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The Emigree - Coggle Diagram
The Emigree
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Personification
The city is initially personified as being "sick with tyrants". In the final stanza, it appears to the speaker, lies down and then later takes her dancing. Describing the city in human terms emphasises the strength of the speaker's love for it
The city is personified as reflects the nature of herself, her
own personality and growth.
Loss and Absense
The speaker is nostalgic for a place that she left as a child- the opening phrase "There once was a country..." frames the poem with the sense of loss she feels for the place. This loss is heightened by the fact that the speaker retains an "impression of sunlight"- a positive, idealised view of the city
There are suggestions that conflict is responsible for the speaker's loss- the city "may be at war", and the speaker describes herself as an "Emigree" in the title, hinting that she was forced to leave.
Memory
The speaker vividly remembers the city she left as a child. She describes her view of it as a "bright, filled paperweight", showing how her memories are positive, colourful and solid. Different senses increase the vividness- her "child's vocabulary" "tastes of sunlight" and combs the personified city's "hair".
However, there's a suggestion that the speaker's memories are unreliable- the perfect place she remembers might be "at war" or "sick with tyrants".
About
The speaker talks about a city in a country she left as a child- she has a purely positive view of it. The city seems to be under attack and unreachable, but in the third stanza is appears to the speaker. An unknown "They" accuse and threaten the speaker, but she still sees the old city ina 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
Individual Experiences
Focusing on individual experiences allows the poet to present a place, action or event from a specific, unique point of view
Language about light
The city is described in bright, colourful terms, emphasising the speaker's feeling that it's a beautiful, positive place. The repeated link with "sunlight" suggests a vitality to the city
Language of conflict
Vocabulary associated with war, invasion and tyranny shows that the city may not be as perfect as the speaker remembers it. In the second stanza there's the sense that the speaker is defying the authorities by accessing her "child's vocabulary" that;s been "banned"
The poem deals with the dilemma of the emigree, forced by war or conflict to leave their home, and longing to return. The complex emotions and pain of exile are explored as well as the way that the media presents conflict abroad and the way that society understands it.
The speakers view of the city is idyllic and with confused metaphors linked with positive natural images.
The speaker is struggling to reconcile the two identities of the city, however this causes conflict within the speaker.