"Effects" appears as one of the "Uncollected Poems" in Alan Jenkins's A Short History of Snakes: New and Selected Poems (2001). Its speaker grapples with the loss of his mother, recounting the memories that engulf him when he holds her hand after she dies. Though the relationship between mother and child was challenging, the speaker conveys the deep, largely unexpressed love that ran beneath their years of conflict. A portrait of English middle-class life as well as the speaker's family, "Effects" touches on subjects ranging from grief to xenophobia to generational divides.

• Read the full text of “Effects”

• “Effects” Summary

• “Effects” Themes

  • 

    Loss, Memory, and Absence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-50
  • 

    Mothers, Children, and Family Dynamics

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-50
  • 

    Class Divisions and Generation Gaps

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-13
    • Lines 16-26
    • Lines 33-50

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Effects”

  • Lines 1-5

    I held her ...
    ... cup and plate

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-8

    And giving love ...
    ... and we ate;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-13

    And I saw ...
    ... a holiday “abroad”)

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-16

    But lately had ...
    ... he was dead.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    And her watch? ...
    ... shows I’d disdain

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-25

    And not when ...
    ... days, she’d heard;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-32

    Not all the ...
    ... with him again;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 33-37

    Not later in ...
    ... and learned contempt,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 38-41

    While the TV ...
    ... drooled, and swore…

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 42-46

    But now she ...
    ... my sleeve –

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 47-50

    The last words ...
    ... effects to me.

    

    

    

    

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• “Effects” Symbols

  • 

    The Watch

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 16-18: “And her watch? – / Classic ladies’ model, gold strap – it was gone, / And I’d never known her not have / that / on,”
  • 

    The Bag of Effects

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 48-50: “though she / Could not know that, or turn her face to see / A nurse bring the little bag of her effects to me.”

• “Effects” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-5
    • Lines 7-13
    • Lines 16-17
    • Lines 22-23
    • Lines 26-30
    • Lines 33-34
    • Lines 38-46

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-13: “a snap or two / From the time we took a holiday “abroad”)”
    • 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.”
    • Lines 34-35: “the nurses / (Who would steal anything, she said),”
    • Lines 38-39: “While the TV in the corner blared / To drown some “poor soul’s” moans and curses,”
    • Lines 48-50: “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.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “scarred / From”
    • Lines 2-3: “wait / In”
    • Lines 4-5: “hard / At”
    • Lines 5-6: “plate / And”
    • Lines 10-11: “drawer / With”
    • Lines 14-15: “if / She”
    • Lines 15-16: “wife / Only”
    • Lines 19-20: “together / Watching”
    • Lines 23-24: “preferred / To”
    • Lines 26-27: “sat / Night”
    • Lines 27-28: “at / The”
    • Lines 29-30: “poured / Drink”
    • Lines 30-31: “scotch / That”
    • Lines 35-36: “dreamt / Of”
    • Lines 36-37: “before / I”
    • Lines 38-39: “blared / To”
    • Lines 40-41: “stared / As”
    • Lines 42-43: “band / With”
    • Lines 43-44: “wore / On”
    • Lines 44-45: “hand / Whose”
    • Lines 48-49: “she / Could”
    • Lines 49-50: “see / A”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “held,” “hand,” “scarred”
    • Line 2: “slicing”
    • Line 3: “raw”
    • Line 4: “reddened,” “rough,” “scrubbing”
    • Line 5: “saucepan,” “pan,” “plate”
    • Line 8: “fashioned,” “food”
    • Line 10: “dressing-table drawer”
    • Line 12: “scent-sprays,” “snap,” “two”
    • Line 13: “time,” “took”
    • Line 14: “without”
    • Line 15: “wanted,” “was,” “wife”
    • Line 18: “never known,” “not”
    • Line 21: “came,” “cook”
    • Line 22: “Chops,” “chicken”
    • Line 23: “Familiar flavours”
    • Line 24: “funny foreign”
    • Line 29: “Heaved herself”
    • Line 30: “stared,” “scotch”
    • Line 35: “steal,” “said”
    • Line 44: “hand,” “held”
    • Line 45: “fingers,” “couldn’t clasp,” “mine,” “more”
    • Line 46: “falteringly,” “fumble”
    • Line 50: “bring,” “bag”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “I held,” “hand,” “that was”
    • Line 2: “From,” “from”
    • Line 3: “that was”
    • Line 7: “In,” “in”
    • Line 9: “rings”
    • Line 10: “rings”
    • Line 19: “Not,” “sat”
    • Line 26: “Not,” “sat”
    • Line 27: “Night,” “after,” “night,” “at”
    • Line 28: “at”
    • Line 29: “blinked”
    • Line 30: “Drink,” “after,” “drink,” “and,” “and,” “stared”
    • Line 31: “That”
    • Line 32: “That”
    • Line 33: “Not”
    • Line 34: “blinked”
    • Line 40: “blinked,” “and stared”
    • Line 41: “and,” “and”
    • Line 44: “hand I held,” “hand”
    • Line 46: “Or,” “or”

• “Effects” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Washing-up
  • Saucepan
  • Scent-sprays
  • Tortoise-shell combs
  • Chops
  • Psychiatric ward
  • Falteringly
  • Effects
  • (Location in poem: Lines 2-3: “from the knives that lay in wait / In bowls of washing-up,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Effects”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Effects” Speaker

• “Effects” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Effects”

• More “Effects” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of Jenkins at the Poetry Archive.

    • More About the Author — Additional background on Alan Jenkins, via the British Council.

    • James on Jenkins — Poet and critic Clive James assesses the work of Alan Jenkins. (Includes a selection of Jenkins's poems.)

    • A Conversation with the Poet — Watch a filmed discussion with, and reading by, Alan Jenkins.

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