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Duffy - Nostalgia

Terms in this set (15)

What is this poem about?
Nostalgia by Carol Ann Duffy explores the way in which the term 'Nostalgia' was coined. It is a poem about looking back with a nostalgic view of the past, as suggested by the title. The poem explores the feelings of Swiss mercenaries that become overwhelmed with a feeling of homesickness while fighting away from home in the seventeenth century. Due to the severity of their homesickness, the Swiss soldiers became mentally and physically ill and as a result, the mercenaries' doctors could not understand what was wrong with them. They were ultimately overwhelmed with a feeling of nostalgia. There is a theme of heaviness and sadness that is prevalent throughout the poem.
'Those early mercenaries, it made them ill-'
'It' - the condition of nostalgia had not been identified and as a result nobody could figure out why the mercenaries were feeling 'ill' and were overcome with this feeling of sadness. The word 'it' identifies the condition of nostalgia as an unidentified, unknown force and reinforces the idea that the soldiers were unaware what they were feeling and it remained unexplained for a long time. The feeling of nostalgia made the soldiers feel mentally and physically 'ill'.
It may be argued that this correlates to the theme of place and belonging as well as memory as the soldiers have lost sight of who they are and their identities from home as a result of being far away.
The harsh hyphen at the end of the first line of the poem may be deliberately used to separate the mercenaries from their home. This physical break within the poem emphasises the distance and the disconnection between the soldiers and their home, as well as the person/identity that they once were. They are left only with their memories of their home as a result of this deliberate separation.
'Leaving the mountains, leaving the high, fine air, to go down, down'
This sentence reflects the feelings of hopelessness and sadness brought about by the mercenaries' experience of a change of place and atmosphere. The repetition f 'leaving' emphasises the distances between themselves and their hometown and how they are moving further and further away from the place that they know. Therefore, their memories are becoming tainted due to the idealised idea that they have of home. The soldiers are separated from the 'high, fine air' of their homeland in the 'mountains' and are unable to immediately return, bringing a strong feeling of sadness and nostalgia. In addition, the idea that the soldiers are overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness as a result of this is exacerbated by the fact that they are described to be going 'down, down'. This is a deliberate technique used by Duffy to emphasises that while the soldiers go 'down', away from the mountains and all that they know, their mental state also goes 'down'. The repetition of this word also reinforces the negative tone of the poem and the way that Duffy portrays the idea that the soldiers are unable to be happy as they move further and further away from the hometown that they are so tied to. This also emphasises the progression of nostalgia. There is a melancholic tone emphasised from the beginning of the poem.
The idea of a loss of the soldier's sense of place and the loss of identity that correlates with this is emphasised through the descriptions of how everything that they experience away from home feels 'wrong', 'strange' and ultimately out of place.
As they experience the unfamiliar surroundings, the soldiers feel completely uneasy with their surroundings. This is illustrated with the descriptions of 'the strange food, the wrong taste, stones in the belly, the wrong sounds, the wrong smells, the wrong light, every breath wrong'. The consistent repetition of adjective 'wrong' is Duffy's deliberate emphasis on the mercenaries belief that their foreign surroundings are alien and they are unable to adapt to their environment due to their desperation to return to their home, a place that they believe to be perfect. In addition to this, the idea that the mercenaries' conditions went unexplained for a long time is further depicted by Duffy here; this can be seen through the statement 'they had an ache here, doctor' - the soldiers were experiencing painful physical symptoms as a result of the impact of their nostalgia. This also emphasises the depth of their nostalgic feelings and their longing for home and the deep way that this affected them.
Duffy portrays the view that the suffering that the mercenaries have to endure is not worth the money that they are paid.
'What they got was money, dull crude coins clenched'
The alliteration of 'crude coins clenched' emphasises the negative tone of the poem and the idea that this payment is unsatisfactory for the extent of the hardship that the mercenaries face. This is because it creates a harsh, negative sound that suggests that the soldiers feel a sense of resentment towards the fighting that they take part in due to their longing to return home. It may be suggested that it is because of this that the soldiers develop a memory of their home that is tinted with nostalgia.
'They pined, wept, grown men. It was killing them'
Further expresses the idea that Duffy was emphasising the extent of the soldier's mental suffering and how this was affecting them both physically and mentally. Their symptoms were unexplainable by the seventeenth century doctors of the time, and so the soldiers 'pined' and 'wept' as a result of their pain. This suggests that the feelings of nostalgia brought them great feelings of sadness that they could not overcome. The separation from their home is described to be 'killing them'. As a result, there seems to be a hyperbolic sense to this poem as the plosive sounds appear to overly emphasise the nostalgic condition of the soldiers. In addition, the adjective 'grown' may suggest that being mentally affected in such a way is uncharacteristic of a man, which may be a reflection of the ideals perpetuated by toxic masculinity and the way that men were not expected to demonstrate their emotions by weeping and pining in this way.
'It was killing them.' The use of a short sentence and the sense of finality created by the full stop at the end of this emphasises the sense of hopelessness felt by the mercenaries. They are so desperate to return to their idealised version of their memory of home that they feel that they are dying.
'It was given a name'
The pronoun 'it' emphasises the sense of mystery surrounding the condition of nostalgia and how this condition has been given a name by the doctors. 'It' also conveys how unknown the causes of the disease is and how there is very little knowledge about this condition that appears to be affecting the soldiers so greatly. Though the condition has been given a name, 'nostalgia', it is apparent that the true knowledge and understanding surrounding the condition remained unknown. There was still no cure and no true explanation for the condition.
'Hearing tell of it, there were those who stayed put, fearful of a sweet pain in the heart'
Hearing of the suffering experienced by mercenaries, others were reluctant to join them.
'Sweet pain' - oxymoron. The nostalgic feelings provoke 'sweet', cherished memories of home as they are rose-tained and idealised, though the 'pain' that comes from the realisation that they cannot return home and must continue as mercenaries seems to evoke a bittersweet emotion in the mercenaries. While they enjoy the memories from home, there is a melancholic feeling created by the fact that they cannot return. While their old lives were without pain, their new lives are filled with pain and suffering due to the violence experienced as mercenaries and they crave a return to their former life.
'Of how it hurt, in that heavier air, to feel'
The alliteration created by the 'h' sounds adds to the sense of heaviness that is present throughout the poem - the mercenaries feel a sense of restlessness and hopelessness that is depicted through the sense of restlessness created by the 'heavier air'. Their environment has changed so much that they constantly crave a return to the 'high, fine air' that they are used to in the 'mountains'.
Alliteration of 'h' may also emphasise the spread of the affliction of nostalgia.
'the music of home, the sad pipes, summoning'
There is a clear sense of melancholy to this poem as they cannot return to their life at home. This life at home is idealised by the mercenaries due to the hardships faced during their time away; their memories have become tainted with nostalgia. The grammatical isolation of '-the sad pipes-' adds to the melancholic, depressing tone of the poem as the reader can imagine a soft, 'sad' song in the background as the 'dwindling light' fades to nothing. The 'dwindling light' may be reflective of the soldier's hope and how it has faded away, epitomised by the pain felt as a result of nostalgia. This reflects Duffy's use of sensual techniques in the poem; her writing draws upon multiple sensual techniques such as 'heavier air' and how the soldiers 'hear the music of home' to represent the sense of longing felt by the mercenaries.
Sense of nostalgia further expressed - 'where maybe you met a girl, or searched for a yellow ball in long grass, found it just as your mother called you in'
nostalgic imagery if rife in this stanza. the mercenaries view their home life with an idealised sense of longing and cannot let go of this due to the hardship that they now face. this seems to be a summer's day in their childhood that they long to return to - they now resent their life though they now enjoy it. In addition, this also emphasises the idea that a significant amount of time has passed since this memory took place and yet they still cannot let go of this. This sentence focuses on the inability to recapture the past and the impossibility of returning to the moment that the mercenaries have been longing for.
'Some would never fall in love if they had not heard of love'
This sentence depicts the idea that since the term 'nostalgia' has now been identified, people can now associate their feelings with that term and therefore understand their emotions. It may be suggested, therefore, that language provides a pathway to emotions that cannot be otherwise realised. This concept appears to be largely metaphysical, as it seems that Duffy is commenting on the meaning of language and how this can influence and explain human emotion effectively in a way that nothing else can. More and more people as well as more and more mercenaries can now diagnose their feelings as that of 'nostalgia' due to the devisement of the name of the word.
The feeling that nostalgia results in pain as it is impossible to return to the past is palpable in this final stanza as it is suggested that those that dwell too heavily on their past fail to live in the moment.
'The priest stood in the stile with his head in his hands,crying at the workings of memory through the working of leaves'
'And the schoolteacher opened a book to the scent of her youth, too late'
This seems focused on the concept of memory and the pain that this can bring as a result of the feeling of nostalgia accompanied with an inability to return to the past. Duffy explores two examples; the 'priest' that is 'crying' seems to reflect his disappointment resulting from the fact that he cannot return to the past, with the 'working of leaves' possibly suggesting the changing seasons and how this reflects the inevitability of the passage of time. In addition, the example of the schoolteacher appears to suggest that the school teacher is 'too late' to experience the feelings of her youth as the passage of time is inevitable.
'It was spring when one returned'
one of the mercenaries returned - new beginnings suggested by 'spring', and the possibility of returning to the past is suggested though the mercenary discovers this to be unattainable when he returns with his old 'life in a sack on his back'. His time and away and his idealisation of his home has brought him disappointment, as though he has remained the same and wished to return, the passage of time is inevitable and this is illustrated by the fact that everything has changed.
'to find the same street with the same sign on the inn, the same bell chiming the hour on the clock, and everything changed'
though the general aspects of life in his hometown, the inevitability of change is emphasised. this is also highlighted by the bell 'chiming the hour on the clock' as a constant reminder that everything has changed and that in the end, the mercenary will never truly be able to return to their past despite their wishes.
When the soldier returned home expecting everything to be perfect as he had left it, he was disappointed as what he is searching for is impossible to regain. This is a depressing end to the poem as it encapsulates the feeling that though the persona is in a familiar place, they are unable to return to their cherished, nostalgic memories of the past as time changes everything - the town is no longer the same, and he is ultimately not the same after experiencing his time as a mercenary. This poem embodies the sense of nostalgia, a theme that is prevalent from the very title.
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