The Emigree

• Emigree


  A female who is forced to leave their country for political or social reasons
• The poem "The Emigree" by Carol Rumens


  • Themes: Conflict, Power, Identity, Protest, Bravery, Childhood
• The speaker describes her memories of a home city that she was forced to flee, which is now "sick with tyrants"
• Despite the city's problems, the speaker's positive memories of the place cannot be extinguished
• "I left it as a child"


  Ambiguous meaning - either she left when she was a child or the city was a child (vulnerable and she feels a responsibility towards it)
• "I am branded by an impression of sunlight": imagery of light that will stay with her forever
• Semantic field of conflict: "Tyrant, tanks, frontiers"
• Tones of the poem: Mournful, Defiant, Nostalgic
• The poem "The Emigree" was published in 1993 and the home country of the speaker is not revealed, giving the poem a timeless relevance
• The poem is increasingly relevant to many people in the current world climate
• Form and structure of the poem


  • First person
  • The last line of each stanza is the same (epistrophe): "sunlight" - reinforces the overriding positivity of the city and of the poem
  • The first two stanzas have lots of enjambment - conveys freedom
  • The final stanza has lots of full-stops - conveys that the speaker is now trapped
• Personification of the city, "I comb its hair and love its shining eyes" she has maternal love for it.
• “the sun’s light on my face” - positive imagery
• "My city hides behind me":it is vulnerable and despite the fact that she had to flee-she is strong
• 'Tyrant, tanks frontiers"

  Sematic field of conflict
• Conflict in the poem: War, inner conflict-heart vs head
• Enjambment used- shows chaos, no rhyme, fast place
• Cesaura in the first line 'There once was a country...'- Forces reader to stop and think about the meaning. Some structure, stanzas vare similar lines, longest stanza focuses on her love for the country, she wants to focus on that