Character Sketch of the Poet (Shirley Toulson) and her mother from Class 11 English Hornbill book Poem 1 A Photograph
Character Sketch of the Poet (Shirley Toulson)
Shirley Toulson was an English writer born in May 1924. Toulson explores several important themes in the poem ‘A Photograph’. The most prominent are loss, memory, and time. The entire poem is centered around the speaker’s recollections from her own life and her recollections of her mother’s memories. She feels both sorrow and joy as she recalls her mother’s words when the two looked at the photograph together. So much time has passed since the image was taken, and since she looked at it with her mother. But, it’s clear from the poem that the memories of those moments are still strong in her mind.
The Photograph Overview – The poem ‘A Photograph’ is written by Shirley Toulson. In this poem, she recalls her mother and her memories while looking at a childhood photograph when her mother was twelve years old or so. She died twelve years ago and she cannot explain her grief at her mother’s loss.
Related: A Photograph Summary, Explanation
Some Questions on Character Sketch of the Poet (Shirley Toulson)
Q1. Why does the poet feel emotional on seeing the photograph?
Q2. How has the poet expressed her sense of loss?
Character Sketch of the Poet’s mother
According to the poet Shirley Toulson, her mother has a beautiful face with a lovely smile which shows that her mother was always cheerful and full of life. The photograph is taken by the seaside which shows that her mother was adventure loving and spent a lot of time on the beaches. In the photograph, she was around twelve years of age accompanied by her cousins, they went paddling. Many years later, she enjoyed looking at her cousins’ faces and the way they dressed up as kids.
Related: A Photograph Important Questions
Some Questions on Character Sketch of Poet’s mother
Q1. What impression do you form of the poet’s mother after reading the poem ‘A Photograph’?
