“History” Introduction

• Read the full text of “History”

“History” Summary

“History” Themes

• 

  Fear, Uncertainty, and Connection

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-73
• 

  Innocence, Curiosity, and Vulnerability

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 15-22
  • Lines 30-39
  • Lines 50-62
  • Lines 63-73
• 

  Humanity, Identity, and Nature

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-73

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “History”

• Lines 1-5

  Today ...
  ... the golf links;

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 6-11

  the tide far ...
  ... the morning light—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 12-14

  today ...
  ... what may come—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 15-22

  I knelt down ...
  ... on tideworn stone.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 23-29

  At times I ...
  ... to the shore

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 30-39

  and though we ...
  ... first nakedness.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 40-45

  Sometimes I am ...
  ... of other bodies

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 46-51

  scarcely apprehend ...
  ... beyond the sands;

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 52-62

  the long insomnia ...
  ... hum of radio

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 63-68

  but this is ...
  ... on a shell

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 69-73

  his parents on ...
  ... to the irredeemable.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“History” Symbols

• 

  The Child's Nakedness

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 36-39: “the rose or petrol blue / of jellyfish and sea anemone / combining with a child's / first nakedness.”
• 

  The Kites

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “as we flew the kites”
  • Lines 28-29: “our lines raised in the wind / our bodies fixed and anchored to the shore”
  • Lines 69-71: “his parents on the dune slacks with a kite / plugged into the sky /                             all nerve and line”

“History” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “Today /             as”
  • Lines 3-4: “beach / and”
  • Lines 4-5: “across / the”
  • Lines 6-7: “out / and”
  • Lines 8-9: “people / jogging”
  • Lines 9-10: “watch / as”
  • Lines 10-11: “turned / in”
  • Lines 13-14: “dread / of”
  • Lines 15-16: “sand / with”
  • Lines 17-18: “shells / and”
  • Lines 19-20: “this / driftwork”
  • Lines 23-24: “are / is”
  • Lines 24-25: “states / but”
  • Lines 25-26: “own / and”
  • Lines 26-27: “names / on”
  • Lines 27-28: “this /                             our”
  • Lines 28-29: “wind / our”
  • Lines 31-32: “light / has”
  • Lines 32-33: “shapes / we”
  • Lines 34-35: “book / of”
  • Lines 36-37: “blue / of”
  • Lines 37-38: “anemone / combining”
  • Lines 38-39: “child's / first”
  • Lines 40-41: “fear / of”
  • Lines 44-45: “tug / of”
  • Lines 46-47: “apprehend / the”
  • Lines 47-48: “light / and”
  • Lines 49-50: “forms / of”
  • Lines 50-51: “tide / beyond”
  • Lines 52-53: “insomnia / of”
  • Lines 54-55: “bright /                             and”
  • Lines 55-57: “own / slow-burning /         transitive”
  • Lines 58-59: “spawn / and”
  • Lines 60-61: “home / from”
  • Lines 61-62: “fairgrounds /                             to”
  • Lines 63-64: “alive / in”
  • Lines 64-65: “world / and”
  • Lines 66-67: “beach / sifting”
  • Lines 67-68: “sand / and”
  • Lines 69-70: “kite / plugged”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 9: “jogging, or”
  • Line 13: “mind, and”
  • Line 21: “shells; shreds”
  • Line 41: “everything—the”
  • Line 47: “happens: shifts”
  • Line 49: “quiet, local”
  • Line 50: “history: the”
  • Line 63: “problem: how”
  • Line 72: “patient; be,” “afraid; but,” “still, through”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 3: “sand,” “spinning”
  • Line 4: “gasoline,” “gusting”
  • Line 5: “golf”
  • Line 13: “my,” “mind,” “muffled”
  • Line 14: “may”
  • Line 21: “snail,” “shells,” “shreds”
  • Line 22: “smudges,” “stone”
  • Line 25: “world,” “we”
  • Line 26: “what,” “we”
  • Line 41: “sea,” “sky”
  • Line 53: “carp,” “public,” “parks”
  • Line 54: “captive”
  • Line 58: “spawn”
  • Line 59: “sticklebacks”
  • Line 67: “sifting,” “wood,” “weed,” “sand”
  • Line 68: “puzzled,” “pattern”
  • Line 70: “plugged”
  • Line 72: “patient”

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where allusion appears in the poem:

  • Before Line 1: “St Andrews: West Sands; September 2001”
  • Lines 9-11: “or stopping to watch / as the war planes cambered and turned / in the morning light—”
  • Line 13: “the news”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Today”
  • Line 12: “today”
  • Line 28: “our”
  • Line 29: “our”
  • Line 43: “we”
  • Line 44: “we,” “scarcely”
  • Line 46: “scarcely”
  • Line 48: “and”
  • Line 49: “and”

“History” 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.

• St Andrews: West Sands
• Leuchars
• Golf links
• Gusting
• Quail-grey
• Cambered
• The news
• Driftwork
• Razorfish
• Smudges
• Tideworn
• Kinship
• Silt
• Petrol blue
• Estuaries
• Register
• Scarcely apprehend
• Ornamental carp
• Transitive gold
• Jamjars of spawn
• Sticklebacks
• Dune slacks
• Irredeemable
• Attentive

• (Location in poem: Before Line 1: “St Andrews: West Sands; September 2001”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “History”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“History” Speaker

“History” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “History”

More “History” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of "History."

  • The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of Burnside from the Poetry Foundation. 

  • A Light Trap — Jonathan Bate reviews Burnside's ninth poetry collection, in which "History" was published, for the Guardian.

  • 9/11 FAQs — Learn more about the attacks to which Burnside's poem alludes in this FAQ sheet from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.