Summary & Structure
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 12.1.1
Summary of the Emigree
In Carol Rumens' The Emigree, the speaker describes her positive childhood memories of a city that she left as a child.
Summary
- The speaker describes her positive childhood memories of a city that she left as a child.
- Even though it is now plagued by conflict, she is filled with beautiful memories of it.
- There is a strong sense of nostalgia in the poem.
Context
- An emigrant is someone that leaves their country to settle in another, permanently.
- Rumens is an English poet who often writes about other countries.
Key ideas - memory and nostalgia
- The speaker feels nostalgic for her country: the memories are positive, but the poem is also tinged with sadness as the speaker is isolated from her country and unable to return.
- The powers of memory and place are explored – despite the country being corrupted by war and tyrants, the speaker has preserved her happy memories of life there.
Key ideas - danger and bravery
- A strong sense of danger hangs over the poem and intensifies in the final stanza with the repetition of “they”.
- The speaker seems strong and courageous because she refuses to allow the threat to affect her or her memories.
Key idea - childhood and wider symbolism
- The poem has also been read as a description of memories of childhood – an innocent and sweeter time when contrasted with the hardships and realities one must face in adult life.
- In fact, the city could represent anything that the speaker has had to leave behind.
Form and Structure of The Emigree
The Emigree is written in the first person, which creates a personal and intimate tone. Rumens uses different literary techniques to achieve an irregular rhythm. This is to reflect both her fond memory of her city and the upheaval in her city at present.
Lack of rhythm and rhyme
- The lack of regular rhythm and rhyme, as well as the enjambment (sentences flowing over the end of lines) and caesura (breaks in the line), could mirror how fragmented and war-torn the place she has had to flee from is.
Enjambment
- Enjambment in several lines also gives the poem fluidity (free movement) and a certain gentleness and tenderness to the rhythm.
- This could be to emphasise her affection towards the city.
Regular stanzas
- Despite the lack of regular rhyme or rhythm, the stanzas are almost equal in length.
- This perhaps reflects the speaker's refusal to let the disruption and war overpower her memories.
Final longer stanza
- The last stanza is longer when she describes how she is dancing through the city.
- This perhaps reflects her desire to prolong those positive memories.
Test yourself on Summary & Structure
Who wrote The Emigree?
In The Emigree, what is the speaker describing?
What are some of the key themes explored in The Emigree?
What techniques does Rumens use to emphasise how fragmented and war-torn the place she's describing is?