Originally

Number these assertions about the poem in order of importance:

Nostalgia is a powerful human emotion
A mother singing our fathers name to the turn of the wheel
creates a nostalgic tone of voice as childhood is remembered
fondly
Experiences in life bring compensation and loss
But then you forget. Or dont recall, or change, and, seeing
your brother swallow a slug, feel only a skelf of shame. The
accumulation of responses accentuates the changes as the
persona moves to the habits of the new culture.
Separation from our heritage brings feelings of grief
The simile used to describe the personas emotional
displacement in My parents anxiety stirred like a loose tooth
in my head effectively links this grief at separation to a
physical irritation. The use of dialogue, I want our own
country, I said is an emphatic assertion that continues this
very personal response.
We are intrinsically linked to our place of origin
Direct engagement with the reader through the first person in
the rhetorical question; Do I only think I lost a river, culture,
speech, sense of first space and the right place? Here Duffy
utilises a metaphor of a river to denote the geographical loss of
country of origin, the image of the river personalising this
place. Furthermore, references to loss of culture and speech
herald the loss of identity as these are intrinsic to an
individuals understanding of how they belong. Connections to
place of origin are emphasised through the assertion that it
was the right place.

 A child will be moulded to their environment

Duffys choice of simile in I remember my tongue shedding its
skin like a snake, my voice in the classroom sounding just like
the rest compares the loss of the original language to the
physical change of the snake, thereby implying that the old has
been replaced by the new.
Cultural confusion brings ambiguity to our sense of identity
The personas confusion is described in her personal response
to strangers who ask where she is from, her reply being
Originally? This single word has impact as it implies
uncertainty which is further emphasised by her final comment
And I hestitate.
The effects of migration are long lasting and complex
Duffy utilises memories to illustrate the complexity of cultural
change, firstly describing the difficulties in assimilating, your
accent wrong and the movement to adapting to culture,
demonstrated by the loss of accent in the classroom. The most
profound effect, however, is the sense of loss not only evident
in the ambiguity of the personas identity, but also in the
nostalgic tone of the opening lines as she decribes the city, the
street, the house, the vacant rooms where we didnt live any
more.
Barriers exist in assimilating to a new culture
Duffy employs simple images which convey complex human
reactions, evident in the image of big boys eating worms and
shouting words you dont understand. Second person
reference here serves to implicate the reader, thereby creating
empathy for the persona. Language as a barrier to assimilating
is further emphasised.
Childhood is a time of confusion as the individual tries to
understand the world
Stanza 2 begins with a simple single clause sentence to
metaphorically describe childhood as a time of change and
confusion; All childhood is an emigration. This comparison
serves to link childhood itself to the problems of not

understanding the world, much like a migrant in a new

country.