The Emigrée

• 'The Emigrée' is part of the 1933 collection 'Thinking of Skins'
• 'The Emigrée' is written by Carol Rumens
• 'The Emigrée' is about a woman forced to leave her country (which she has a completely positive view of) due to conflict as a child and is now an adult struggling to find an identity in her new country.
• The city in 'The Emigrée' may not be a real place, it could represent a time, person or emotion that the speaker has been forced to leave.
• The city in 'The Emigrée' seems to be under attack and unreachable, but in the third stanza, it appears to the speaker. An unknown 'they' accuse and threaten the speaker, but she still sees the old city in a positive way.
• 'There once was a country...' This opening of 'The Emigrée' makes it sound like a story, but may also suggest a feeling of loss.
• 'my memory of it is sunlight-clear' This suggests that the memory is clear and happy - 'The Emigrée'
• 'my original view, the bright, filled paperweight' This metaphor suggests that the narrator's memories are bright and positive, but also solid and fixed. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants' This suggests that the city has been invaded and that the speaker's positive view of it isn't accurate. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'I am branded by an impression of sunlight' The negative 'branded' is juxtaposed with the positive 'impression of sunlight'. 'branded' also suggests a permanence to her view - 'The Emigrée'
• 'white streets' 'graceful slopes glow even clearer' This description of the city makes it sound pure and almost heavenly - 'The Emigrée'
• 'time rolls its tanks' TIme is personified as an enemy, but it can't affect the speaker's memories - 'The Emigrée'
• 'That child's vocabulary I carried here' This seems to refer to the language of her childhood and the metaphor makes the language seem precious. It may also suggest that the childhood language is the only thing that is left of her identity. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'It tastes of sunlight' Referring to her childhood language. This metaphor makes the language seem bright and precious. The sensory imagery also increases the vividness of the experience. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'I have no passport, there's no way back at all' The first line of stanza three sounds hopeless, but the next line changes the mood again. This also suggests a loss of identity and place. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'but my city comes to me in its own white plane' The city is personified and the white plane could represent the speaker's memories. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'I comb its hair and love its shining eyes' There is a childlike joy in this description as if they are playing with a pet. It may also suggest almost a maternal instinct towards the city as if they must take care of the memories so they can stay pure. - 'The Emigrée'
• 'They accuse me of being dark in their free city' 'They' are an ambiguous speaker, but they are menacing and the repetition throughout the stanza suggests that the speaker feels threatened. There are contrasting perceptions of the city the speaker is now in, she sees is as restrictive and 'dark' (contrasting with the brightness of her old city), whilst 'they' see is as 'free' - 'The Emigrée'
• 'They mutter death' This is threatening to the speaker - 'The Emigrée'
• 'my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight' The poem ends on a positive note that despite the threats of death, the city is still associated with 'sunlight' just as it was at the end of the first two stanzas. Also her 'shadow' may suggest that despite her being 'dark' in the new city, she associates this part of this identity with 'sunlight' - 'The Emigrée'
• The title of 'The Emigrée' suggests a conflicted identity due to the use of two languages.
• Each stanza in 'The Emigrée' ends with 'sunlight' suggesting the lasting positive impression of her former city.
• 'The Emigrée' is written in the first person, with three eight-line stanzas, but no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme.
• The first two stanzas in 'The Emigrée' contain lots of enjambment, but there's more end-stopping in the final stanza. This reflects the speaker's feeling of confinement in her new city.
• The speaker's memory of the city grows and solidifies as 'The Emigrée' progresses, becoming a physical presence for the speaker in the final stanza.
• Vocabulary associated with war, invasion and tyranny in 'The Emigrée' suggests that the speaker's memories of the city may not be as accurate as they think.
• Language about light in 'The Emigrée' emphasises the speaker's feelings that it is a beautiful, positive place.
• Personification in 'The Emigrée', such as 'sick with tyrants' and 'It lies down' emphasises the strength of the speaker's love for the city.
• Key feelings in 'The Emigrée' include: nostalgia due to the speaker's unwavering positive views of the city, yearning for the city and the past, threat of the city being invaded, and denial that her city has changed.
• 'docile as paper' This suggests a weakness of the city due to the fragility of paper and the calmness of being 'docile' - 'The Emigrée'
• Themes which 'The Emigrée' can link to include: power of emotions, Individual experiences, power of humans, power of conflict, power of loss and absence, power of place, reality of conflict, memory and identity
• An emigrée is someone who has been forced to leave their home country, usually to flee persecution or human rights violations.
• Amnesty International estimate there are about 26 million refugees globally.