Verse two describes how much the narrator loved being in Mrs Tilscher’s class. It is described as being ‘better than home’. ‘The classroom glowed like a sweetshop’. This is written from a child’s perspective as the classroom is being compared to a sweetshop with its sugar paper and brightly coloured shapes and classroom displays.
‘Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found she’d left a gold star by you name.’
This shows the love that the pupils had for Mrs Tilscher; she is well respected and loved. She cares for the pupils in a motherly way.
The third verse of the poem takes you through the Easter term of the school year. ‘The inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks’. This shows how much the tadpoles had grown and corresponds to the growth of the children and how much they have progressed throughout the course of the school year.
‘A rough boy told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared at your parents, appalled, when you got back home.’
This shows that the children’s level of understanding has progressed slightly since the beginning of the school year. Their minds are starting to broaden as they learn new things, although they are not mature enough to deal with them.
Lastly the fourth verse of the poem describes the summer term. It was a hot July, ‘the air tasted of electricity’.
‘A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot, fractious under the heavy, sexy sky’.
As you can see the tone of the poem has started to change. It started off happy and joyful and the mood has progressively altered. The language has become more grown-up and descriptive and the narrator has become more uncertain and anxious.
‘You asked her how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled, then turned away.’
The children have grown up quickly and begin to start questioning things. They are no longer babies. They want to find things out for themselves. As the end of the year drew near reports were handed out, the children were impatient to be grown ‘and as you ran through the gates, the sky split open into a thunderstorm’.
The last line of the poem describes the mood of the narrator. She was happy to be leaving school for the summer, but then she stopped to realise that she would be leaving Mrs Tilscher’s class; this is when the sky burst open into a thunderstorm.
The main themes of ‘Originally’ are childhood, identity, the journey of life, moving on and the process of growing up. Many opf the themes in ‘Originally’ are similar to those in ‘Mrs Tilscher’s Class’. At first the narrator of ‘Originally’ does not feel accepted, she is an outcast and does not feel welcome. The first section describes her leaving home; she does not want to move. The first sentence of the poem starts off quite enthusiastically…
‘We came from our own country in a red room which fell through the fields, our mother singing our father’s name to the sound of the wheels.’
This conjures up quite a nice image, all seems well. But the next line of the poem is a complete contrast.
‘My brothers cried, one of them bawling Home, Home,’
This line gives the impression that all is not fine. The family is upset as they do not want to leave home. The word ‘home’ is written in italics to give effect as though the brothers are whining. Duffy manages to create a sense of noise and chaos in this verse. They do not want to leave their home in the city. The last line of the first verse leads you to believe that the narrator of the story is really young as it says…
‘I stared at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw,’.
This line leads you to think that the child is really young in this poem. It is written from a child’s perspective. He/she refers to the toy as being ‘blind’ and holds its paw as a comfort probably because he/she feels worried.
From this first verse I think that the narrator of this poem is a female. ‘My brothers cried’-was the phrase that set my mind to thinking that the narrator was a girl.
Verse two describes the ‘emigration’ from childhood in great detail.
‘Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up on an avenue where no one you know stays’
This is a very pessimistic view of childhood. There is no happiness here. This sentence creates a dark and gloomy atmosphere. The atmosphere lacks in joy and happiness.
There is a hint of immaturity in the second verse as well.
‘Eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand’
This line represents the immaturity of the narrator at this point in the poem. Eating worms and shouting swear words tend to be things you do when you are very young.
‘My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth’
This line explains the concern of the narrator’s parents. The simile used is very clear as it explains how the parents are feeling.
‘I want my own country, I said’
This line sums up just how young and immature the narrator is. It is written in italics to give effect, to make it stand out because this line has great meaning to it.
The third verse describes the girl reminiscing on how she felt adapting to the changes.
‘You forget, or don’t recall, or change, and seeing your brother swallow a slug, feel only a skelf of shame.’
She is now starting to fit in but still feels a sense of loss. ‘I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake’. This simile is very descriptive and you can vividly picture a snake shedding its skin. This corresponds to the changes the narrator is going through. I think she now feels embarrassed about the way she used to speak. She hesitates when asked where she originally came from.
