MORE TO COME

Grandmother poem

The relationship that the writer describes that she has with her grandmother is that they didn’t seem to be very close. They never spent any time together. The writer says that she was “afraid” of her grandmother. This may have been because she was scared to get too close to her in case she lost her, as she was so old. The writer also says that all she felt was guilt when her grandmother died because she never went out with her. There was probably a lot of tension between the two when the grandmother was alive because the writer was scared to be with her.
I think that that the poem is separated into 4 stanzas because each stanza seems to describe a different part of the grandmother’s life. In the first stanza, the writer explains what her grandmother used to do; the second stanza goes on to say how she thought that her grandmother felt hurt that she did not want to go out with her. The third stanza talks about her getting too old to look after the antique shop and probably being on her last legs. The final stanza talks about when she died, and what was left of her antiques and the memories that were left of her in the room where all her things were.
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.