Essay on "My Grandmother" By Elizabeth Jennings

        In the first stanza there are many ways in which the writer has created the atmosphere of an antique shop. “Apostle spoons” and “Bristol glass” are the most obvious in the first stanza; this is because they are both collectables and are treasured by antique lovers. The writer also uses phrases such as “faded silks” and “heavy furniture”. The faded silks could have been describing her grandmother as well as what was in the shop (double entanger). Heavy furniture would have been in the shop because years ago the heavier the furniture, the more expensive it would be.

        There are many couplets in the poem that do not have ‘full’ rhyming patterns:         prove – love

                afraid – said

                guilt – felt

                then – again

                there – air

                room – come

All of these couplets that are not “full” are either at the end of a stanza or near the beginning.

        In the second stanza, there are a lot of simple words used. This may have been because when she refused to go out with her grandmother she was probably very young. The simple words reflect that because it is the sort of style that a child would write in if they were writing a poem. The use of simple words also makes it quite strong and makes the stanza stick in your head.

        I think that Jennings is trying to tell us that growing old is all about memories. This is because she describes her grandmother as always keeping her memories with her, even if she didn’t need what she had in that room where she kept all her antiques. “I walked into her room among tall Sideboards and cupboards – things she never used But needed:” Jennings is also telling us about a memory that she has of being young.

        “I could still feel the guilt Of that refusal, guessing how she felt” I think that this is an important line in the second stanza because it does not show any finality. The writer is showing how she felt about what she said to her grandmother, but she was not sure how her grandmother felt about it. It is the writer’s own feelings and draws you into the poem.

        The last line “Only the new dust falling through the air” is significant because it is saying that this is the only thing that is left of her grandmother. All she has to remember her by is the antiques that she used to collect. The dust seems to mean that she is thinking about her grandmother and could signify memories of the antiques and her grandmother.