Finding My Real Ancestors
The poem is about finding the poet’s real ancestors. Wallace argues that the only people from his family, whom he can trace range from two generations. The poet claims that stepmothers have thwarted his plans to trace his ancestors. Although he has observed dates of his family members’ deaths in church cemeteries, finding them is hard. The poet has heard many stories from his grandmother. One of the stories is about his grandmothers’ stepmother, who was married when she was only three years. His grandmother also narrated stories about her wedding.
Behind the Photograph
In this poem, Wallace discusses his grandmother’s photo when she was twenty-five years of age. The poet claims that his grandmother was wearing a hat. Wallace’s grandmother was a skilled horse rider. Although her father was against her choice of love, she still married a man of her choice. The poet’s grandfather loved his wife and he bought her a wedding ring which she wore in her entire life. At some point, Wallace’s grandfather wanted to use the ring as a guarantee for a land. The poet says that his grandmother was stubborn to the chagrin of her husband. Wallace’s grandmother was infected by an unspecified disease that crippled her. In the same poem, Wallace also talks about his father taking him to a shoreline when he was six years. The poet keeps the photos to relive the memories.
Connecting
The poem begins with the poet narrating how his grandmother tamed her husband’s drinking habits. Wallace’s grandmother went into a pub one day and asked for drinks. Her husband felt ashamed and stopped drinking. Wallace also writes about how her mother used to sit with her parents in the evenings. The poet’s mother witnessed how Wallace’s grandmother struggled to light a lamp because her hands were shaking. The incident brought the whole house to a standstill. Wallace says that his grandmother stared at the flares of light without uttering a word.
Getting Down to it
The poet talks about the old photographs of his cousins, aunts, and grandmothers. The photos are placed on the table and Wallace takes the one with his own picture. From the photo, Wallace learns that his face has started aging. As he continues observing the photos, the poet also discovers that his relatives never have a uniform posture. The photos bring around many memories.
