Handout: A Photograph by Shirley Toulson

About the Poet:

Kathleen Shirley Toulson (20 May 1924 – 23 September 2018) was an English writer, poet,
journalist and local politician known for her poignant explorations of human emotions,
particularly in relation to loss, memory, and the passage of time. Her poetry is often
characterized by its reflective nature and the use of personal experiences to address
universal themes. Shirley Toulson’s ‘A Photograph’ is a tribute written in memory of her
dead mother. The passage of time changes humans but not nature.
Gist of the Poem – At a Glance:
Setting:
The poem is set in the poet’s contemplation of a childhood photograph of her mother,
capturing a moment frozen in time. The poet reflects on the loss of her mother and the
passage of time.
Mood:
Melancholic, nostalgic, and sorrowful.
Tone:
Reflective, sorrowful, and introspective.
Structure:
The poem is composed of two stanzas. The first stanza reflects on the photograph and the
memory it evokes, while the second stanza transitions to the poet’s realization of loss and
the inevitable passage of time.
Central Message:

The poem explores the themes of loss, memory, and the inevitability of time. The
photograph, which once captured a happy moment of the poet’s mother, serves as a
painful reminder of her mother’s passing and the irreversible passage of time. The poem
highlights the tension between memories of youth and the reality of aging and death.

Themes:
1. Memory and Nostalgia:
The photograph serves as a symbol of the past, evoking memories of happier times and the
fleeting nature of life.
2. Loss and Grief: The poem expresses the poet’s sorrow and sense of loss as she
reflects on the death of her mother. The photograph is a poignant reminder of what
has been lost.
3. The Passage of Time:
The photograph and the poet’s musings on it emphasize the inevitability of time and how it
transforms everything, including relationships and people.
 4. Separation and Death:
The poet’s mother’s absence due to death is highlighted, showing how physical separation
from loved ones is a painful yet inevitable part of life.
Explanation of Key Lines:

1. “The cardboard shows me how it was / When the mother was alive.”

The word “cardboard” refers to the mount or backing of the old photograph.

It is significant for several reasons:

• Symbol of Time and Fragility:

Cardboard is thin and fragile, just like memories and life itself. It hints at how delicate and
easily damaged the past can be.

• Impersonal and Faded:

The word creates a sense of distance-the photograph is old, the memory is fading, and the
person (her mother) is now gone. It adds to the mood of loss and nostalgia.

This line underscores the contrast between the photograph, which represents a time when
the poet’s mother was alive, and the present, where her mother is no longer there.

2. “Sweet face”

The phrase "sweet face" refers to the mother's face as a young girl in the photograph. The
poet uses this expression to convey:

• Innocence and Youth:

The word sweet highlights the innocent, gentle, and tender nature of the mother as a child.

3. “The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter”

This line means that the sea holiday was a cherished memory from her mother’s past,
while for the poet, her mother’s laughter is a treasured memory from her own past. The
poet draws a parallel between her mother’s fond memory of a beach holiday and her own
memory of her mother’s laughter. Both represent a time that can never return, emphasizing
the theme of time and transience.

4. “Now she has been dead nearly as many years / As that girl lived.”

Here, the poet reflects on the passage of time and the realization that her mother has been
dead longer than she had lived, emphasizing the permanence of loss.

5. “ It’s silence silences”.

The phrase "Its silence silences" captures the finality of death. Just as the photograph is
silent, the poet’s response to her mother’s death is also complete, heavy silence-a silence
that continues to this day.

Poetic Devices and Symbolism:

1. Imagery: It is a poetic device that produces picture in the minds of the people
reading or listening.
The word “cardboard” suggests a physical object, a frame holding the photograph,
and its use in old times, creating a sense of nostalgia and the fading nature of
memories.
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is when a group of words in a sentence or phrase start with
the same sound or letter
‘Stood still to smile’, ‘terribly transient’, ‘silence silences’
3. Transferred epithet: a phrase expressing a quality of a person or something.
“Transient feet” is an example of transferred epithet in the poem. It refers to human feet but
it is used to describe the lack of permanence of human life.
Terribly transient feet”
Juxtaposition: Juxtaposition is placing two contrasting ideas side by side to highlight their
difference.
Explanation:
In this phrase, “terribly” (which suggests something frightening or harsh) is placed next to
“transient” (which means short-lived or temporary), describing something as innocent as
feet-specifically the feet of the girls in the photograph.
But here, they are described as “transient”, meaning they won’t last-they will grow old,
decay, or be gone.
• “Terribly” emphasizes the painful reality of this impermanence.
Juxtaposition here highlights the contrast between the innocence and liveliness of
childhood (represented by the girls’ feet on the beach) and the inevitability of time and
death.
4. Oxymoron: A Figure of Speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear
together or two opposite ideas that are joined to create an effect.

“Laboured Ease” is an example of Oxymoron. ‘Laboured’ meaning with ‘great difficulty’ and
‘ease’ means ‘comfortably’. Both words have opposite meanings.

5. Symbolism:

The Photograph: Represents memory, the past, and the inescapable passage of time.
The Sea Holiday: Symbolizes a time of joy and vitality, a memory that stands in stark
contrast to the sorrow the poet feels now.

Laughter: Represents the warmth and life that the poet’s mother embodied, a stark
contrast to the present silence of death.

Competency-Based Explanations (Real-Life Situations):

1. Dealing with Loss: The poem reflects the universal experience of losing loved ones.
It highlights how memories, such as photographs, keep the past alive even when a
person is gone. Many people relate to the feelings of longing and grief that the poet
expresses.
2. The Passage of Time: The poem shows how time changes everything, even
relationships. This is relatable for those who experience the growing distance
between themselves and loved ones due to time, aging, or death.
3. Memory as a Source of Comfort and Pain: The photograph in the poem serves as a
source of both comfort and pain. For many, photographs of deceased loved ones
evoke similar mixed emotions, reminding them of happy moments but also of the
emptiness left by the loss.

Justification of the Title: A Photograph

The title refers directly to the central image in the poem: the photograph of the poet’s
mother. It is through this photograph that the poet reflects on the passage of time, loss, and
memory. The photograph encapsulates the mother’s past, making the title a perfect
reflection of the theme of memory and loss. The photograph, though capturing a moment
of happiness, also underscores the impermanence of life and the inevitability of death.