Material

Question 1

Conceptualised overview of the poem

Answer 1

Musing on the nature of handkerchiefs, the history that comes with them, nostalgia, the loss of close family, and the nature of being a mother.

Question 2

Persona

Answer 2

the persona is a a weary, sad mother grieving the loss of her mother through the metaphor of handkerchiefs as symbolising a mother’s love, community, and a connection to the past.

Question 3

Form

Answer 3

• autobiographical
• iambic tetrameter → close to a heartbeat and human speech → close and familer like the love of a mother, like a handkerchief

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

• regular stanza lengths -> familiarity
• each stanzas reflects on a different topic, taking the reader on a a journey through the life and memories of the poetic voice

Question 5

The Symbols of the Handkerchief

Answer 5

• the hanky as a enduring symbol of an older time that lacked modern consumerism, a time of more care
• “things for waving out of trains / and mopping up the corners of your grief”
• “dried up handkies fell in live and mated, rasing little squares” -> symbol of family

Question 6

Vivid memories

Answer 6

• “greengrocer george with his dodgy foot” -> colloquial and familier
• “Mrs White with painted red talons”
• the notion that along with handkies, we have also lost community

Question 7

“nostalgia only makes me old “

Answer 7

• a snap back to reality
• contrast between past a present
• reminds the reader of what we have lost
• immediacy

Question 8

“bought biscuits I would bake if I’d commit to being home”

Answer 8

• consumerism
• guilt
• self critical
• existing in a modern world, directly opposes the nostalgic world of the handky
• plosives

Question 9

“I miss material handkerchiefs, their soft and hidden history “

Answer 9

• sadness
• longing for relationships and connection in a time of greif