed.
Line 5: shadow there are connotations of the shadow of death here as
well as the connotations of darkness and the ethereal (ghostly) atmosphere
of the house. The room itself is sunlit offering a strong contrast with the
shadow the narrator went through as he approached the room. The phrase
can never help is preceded by a caesura created by the comma. This
separates the phrase and hints at the yearning of the narrator that he could
have helped Anne Frank and her family.
Stanza Two
Line 6: The phrase but break her secrecy again rather than continuing
the idea from the previous stanza of helping Anne and her family surprises
the reader with the introduction of guilt at this intrusion of her the Frank
home. The first sentence eventually finishes in this line. The full-stop creates
another caesura which highlights that even the simple act of just
listening makes the narrator feel guilty.
Line 7: The phrase a kind of guilt depicts the feelings of the narrator at
entering the house. Motion follows the very long opening sentence with a
short one to make it even clearer how the narrator is feeling at being in this
house. The clock outside from the church is described as the Westerkerk
repeats itself. The clock is still keeping time the same way it did fifty years
ago it is still there giving some hope.

Line 8: The simile in this line highlights that the clock would have been a
constant reminder to Anne Frank and her family of the time they spent in
hiding.
Line 9: The forceful metaphor, each stroke die, contains harsh language,
with negative connotations of death, to describe the chiming of the clock.
The oppressive tone of the poem comes out here as well as the extreme
difficulties of living in occupied Holland during Nazi rule. The German guards
would have been below the window listening to the same clock as Anne
Frank and her family.
Line 10: The enjambement from the previous line separates guarded
streets and offers an even stronger reminder of the Nazis, and that they
would have heard the clock too. The caesura, after streets, gives the
reader the chance to pause and catch a breath before they are urged,
almost forced, to picture this wartime scene in Amsterdam. The phrase
Imagine it, separated by the endstopped line, urges the reader to imagine
this horrible scene from WWII.

Stanza Three
Line 11: This line highlights the length of time that the Frank family spent in
this house and that they couldnt raise their voices or share their company
with anyone. Sadness comes through here as the Frank family quite clearly
could not enjoy an ordinary life.
Line 12: The phrase and plotting describes what the Frank family were
doing; hoping of a chance of escape, either by their own volition or thanks
to the arrival of the Allied forces. The parenthesis around day-by-day
shows the monotonous repetition the family must have experienced in the
house. The parenthetical separation makes this monotony of their three
years in confinement stand out.
Line 13: The caesura before What hope demonstrates the kind of life the
family led in captivity with their dream that the Allies were soon to appear
and rescue them. The family were longing for the yellow chalk line to get
nearer and nearer before the Nazis discovered their hiding place. What
hope is separated at the end of the line to emphasise even more the
dreams that the family still had despite the desperate nature of their
situation.
Line 14: The enjambement leads the reader down an unexpected path in
this line. Rather than continuing the theme of freedom Motion introduces
the more usual dream of falling in love. Sadness is evident at this point of
the poem as it becomes clear that even within this extreme experience
there was no hope for any kind of ordinary experience for Anne Frank.

Line 15: The phrase survives her here depicts the dreams and desires that
Anne Frank has left behind. These dreams are displayed above the bed as
if they are on show. The very deliberate nature of the experience comes
through here adding to the discomfort of the narrator and his sense that he
is intruding.
Stanza Four
Line 16: The phrase picture of her family highlights that Anne Frank was a
caring young woman. There is also a deep sadness in this phrase as the
majority of people in these photographs were probably murdered in the
concentration camps. The poem is modernised a little in this line with the
phrase some actors. This is an attempt to engage the audience and show
that Anne Frank was not so different from the teenagers of today. Contrast is
also provided here from the seriousness of the holocaust and WWII to the
flippancy of images of actors, fashions and members of the Royal family.
Line 17: Alliteration of the s sound is very evident in this line and in this
whole stanza in particular. The sibilance adds to the sadness of this normal
teenager not having any chance of a normal life due to the Nazi
occupation.
Line 18: The word stoop demonstrates that the narrator making an effort
to examine the room closely. The use of those highlights that not
everyone who visits Anne Franks house may notice these details.
Line 19: The metaphor patience missing its reward highlights the sadness
the poet feels for Anne Frank. Despite the Frank family being able to keep
themselves carefully and silently occupied for three years they were not
rewarded for this endeavour.
Line 20: There are more end-stopped lines in this fourth stanza and this
gives the lines themselves more impact through the lack of any caesura.
The pauses arriving at the end of the lines gives the readers a slight pause
allowing them to concentrate on the meaning that Motion is trying to get
across. This is explicitly clear in this line where the pause at the end of line
19 allows the reader to contemplate the ideas of Anne Franks wish and
the chances she did not get in her short life.
Stanza Five
Line 21: The colon in this line separates my own from the rest of the
stanza (caesura). This pause emphasises how lucky the narrator is, and
also ourselves, to live in a time where we can take advantage of
opportunities that come our way. The colon also leads the narrator to
explain what exactly he means by chances. Simply is used in this line to
highlight the ease with which he left Anne Franks house; the first thing the
poet does that she could never do but dreamt of doing.

Line 22: The narrator proceeds to stroll through Amsterdam taking in the
people who drift at ease giving a dream like quality to this final stanza
that is in total contrast to the rest of the poem where the word choice has
been harsh and negative.
Line 23: The tranquil pleasant scene continues to be painted by the narrator.
The dream like quality continues linking to the idea that the narrator is
experiencing the qualities of Amsterdam that the Frank family could only
dream of.
Line 24: The alliteration of c, in come clear of bridges, highlights the
freeness of the barge. This contrasts with the imprisonment of the Frank
family who were never to come clear of anything except under the arrest
of Nazi guards. The barge is silent which is again a relaxing romantic
image but it is also a reminder of the silence that the Frank family had to
keep while they were in hiding. It could also be argued that the barge is
silent in respect and mourning over what happened here in Amsterdam to
the Frank family. Throughout this final stanza the words generally have
softer sounds drift, watch, barge, bridges which again contrasts
with the sibilant words and the harsh images evident in the rest of the
poem.
Line 25: The final enjambement surprises the reader once more as the
reader is now expecting a twist or surprising image to appear after bridges.
In this last line Motion arguably uses the most romantic image of the poem:
that of the barge settling their reflections in the blue canal. So in the canal
the image of the drifting couple is reflected in the canal as they drift around
atmosphere. Something Anne Frank was never to enjoy.