The Emigree

• QUOTATION 1: "The worst news I receive it cannot break, my original view, the bright filled paperweight."
• what does "The worst news I receive of it cannot break my original view, the bright filled paperweight." reveal?

  • "original view"- +stable, secure memories -> preserving them
  • "bright"- +happiness, hope
  • "paperweight" literally- stops paper from moving

  metaphorically- memories of home country keep her secure and stable in a destabilising time, hard to break or move/ change these original ideas she has

  symbolically- showing importance of peserving memory of home land
• QUOTATION 2 "It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded my an impression of sunlight."
• what does "it may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight." reveal?

  • repetition of "it may"- dismissive of serious criticisms, regardless of what is happening ploticcaly, she will retain her original view
  • "may"- modal verb- implies sense of doubt, not accepting the possibility that her country is flawed
  • "sick:- personification - sympathetic tone, country needs healing rather than criticism
  • "but"- conjunction- defensive tone, refusal to accept any negativity, would rather stick to her illusory than accept reality, delusional
• what does but "I am branded by an impression of sunlight" reveal?

  • "branded"- metaphor- permanently marked, home country an integral part of her, nothing could erase positive memories 

  OR

  indicates that she has been branded by society as an outsider, looks different, doesn't belong 

  • repetition of "sunlight"- speaker has an almost dream -like picture of the past 
• QUOTATION 3: "they accuse me of absence, They circle me. They cause me of being dark in their free city."
• what does, "They accuse me of absence, They circle me. They accuse me of being dark in their free city." reveal?

  • "they"- pronoun, undefined and ambiguous

  could represent government of population who outcast immigrants, plural- multiple people make her feel this way, making her feel

  +outnumbered

  +outsider

  +alienated

  • repetition of "they"- menacing and threatening

  rule of 3 -> level of persecution she faces, she's targeted

  • "circle:- verb, make them seem like predators, waiting to attack
• what does "They accuse me of being dark in thier free city" reveal?

  • "dark"- contrast with white used earlier- reference to discrimination she faces, literally her skin colour, how others link it to connotations of evil.
  • caesura- creates a break in the line -> broken as a result of her displacement. with the wrong treatment she faces, even the memories of her home city aren't enough to stabilise and secure her
• why isn't the emigres home country named?


  poem is universal, tells the story of all the refugees and their struggles
• what is Carol Rummens message?


  to highlight the pain and confusion of what its like to be a refugee and to leave culture and identity behind
• what is the structure like of the emigree?


  no structure/ free verse- freedom

  OR

  conveying the chaos speaker feels