On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955

• Written by James Berry
• Structure


  • 4 irregular stanzas
  • no rhyme scheme
  • no clear rhythm
  • use of reported speech
• Use of reported speech


  • doesn't dress the conversation up to be much
  • conveys that it's a mundane, ordinary conversation
  • makes it all sound natural
  • reminds us that small, seemingly mundane conversations can have a big impact on others
  • can also lead readers to examine their own ignorance
• On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955


  • tells us the location and time period
  • Barry was 31 in 1955
• Hello, she said, and startled me.

  • extroverted
  • cesura creates awkward pauses
  • sounds like a real conversation between two strangers
  • he's "in his own world"
  • could lead to the later flashback
  • unexpected interaction
• I was moved in silence / to speak a poem loudly

  • juxtaposition
  • suggests that the woman feels strongly about racial acceptance
  • Quakers worship in silence until someone is moved by the spirit to speak
• for racial brotherhood


  • welcoming
  • potentially why Berry found this conversation meaningful
• I was thoughtful


  • genuinely engaging with the conversation
  • thinking about her words
• One the moment inspired she said

  • these are her genuine views
  • not being told to say anything
• Inexplicably I saw

  • even he can't explain it
• empty streets lit dimly


  • images this creates:
  • cold
  • dark
  • gloomy
  • lonely
  • isolated
  • contrasts with the next few lines
• Alongside in darkness / was my father's big banana field

  • memories of home with his family
  • homesickness?
  • been "othered" by the Quaker, now grasping for memories of home
  • darkness could suggest lack of opportunities
  • contrast with earler lines
  • memory
  • family
  • warmth
  • food
  • familiarity
  • plosive alliteration
  • harder life where he came from
• What part of Africa is Jamaica?


  • ignorant but well-meaning
  • innocent, unintentional
• Where Ireland is near Lapland I said

  • sarcasm
  • gentle humour
  • he isn't angry at her ignorance
  • forgiving, kind
  • implies he has had this conversation before
  • tired of being asked this
  • suggests that she missed the joke
• Hard to see why you leave / such sunny country she said

  • her ignorance agaib
  • she's clearly a Londoner, never left her home
  • contrast with the descriptions of empty streets
• Snow falls elsewhere


  • motivation to leave Jamaica
  • more to life than staying in one place
  • it's a big world
  • more to see in life than one experience
• So sincere she was beautiful / as people sat down around us

  • Berry focuses on her sincerity rather than her ignorance
  • sibilance
  • soft, gentle sound
  • calm conversation
  • maybe speaking more softly as others sit down
  • genuine curiosity and tolerance, not mean
  • others cutting off the conversation
• Link to

  • Thirteen