NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 1 – A Photograph — Shirley Toulson
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Infer the meaning of the following words from the context
Q. paddling (wading in water, walk with bare feet in shallow water)
Ans. The poet is describing the scene when her mother was young and she was enjoying paddling in water with her two cousins who were holding her hands.
Q. transient (short-lived)
Ans. The poet’s mother was standing on the beach with her two cousins who were paddling in the water but the imprints of the foot were washed away as they were temporary (short-lived).
Think it Out :
Q. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
Ans. The word ‘cardboard’ denotes the framed photograph of her mother and her two sisters. The poet has used this word because it was moulded in a frame.
Q. What has the camera captured ?
Ans. The camera has captured a childhood memory of the poet’s mother and her two cousins when they had gone for a sea holiday. At the beach, they stood still, holding hands and smiling at the camera in their uncle’s hand with delight.
Q. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans. The sea has not changed over the years. It suggests that the nature is everlasting, whereas human life is mortal. We grow old but the objects of nature like sea, brook, rivers, and mountains never change. It indicates the immortality of nature over mortality of human life.
Q. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate ?
Ans. The poet’s mother laughed at the photograph whenever she saw it. It reminded her of her childhood days, which indicated that she was happy to see her picture of young age and felt amused to see how they used to dress for the beach. But on the other hand, it seemed that she was missing her childhood days.
Q. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss”.
Ans. This statement implies that with the passage of time various incidents of life become things of past. For example, the sea holiday was the poet’s mother’s past and her laughter was the poet’s past. Everything in life is transitory and gets changed with time. We cannot hold anything good or bad for long. It tends to undergo change and that is the only reality of life. We have to adapt to the changes, whether good or bad.
The poet thinks of her mother’s laughter which she could hear no more. Both the mother and the poet tried to appear at ease without being mindful of their respective losses. But it was not natural, it was forced. Actually human beings are compelled to accept this with ease, however painful or harsh the reality may be.
Thus, the lovely remembrance of the ‘sea holiday’ and ‘the laughter’ of the poet’s mother has lessened in intensity by the gradual acceptance of the loss.
Q. What does “this circumstance” refer to ?
Ans. ‘This circumstance’ refers to the poet’s mother’s death. It has created a vacuum in her life. There is a strange silence which she can share with no one.
Q. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they ?
Ans. The three stanzas depict three different phases of life – childhood, youth, and old age accompanied by death which is the final stage.
The childhood days are marked with innocence, the youth is marked with gaiety and laughter which is the essence of youthful energy, and then comes the loneliness created by death.
