Effects by Alan Jenkins

Analysis of the Title

The title "Effects" refers both to the personal belongings of the speaker's deceased mother and the emotional impact of her life and death on the speaker. The word "effects" encapsulates the physical remnants of her life, such as her rings and watch, as well as the lingering influence and memories she leaves behind. This dual meaning underscores the theme of how personal objects carry emotional weight and symbolize deeper connections and losses.

Structure and Form

Form, Meter, and Rhyme

• The poem is composed of a single, long stanza with 50 lines, creating a continuous flow that reflects the speaker's stream of consciousness as he reminisces about his mother.
• It employs a loose iambic pentameter, with variations that break the rhythm and create a more conversational tone. This mirrors the natural, sometimes disjointed, process of memory and grief.
• The rhyme scheme is irregular, featuring both full and slant rhymes. This lack of a consistent pattern emphasizes the unpredictability of the speaker's emotional journey and the fragmented nature of his memories.

Speaker

• The speaker is likely a version of Alan Jenkins himself, reflecting on the death of his mother and their relationship.
• The poem captures a mix of tenderness, regret, and resentment, illustrating the complex emotions involved in grieving a loved one with whom the relationship was not always easy.

Setting

• The poem shifts between the hospital where the speaker's mother died and their family home, where many of the speaker's memories are anchored.
• These settings are depicted with vivid, detailed imagery, creating a strong sense of place and highlighting the domestic and personal nature of the poem's themes.

Poetic Devices

Imagery

• Visual imagery is prevalent, with detailed descriptions of the mother's hands, household items, and the hospital environment. For example, the speaker describes her hands as "scarred / From chopping, slicing" and "rough from scrubbing hard" (lines 1-4).
• Sonic imagery includes the sounds of the hospital ward and the mother's TV, emphasizing the bleakness of her final days.
• Tactile imagery is focused on the sensation of holding the mother's hand, underscoring the physical connection between mother and son even in death.

Irony

• The poem features situational irony, such as the mother wearing her rings constantly only after her husband's death, suggesting a belated expression of love and attachment.
• There is also dramatic irony in the mother's paranoia about the nurses stealing from her, contrasted with the nurse respectfully returning her belongings to the speaker after her death.

Symbolism

• The mother's rings and watch symbolize her attachment to her husband and the passage of time, respectively. The removal of these items at her death signifies the end of her life's journey.
• The bag of her effects handed to the speaker symbolizes the emotional and psychological legacy she leaves behind.

Key Themes

Loss, Memory, and Absence

• The poem explores the speaker's grief and the way memories of his mother surface after her death. The act of holding her hand triggers a flood of recollections that mix tenderness with regret.
• This theme is encapsulated in the line:

"Please don't leave / But of course I left; now I was back, though she / Could not know that"

• (lines 47-49), highlighting the permanent separation caused by death and the enduring presence of the deceased in the speaker's mind.

Mothers, Children, and Family Dynamics

• The poem reflects on the complexities of the speaker's relationship with his mother, marked by love, unexpressed emotions, and generational differences.
• The mother expresses love through acts of service, such as cooking, which the speaker acknowledges as "giving love the only way she knew" (line 6).

Class Divisions and Generation Gaps

• The poem touches on the social and cultural differences between the speaker and his mother, including their differing tastes and attitudes.
• This is evident in the mother's preference for "English, bland, / Familiar flavours" over the "funny foreign stuff" (lines 23-24) that the speaker associates with younger generations and broader experiences

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-5

I held her hand, that was always scarred

From chopping, slicing, from the knives that lay in wait

In bowls of washing-up, that was raw,

The knuckles reddened, rough from scrubbing hard

At saucepan, frying pan, cup and plate

"I held her hand, that was always scarred"

• The speaker begins with a poignant image of holding his mother's scarred hand, symbolising their connection and her hard life.

"From chopping, slicing, from the knives that lay in wait"

• Her hands bear the scars of daily kitchen work, highlighting the physical toll of her domestic duties.

"In bowls of washing-up, that was raw,"

• The imagery of raw scarred hands from washing dishes emphasizes her relentless hard work and sacrifice.

"The knuckles reddened, rough from scrubbing hard"

• The roughness of her knuckles further illustrates the severity of her laborious routine.

"At saucepan, frying pan, cup and plate"

• Listing various kitchen items underscores the monotony and repetitiveness of her chores.

Lines 6-8

And giving love the only way she knew,

In each cheap cut of meat, in roast and stew,

Old-fashioned food she cooked and we ate;

"And giving love the only way she knew,"

• Her way of showing love was through cooking, a traditional role that she fulfilled with dedication.

"In each cheap cut of meat, in roast and stew,"

• The use of inexpensive ingredients signifies the family's modest means and her effort to provide despite limitations.

"Old-fashioned food she cooked and we ate;"

• The reference to "old-fashioned food" evokes nostalgia and reflects her adherence to familiar, comforting traditions.

Lines 9-13

And I saw that they had taken off her rings,

The rings she kept once in her dressing-table drawer

With faded snapshots, long-forgotten things

(scent-sprays, tortoise-shell combs, a snap or two

From the time we took a holiday "abroad")

"And I saw that they had taken off her rings,"

• The removal of her rings in the hospital signifies the end of an era and her readiness for death.

"The rings she kept once in her dressing-table drawer"

• This detail hints at her past life and memories kept in storage, symbolising her history and identity.

"With faded snapshots, long-forgotten things"

• The inclusion of old photographs and items suggests a lifetime of memories and lost moments.

"(scent-sprays, tortoise-shell combs, a snap or two / From the time we took a holiday "abroad")"

• These objects represent her femininity and the few cherished moments of leisure and happiness.

Lines 14-16

But lately had never been without, as if

She wanted everyone to know she was his wife

Only now that he was dead.

"But lately had never been without, as if"

• Recently, she wore her rings constantly, indicating a shift in her attachment to these symbols of marriage.

"She wanted everyone to know she was his wife"

• Wearing the rings after her husband's death shows her desire to maintain and honour her connection to him.

"Only now that he was dead."

• Ironically, her public display of marital status became important to her only in widowhood.

Lines 16-20

And her watch? – Classic ladies' model, gold strap – it was gone,

And I'd never known her not have that on,

Not in all the years they sat together

Watching soaps and game shows I'd disdain

"And her watch? – Classic ladies' model, gold strap – it was gone,"

• The absence of her watch, a significant personal item, highlights her detachment from life in death.

"And I'd never known her not have that on,"

• Her watch was a constant presence, symbolising the passage of time and her adherence to routine.

"Not in all the years they sat together"

• The continuity of her wearing the watch reflects the enduring nature of her relationship with her husband.

"Watching soaps and game shows I'd disdain"

• The speaker's disdain for her simple pleasures underscores the generational and cultural gap between them.

Lines 21-25

And not when my turn came to cook for her,

Chops or chicken portions, English, bland,

Familiar flavours she said she preferred

To whatever "funny foreign stuff"

Young people seemed to eat these days, she'd heard;

"And not when my turn came to cook for her,"

• The roles reversed as the speaker took on the responsibility of cooking, highlighting the cyclical nature of caregiving.

"Chops or chicken portions, English, bland,"

• The plainness of the food reflects her conservative tastes and resistance to change.

"Familiar flavours she said she preferred"

• Her preference for familiar foods underscores her attachment to tradition and comfort.

"To whatever "funny foreign stuff" / Young people seemed to eat these days, she'd heard;"

• Her dismissal of foreign cuisine reveals her xenophobia and generational disconnect.

Lines 26-32

Not all the weeks I didn't come, when she sat

Night after night and stared unseeing at

The television, at her inner weather,

Heaved herself upright, blinked and poured

Drink after drink, and gulped and stared – the scotch

That, when he was alive, she wouldn't touch,

That was her way to be with him again;

"Not all the weeks I didn't come, when she sat / Night after night and stared unseeing at"

• The speaker's regret for not visiting is palpable, as he recalls her lonely, repetitive evenings.

"The television, at her inner weather,"

• Her fixation on the television reflects her isolation and emotional turmoil.

"Heaved herself upright, blinked and poured / Drink after drink, and gulped and stared – the scotch"

• Her mechanical actions and heavy drinking illustrate her attempt to cope with grief and loneliness.

"That, when he was alive, she wouldn't touch,"

• Her shift to drinking scotch, which she avoided while her husband was alive, signifies her longing to reconnect with him posthumously.

"That was her way to be with him again;"

• Drinking his favourite drink becomes a symbolic act of being close to him in his absence.

Lines 33-37

Not later in the psychiatric ward,

Where she blinked unseeing at the wall, the nurses

(Who would steal anything, she said), and dreamt

Of when she was a girl, of the time before

I was born, or grew up and learned contempt,

"Not later in the psychiatric ward,"

• Her decline in the psychiatric ward marks a significant deterioration in her mental health.

"Where she blinked unseeing at the wall, the nurses"

• Her detachment and paranoia are evident as she perceives the nurses as thieves.

"(Who would steal anything, she said), and dreamt / Of when she was a girl, of the time before"

• Her memories and suspicions reflect a retreat into the past, seeking comfort in childhood memories.

"I was born, or grew up and learned contempt,"

• The speaker acknowledges his own learned disdain, adding to the complexity of their strained relationship.

Lines 38-41

While the TV in the corner blared

To drown some "poor soul's" moans and curses,

And she took her pills and blinked and stared

As the others shuffled around, and drooled, and swore…

"While the TV in the corner blared / To drown some "poor soul's" moans and curses,"

• The chaotic and distressing environment of the psychiatric ward is vividly depicted.

"And she took her pills and blinked and stared"

• Her passive consumption of medication and detachment highlights her decline and resignation.

"As the others shuffled around, and drooled, and swore…"

• The dismal portrayal of the ward's other patients emphasizes the dehumanizing nature of her surroundings.

Lines 42-46

But now she lay here, a thick rubber band

With her name on it in smudged black ink was all she wore

On the hand I held, a blotched and crinkled hand

Whose fingers couldn't clasp at mine any more

Or falteringly wave, or fumble at my sleeve –

"But now she lay here, a thick rubber band / With her name on it in smudged black ink was all she wore"

• The image of the hospital band as her sole identifier underscores the finality of death and loss of identity.

"On the hand I held, a blotched and crinkled hand"

• The detailed description of her aged hand evokes a sense of tenderness and the ravages of time.

"Whose fingers couldn't clasp at mine any more / Or falteringly wave, or fumble at my sleeve –"

• The inability of her hand to perform familiar gestures symbolizes the end of their physical and emotional connection.

Lines 47-50

The last words she had said were

Please don't leave

But of course I left; now I was back, though she

Could not know that, or turn her face to see

A nurse bring the little bag of her effects to me.

"The last words she had said were / Please don't leave"

• Her final plea reveals her fear of abandonment and desire for comfort in her last moments.

"But of course I left; now I was back, though she / Could not know that, or turn her face to see"

• The speaker's guilt over leaving her contrasts with his return, highlighting the irreversible nature of death.

"A nurse bring the little bag of her effects to me."

• The nurse's action symbolizes the transfer of her legacy and the tangible remnants of her life, now handed over to the speaker.