Look We Have Coming To Dover! (Daljit Nagra)
Title (and quotes Matthew Arnold: “So various, so beautiful, so new”)
• “Look” and exclamation – joy of arrival, upbeat, hope and excitement
• “have coming” – incorrect grammar = alien language which they have yet to
assimilate. Prejudice and intolerance towards their limited English as a potential
stumbling block.
• “Coming” – sense of arrival, anticipation after journey
• “Dover” – white cliffs of Dover are a quintessentially English image, symbol of
national identity, also associated with immigration.
• Quotes Matthew Arnold’s famous poem ‘Dover Beach’ – famous Victorian poet,
quintessentially English poem (national identity). Words convey idealism and
excitement.
Possible themes
• Hope and aspiration
• Beginning a new life
• Overcoming challenges and difficulties
• National identity
• Acceptance and affiliation
• Language
• Xenophobia/prejudice
Voice and context
• Daljit Nagra is a performance poet, second generation Indian immigrant.
• Presents the experience of undocumented immigrants. Pinnacle of success for them is
to establish and affiliate themselves, achieving citizenship → acceptance and
freedom, fully assimilate British national identity.
• Language:
o Use of quintessentially English phrases and idioms – language that immigrants
have acquired and desire to accumulate
o Invented verbs or using existing nouns verbally – as well as creating excitement
and vivid images, could also suggest unfamiliarity with the language
• Lyrical, upbeat quality, fast pace and uplifting tone despite facing such challenges and
difficulties. Juxtaposition of positive and energising with negative images of hardship
and poverty. Presents the joy and hope of just being in England.
Form
Regular structure of the poem – 5 stanzas with 5 lines which increase in length. Perhaps
resembles the ebb and flow of waves, or a sense of progress. No fixed rhythm or rhyme
scheme – uncertain and unpredictable future, rely on chance.
Title (and quotes Matthew Arnold: “So various, so beautiful, so new”)
• “Look” and exclamation – joy of arrival, upbeat, hope and excitement
• “have coming” – incorrect grammar = alien language which they have yet to
assimilate. Prejudice and intolerance towards their limited English as a potential
stumbling block.
• “Coming” – sense of arrival, anticipation after journey
• “Dover” – white cliffs of Dover are a quintessentially English image, symbol of
national identity, also associated with immigration.
• Quotes Matthew Arnold’s famous poem ‘Dover Beach’ – famous Victorian poet,
quintessentially English poem (national identity). Words convey idealism and
excitement.
Possible themes
• Hope and aspiration
• Beginning a new life
• Overcoming challenges and difficulties
• National identity
• Acceptance and affiliation
• Language
• Xenophobia/prejudice
Voice and context
• Daljit Nagra is a performance poet, second generation Indian immigrant.
• Presents the experience of undocumented immigrants. Pinnacle of success for them is
to establish and affiliate themselves, achieving citizenship → acceptance and
freedom, fully assimilate British national identity.
• Language:
o Use of quintessentially English phrases and idioms – language that immigrants
have acquired and desire to accumulate
o Invented verbs or using existing nouns verbally – as well as creating excitement
and vivid images, could also suggest unfamiliarity with the language
• Lyrical, upbeat quality, fast pace and uplifting tone despite facing such challenges and
difficulties. Juxtaposition of positive and energising with negative images of hardship
and poverty. Presents the joy and hope of just being in England.
Form
Regular structure of the poem – 5 stanzas with 5 lines which increase in length. Perhaps
resembles the ebb and flow of waves, or a sense of progress. No fixed rhythm or rhyme
scheme – uncertain and unpredictable future, rely on chance.
