Look We Have Coming to Dover!

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As such, this would help to make the poem even more memorable and help a reader consider the implications and ideas of the poem in todays society. The shape of the stanzas makes what could be interpreted as the waves of the sea, crashing into Dover Beach.

Home to William Golding, Sylvia Plath, Kazuo Ishiguro, Sally Rooney, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Max Porter, Ingrid Persaud, Anna Burns and Rachel Cusk, among many others, Faber is proud to publish some of the greatest novelists from the early twentieth century to today.The poem begins with the speaker describing the terrifying arrival into Dover There is nothing beautiful about this scene. This poem is about the experience of immigrants to England, and has been cleverly written to be read in parallel with Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach.

A similar technique is the use of British references and imagery to juxtapose with the non-English words and ideas. Lines 1-5: “Stowed in the sea to invade / the lash alfresco of a diesel-breeze / ratcheting speed into the tide, with brunt / gobfuls of surf phlegmed by cushy come-and-go / tourists prow’d on the cruisers, lording the ministered waves. Once again there is another light-hearted phrase within the poem to contrast with the more serious issues being raised, helping to present people as normal and approachable to a reader. Even more intriguing is that this poem was published in 2007, almost a decade before the European Migration Crisis and numerous migrant controversies around the world and in the UK. There are many examples, such as “alfresco” (Italian) and “camouflage” (French) within the first two stanzas, and reference to champagne through “charged glasses” in the final stanza.One interpretation of the specific use of five could be as a reference to the ‘five oceans’ of the world, which have all proved vital to traditional movement and travel over the centuries.

In the future, the speaker would like to see himself and his companions as part of British culture and “babbling [their] lingoes. Although many of the poems dwell on darker themes -- racism, oppression, arranged marriages -- the prevailing tone is one of exuberance and charm, as exemplified by the first and last poems of the collection. This could cause many different reactions, such as an immediate assumption that the poem is written by someone with a poor grasp of the English language, or that the idea of immigration is being mocked in some way. Descriptions such as “swarms” take individuality out of those coming to the country, showing how identity can easily be removed and stereotypes applied. From Nobel Laureates Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter to theatre greats Tom Stoppard and Alan Bennett to rising stars Polly Stenham and Florian Zeller, Faber Drama presents the very best theatre has to offer.

I have had the honour of profiting from my good friend Daljit's teachings for a number of months now at my secondary school and would go so far as to say I am the finest student in the class, a muse if you will. There is also frequent use of commas and hyphens throughout the poem, which may represent the idea of diversity and change within society due to the frequent use of these different types of punctuation.