An Unknown Girlby Moniza Alvi

page 23

Overview

The poem describes the poet’s visit to India and the time she had her hand hennaed by a girl in the market place. It has proved to be an experience she has never forgotten.

Themes

There are a number of themes covered in this poem:

• cultural identity• sense of belonging• loss• relationship between the familiar and the

unknown

Vocabulary

Check your understanding of the language used in the poem. Write a definition in your anthology for anything you are unsure about.

In the evening bazaarstudded with neon

an unknown girlis hennaing my hand.

An Indian market place

a temporary colouring of the skin

She squeezes a wet brown linefrom a nozzle.

She is icing my handwhich she steadies with hers

on her satin-peach knee.

Baking metaphor used – shows the cultural contrasts

intimate image – shows care and attention

In the evening bazaarfor a few rupeesan unknown girl

is hennaing my hand

repetition of first stanza – emphasises the alienation, also gives the poem a

chorus-like simplicity

As a little air catchesmy shadow-stitched kameeza peacock spreads its lines

across my palm.

a loose fitting Indian tunic

•the tattoo comes alive•she is absorbing part of

the culture

Colours leave the streetfloat up in balloons.

Dummies in shop-frontstilt and stare

with their Western perms.

vivid imagery – Alzi uses these images to create a sense of wonder and

delight. The dummies show irony – why are they not Indian?

personification

Banners for Miss India 1993.for curtain clothand sofa cloth

canopy me.

alien to the culture – Western influence

she feels covered by these things – suffocated and uncomfortable, or

at home and welcome? In the shade or visible?

I have new brown veins.

this is an important line – dual meaninga metaphor for the tattoo she has just received but also

feels as if she has assimilated some of the culture of India – it is now ‘running through her veins’

In the evening bazaarvery deftly

an unknown girlis hennaing my hand.

repetition – however, notice the extra detail ‘very deftly’as the narrator is observing all that is going on around her, the

‘unknown girl’ is taking extra care and is an expert

I am clingingto these firm peacock lines

like people who clingto the sides of a train.

simile – she wants to hold on to these

memories

Now the furious streetsare hushed.I’ll scrape off

the dry brown linesbefore I sleep.

reveal soft as a snail trailthe amber bird beneath.

It will fade in a week.

the streets were harsh and angry – note how the tone changes –

becomes quiet with night – clever juxtaposition using

personification

‘scrape’ – a harsh verb

which contrasts with the

amber bird – she is

scraping off the excess

gentle simile

she thinks the tattoo will fade like her memories and the India ‘in her’

When India appears and reappearsI’ll lean across a country

with my hands outstretchedlonging for the unknown girl

in the neon bazaar

India is represented by the tattooHer memories will go just as the tattoo will gradually fade – it is

not permanent, yet the process can be repeated Ends in a yearning tone.

A Few Key Facts

•Moniza Alvi is a Pakistani-British poet•She was born in Lahore in 1954 and moved to England as a child •She taught in a secondary school in London for many years•She now lives in South West London

Linked Poems

This is a poem about a vivid, memorable experience from the past.

It links with ‘Miracle on St David’s Day’, ‘Mid-Term Break’ and ‘The Barn’

Questions

1. How many times does Alvi use the phrase ‘an unknown girl’? Why is this repeated so often?

2. What do the colours in this poem signify?3. The poem is laid out unusually and has no

pattern or obvious rhythm. What could you write about this?