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Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker - Coggle Diagram
Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker
Overview
The speaker in this poem uses tissue paper as an extended metaphor for life. She considers how paper can 'alter things' and refers to the soft thin paper of religious books, in particular the Qur'an. There are also real life references to other lasting uses we have for paper in our lives such as maps, receipts and architect drawings. Each of these items is connected to important aspects of life: journeys, money and home. These examples demonstrate how important but also how fragile paper is.
In the final stages of the poem, the poet links the idea of a building being made from paper to human skin, using the words 'living tissue' and then 'your skin'. This is quite a complex idea, and the meaning is open to interpretation. She may be suggesting that the significance of human life will outlast the records we make of it on paper or in buildings. There is also a sense of the fragility of human life, and the fact that not everything can last.
Themes
Power: this poem refers to the power of paper to change things and to record our memories. -> 'this/ is what could alter things.' -> Even the most delicate kinds of paper can record the most important details - of family life, national borders or financial transactions.
Instability: the speaker suggests that paper (used as a metaphor for buildings) is at the mercy of greater forces, such as the weather. -> might fly our lives like paper kites' -> The simile (a comparison using 'like' or 'as' to create a vivid image) suggests that our lives are not always in our control, but more like kites being blown by the wind.
Human essence: this poem compares the significance and fragility of paper documents to the fleeting nature of building structures. -> 'how easily/ they fall away on a sigh,'/ 'turned into your skin.' -> The essence of human beings can outlast even things that seem permanent but have collapsed, like large buildings.
Interpretations
'Paper that lets the light/ shine through, this/ is what could alter things'
The light that shines through the paper represents God. -> 'The light' is often used as a symbol of truth, or in religious texts to represent God. In the second stanza the speaker refers to the thin paper of the Qur'an, further supporting the idea that the light, being Allah, or God, is 'what could alter things'.
The thin paper represents old age. -> As we age, skin becomes thinner and the poem may suggest that when this happens things 'alter' because we gain wisdom.
'find a way to trace a grand design/ with living tissue, raise a structure/ never meant to last'
The speaker says that human life is both a wonderful construction and fleeting. -> The 'grand design' could refer to the way a life is built, each being unique and 'grand' in its own way, yet 'never meant to last.'
The poet refers to the religious idea that man is made in the image of God. -> The 'grand design' suggests the perfect image of God that is traced with 'living tissue' in the form of humankind.
Form,structure and language
Form and structure
Tissue is mainly constructed in unrhymed, irregular quatrains. This form can be seen to represent the irregularity of life and the flimsy nature of the tissue paper the poem refers to.
The poem consists of ten stanzas. The first nine stanzas are each four lines long. The final stanza, however, is one line in length, drawing our attention to it. Separating out this line emphasises the connection between paper and skin, showing the significance of human life.
The poem lacks regular rhyme and its rhythm is unsteady, as if to mirror the fluttering of tissue paper. The poet uses enjambment, running meaning between lines and across stanza breaks. This adds to the flowing, delicate nature - both of paper and of the human lives the poet compares the tissue to.
Language
The speaker emphasises the delicacy of the paper by using adjectives throughout the poem. The paper is described as 'fine', 'thin' and 'transparent'. The effect of light is also emphasised with 'luminous', 'daylight' and the way the 'sun shines through'.
References to the thin paper used by architects, shopkeepers and bookbinders are made to connect the practical uses of paper. These images provide an extended metaphor for human skin and life.
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Context
Imtiaz Dharker is a contemporary poet who was born in Pakistan and grew up in Scotland. She has written five collections of poetry and often deals with themes of identity, the role of women in contemporary society and the search for meaning. She draws on her multi-cultural experience in her work.
She is also a film director and has scripted a number of documentaries in India, supporting work with women and children.