Look We Have Coming to Dover!

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Similarly, the contrast of the ideas present in the semantic field against ideas of “pensioners and parents” can be seen as creating a sense of inter-generational and inter-class contrast, emphasising the transition between these different elements of society. This can be interpreted as generating a consideration for perspective, which is an idea that is explored further in the final stanza of the poem as a more considerate tone is developed. Important Lines Higgins, Charlotte (16 July 2008). "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher wins Samuel Johnson prize". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 July 2008. There are a few important themes in ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!,’but the most prominent are identity and society. They can be seen from the start with the contrast between the arrival of the immigrant and the presence of the tourists. The immigrants maintain their culture throughout the poem, even in the dream future they still keep their language in the safety of their middle-class homes. His poem "Singh Song!" was added to the AQA English Literature GCSE love and relationships poetry specification. [17]

How could the allusion to Keats‘ poem make this piece more or less effective for different readers?The inclusion of “invade” introduces the ongoing theme of words with negative connotations, but this one is particularly notable because of the direct link to hostile people entering another country. However, this is juxtaposed with the idea of being “stowed” and hidden away unnoticed, with it unlikely for people to be able to invade a country with no supplies. This could therefore be interpreted as a criticism of those who are see immigration as hugely detrimental or even dangerous. A unique perspective is offered to the reader on the different sets of values upheld in their native land and the new land of opportunities. Nagra does not conceal his minority status in any way as he flaunts it proudly in every word he conjures. The collection is rich in culture, complex in nature, and poetically sharp and precise. The informal adjective “pumped” helps to emphasise the semantic field of the poem and further link to the youthful aspects being described. The use of “ecstasy” is interesting because it acts as a ‘gateway’ between the old words and language and modern language, switching between meaning happiness or a type of recreational drug. This is a great demonstration of the varying semantic fields and different juxtapositions in ‘Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn’. The title is ungrammatical, Nagra teasing his own people for their incorrect English with gentle humour. In another poem Singh Song the humour is sustained throughout, while here the mood is more sombre.

Interpreture gives ‘Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn’ a difficulty rating of 4, meaning that it is deemed to be a relatively difficult poem. All aspects of this poem are deemed to be somewhat difficult, with the meaning perhaps hard to initially understand and the poem as a whole made more difficult by the links to Keats’‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’. That said, the strong links between the two poems offer a wide variety of interpretations and potential analysis, particularly in the juxtaposition between modern ideas and a Romantic-based structure. ‘Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn’ A similar technique is the use of British references and imagery to juxtapose with the non-English words and ideas. One example is “ Bedford van” which became a well known piece of British culture throughout the 20th century, including many wartime vehicles branded as “Bedford”. In addition there is also the description “Blair’d in the cash” in the final stanza, where the use of “Blair” could be interpreted as a reference to former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who controversially decided not to use available restrictions to prevent large scale immigration from many new European Union countries such as Poland. As such, this reference can be seen as pointing directly to the idea of immigration and the way that politics, media and society intertwine to react to it. This poem is about the experience of immigrants to England, and has been cleverly written to be read in parallel with Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach. Nagra’s poem reflects the themes of Arnold’s poem, written a hundred years ago, where the he imagines the conflict and chaos that might result if the there was no religious basis to our society. Nagra also dramatises an uneasy nation, as one idea of England is replaced by another — the latter, Nagra’s vision, is uglier, with hostility to immigrants and pollution.

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The speaker and his traveling companions make it to land and it begins to storm. The thunder is said to “unbaldder” on the newcomers and the speaker describes the rain as “yobbish.” It is important to take note of the words used in ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’which are characteristically English in nature. These people make their escape from the shore in a Bedford van. It is white, indistinguishable from other similar vehicles and likely the perfect on land camouflage. Stanza Three The immigrants are camouflaged while the animals are out in the open, making noise and going where they please. The speaker also described the “scummed / cliffs” of the shoreline. This is in contrast to the white cliffs normally associated with Dover. One can’t help but wonder how this initial impression of England contrasted with that the immigrants might’ve expected. Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015 . Retrieved 10 June 2017.

This device of creating words to convey meaning, for example ‘lash’ and ‘brunt’ used as adjectives, or ‘phlegmed’ and ‘prow’d’ as verbs created from nouns, is known as anthimeria. The poet uses words in whatever way seems to convey his meaning, regardless of whether this is ‘correct’, and subtly conveys extra layers of meaning. For example, the surf ‘phlegmed’ – suggests that the sea showed contempt for the immigrants. ‘Prow’d’ also creates a homophone, and therefore simultaneously suggests that the tourists are proud. The structure of this poem suggests the sea both in terms of graphology and meter. Lines increase in syllable length through each stanza suggesting a flowing tide. Each stanza starts with an initial ‘s’ sibilance to illustrate the sea until the last which imagines the journey over. There is progression from the boat journey to the Bedford van and then to an end destination of a settled domestic life. Nagra has been on the Board of the Poetry Book Society and the Poetry Archive. He has judged the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize, [10] the Guardian First Book Award 2008, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2008, the National Poetry Competition 2009, the 2010 Manchester Poetry Prize. [11] and the Costa Book Award poetry category and overall winner in 2012. He has also hosted the T. S. Eliot Poetry Readings 2009. He was the Keats House Poet-In-Residence from July 2014 to June 2015, and he was an Eton College Wisdom Scholar in November 2014. A mix of both enjambment and end-stopped lines adds an inconsistent element to the otherwise predictable structure, helping to add a greater sense of diversity and freedom to the sound of the poem. It can also be seen as helping to make the poem feel as if it is progressing faster, perhaps reflecting the perceived faster pace of life in modern society and the speed of communication and connection between individuals. The pace of the poem is important to consider because of the way in which it impacts a reader’s ability to fully take in all aspects of the poem, and it also becomes more challenging to appreciate the structure, therefore encouraging a reader to go through the poem multiple times. Poetic Techniques The second stanza of ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’begins with a good example of alliteration, the simple connection of the words “Seagull” and “shoal.” These lines are just as complicated and as filled with adjectives and verbs as the first. The immigrants are doing their best to stay hidden from anyone looking their way, but are not helped by the seagulls and other animals which,In the first stanza of this piece, the speaker begins by presenting the English shore from the perspective of an immigrant. The violent language in these lines implies that they are illegal immigrants searching for a new life in England. They have traveled in the most basic way possible, perhaps “Stowed” aboard a small ship. This word also speaks to the secrecy and illegality of the operation, as does the word “invade.” It is scary, employed by the speaker to show how those in England would view the immigrants coming to their country. As if they are there to do personal harm or take something from the residents. Nagra married a woman he met at university, not long after they graduated. [22] The marriage produced a daughter, but the couple divorced, at Nagra's behest. Subsequently, Nagra met and married his current wife Katherine, with whom he has two daughters, Maia and Hannah. [23] During the 2000s, they lived in Dollis Hill, north-west London, before moving to Harrow in the 2010s. [24] Bibliography [ edit ] When the immigrants arrive at the shore, it is not a pleasant experience. They are not greeted with beautiful scenery such as that present within Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach.’Instead, the first thing the speaker notices is the “diesel” smelling breeze. It isn’t clean, even though they are “alfresco” or out in the open air. It comes to them like a “lash,” as if trying to punish them. The speaker also describes the tide as part of the scene, it is moving in with the terrible breeze. At the same time, there is the water itself, which is filled with, Eminent group adds pens of Andrea Levy and Jean Rhys to its collection as it sets out to champion writers of colour

Note also that immigrants are described as animals or objects —‘Stowed in the sea’ and ‘hutched’. He uses the language racists use to whip up fear of immigrants who ‘invade’ or ‘swarm’.Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!!' Philippa Conlon, Prospect Magazine There is also frequent use of commas and hyphens throughout the poem, which may represent the idea of diversity and change within society due to the frequent use of these different types of punctuation. Some readers could also interpret this as continuing the idea of foreign languages and speech, with these pauses representing the thinking and consideration for new words when a non-native speaker is using another language. However, as these pieces of punctuation are generally used to join sentences and words together (in comparison to full breaks with caesura, such as full stops and exclamation marks), it could be seen that this is demonstrating how different cultures and people bring society closer together. Poetic Techniques Once again there is another light-hearted phrase within the poem to contrast with the more serious issues being raised, helping to present people as normal and approachable to a reader. “Babbling” could be seen as an example of onomatopoeia, with Nagra playing with these words and phrases to continue the idea of multiple languages. ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’ Key Themes Elsewhere, the effect is straightforwardly poetic. "Darling is so pirouettey with us/ for whirlwind married month" says the husband in "Darling & Me!"; the transformation of the technical French "pirouette" into an adjective gives a rapturous lift to the line, its freshness reflecting the startling joy the newly-married couple have discovered in each other. Like his stylistic forebear Dylan Thomas, Nagra's creative latitude with words lends the surfaces of his poems colour and movement and opens up new vistas for his readers, transforming language from the barrier it was for his parents' generation into a conduit, a space in which the duality of the immigrant's experience can reside.