The Emigree: Power and Conflict Analysis

Carol Rumens is a poet from London who wrote The Emigree, which was published in 1993.

Poem Summary

The narrator remembers the city that she left as a child. She associates it with light and vitality, even though she knows it has fallen under oppressive rule. She thinks fondly of the language she spoke in her home country and accepts that she will not be able to return to this city. However, she still enjoys experiencing it in her memories. In her new city, she faces hostility and a lack of acceptance.

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The poem’s key message:

Being forced to leave one’s home evokes complex feelings. It is difficult to emotionally detach from that place, even if war has taken it over.

Language

Images of light are used in association with her home city. Her memory of it is “sunlight-clear”, the slopes of the city “glow”, and the streets are “white”. In the final stanza, she personifies the city and gives it “shining” eyes. These images showcase the positive light in which she views it.

These are contrasted against images of war. The city is “sick with tyrants”, and the metaphor “time rolls its tanks” alludes to the military presence there.

Rumens uses personification to show the narrator’s love for her home city. The line “My city takes me dancing” shows her joy when she remembers it.

Structure

The narrator’s passion for her city grows across the three stanzas, climaxing in the magical image of the city taking her dancing.

There is a more menacing tone in the third stanza when she talks about how “They” treat her. This shows how less accepted she feels in her new city compared to her old one.

Form

The poem is written in three eight-line stanzas, in free verse (no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme).

It is written in the first person, reflecting the personal nature of the narrator’s feelings. The poem begins in the past tense as she recalls her old city and transitions to the present tense as she describes her current life.

Themes

Theme	Analysis
The effect of war	She has been forced to leave because of the “tyrants” (cruel leaders) who have invaded her home city. She longs to return and thinks the city is like a “bright, filled paperweight” to her. This shows that it’s full of life and energy, and that her view of it is not easily broken. The displacement caused by war has left her feeling threatened in her new city. The unnamed, menacing figures “circle” her and “mutter death”. She wishes to return to the “sunlight” of her childhood city.
Memory	Her memories of the city depict it to be a heavenly place. The streets are “white” and the slopes are “graceful”. Different senses are used to show her more abstract memories; the city “tastes of sunlight” and she enjoys the feeling of combing its hair. Her memory of it being such a perfect place reflects her deep love for it.
Identity	The speaker’s identity is deeply intertwined with the city she grew up in, both in terms of location and the emotions and memories it evokes. She talks of “my city” and the joy it gave her to live there. She deeply connects with the “child’s vocabulary” she had when she emigrated. She is saddened that this language is now a “lie, banned by the state”. Not being allowed to speak the language that feels most natural to her is a loss of her sense of identity.

Key Quotes to Learn

Quote	Why is it important?
“my memory of it is sunlight-clear”	The image of “sunlight” represents the happiness she associates with her home city.
“sick with tyrants”	The metaphor of the city being “sick” shows how it has been infected with evil people.
“They accuse me of being dark in their free city”	It is hinted that “They” are people in her new city who are hostile towards her for being from a different country and culture.