“Material” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Material”

“Material” Summary

“Material” Themes

• 

  Tradition, Nostalgia, and Loss

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-7
  • Lines 17-24
  • Lines 50-56
  • Lines 60-64
  • Line 65
• 

  Motherhood and Generational Change

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Line 1
  • Line 8
  • Lines 9-16
  • Lines 46-49
  • Lines 57-59
  • Lines 66-72
• 

  Modernity, Mass Production, and Dehumanization

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 25-46
  • Lines 51-53

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

• Lines 1-4

  My mother was ...
  ... garages and shops,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  but things for ...
  ... up her sleeve.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Tucked in the ...
  ... against my face.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  And sometimes more ...
  ... raising little squares.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-21

  She bought her ...
  ... gift you'd get—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 22-24

  my brothers too, ...
  ... had more snot.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  It was hankies ...
  ... today in malls.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  Hankies, which demanded ...
  ... buy them died.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-40

  And somehow, with ...
  ... of local crab

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 41-46

  lay opposite the ...
  ... point!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 46-49

  The Annual Talent ...
  ... from little dears.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 50-56

  Nostalgia only makes ...
  ... to being home.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 57-64

  There's never a ...
  ... and hidden history.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 65-68

  But it isn't ...
  ... tissues and uncertainty:

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 69-72

  and she would ...
  ... .

  

  

  

  

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“Material” Symbols

• 

  The Hanky

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2
  • Lines 5-6
  • Lines 7-8
  • Lines 9-16
  • Lines 17-24
  • Line 25
  • Lines 29-32
  • Lines 33-49
  • Line 57
  • Lines 63-64
  • Lines 65-67
• 

  Paper tissues

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 2-4: “when hanky meant a thing of cloth, / not paper tissues bought in packs / from late-night garages and shops”
  • Lines 60-62: “What awkwardness in me forbids / me to keep tissues in my bag / when handy packs are 50p?”
  • Lines 66-72: “My mother too, eventually, / who died not leaving handkerchiefs / but tissues and uncertainty: / and she would say, should I complain / of the scratchy and disposable, / that  / this is your material / to do with, daughter, what you will / .”

“Material” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Simile

  

  

  

  

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  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Lines 13-16: “And sometimes more than one fell out / as if she had a farm up there / where dried-up hankies fell in love / and mated, raising little squares.”

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “My,” “mother”
  • Line 2: “meant”
  • Line 3: “paper,” “packs”
  • Line 10: “embarrassment”
  • Line 11: “embroidered,” “V,” “Viv”
  • Line 12: “spittled,” “scrubbed”
  • Line 20: “script,” “spelling”
  • Line 21: “gift,” “get”
  • Line 27: “presses,” “props”
  • Line 34: “dodgy”
  • Line 35: “delivering,” “veg,” “van”
  • Line 38: “slab”
  • Line 39: “smoked”
  • Line 42: “talons”
  • Line 43: “taught,” “Smiling”
  • Line 44: “stumbling,” “tune”
  • Line 45: “step-together,” “step-together,” “step-together”
  • Line 46: “Talent”
  • Line 47: “tears”
  • Line 48: “would,” “whip,” “sleeve”
  • Line 49: “smudge”
  • Line 55: “bought,” “biscuits,” “bake”
  • Line 57: “never”
  • Line 58: “neglected”
  • Line 59: “noses”
  • Line 62: “handy”
  • Line 63: “miss,” “material,” “handkerchiefs”
  • Line 64: “hidden,” “history”
  • Line 66: “My,” “mother”
  • Line 69: “she,” “say,” “should”
  • Line 70: “scratchy”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 5: “waving,” “trains”
  • Line 16: “mated, raising”
  • Line 31: “doors,” “stores”
  • Line 39: “smoked,” “yolks”
  • Line 40: “rows”
  • Line 50: “only,” “old”
  • Line 64: “hidden history”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “queen / when”
  • Lines 3-4: “packs / from”
  • Lines 5-6: “trains / and”
  • Lines 7-8: “material / she'd”
  • Lines 10-11: “lace / embroidered”
  • Lines 13-14: “out / as”
  • Lines 14-15: “there / where”
  • Lines 15-16: “love / and”
  • Lines 18-19: “aunts / in”
  • Lines 19-20: “covers / and”
  • Lines 26-27: “wool / and”
  • Lines 27-28: “props / you'd”
  • Lines 30-31: “purified / shuttered”
  • Lines 31-32: “stores / when”
  • Lines 34-35: “foot / delivering”
  • Lines 35-36: “van / is”
  • Lines 36-37: “butcher / who'd”
  • Lines 38-39: “slab / of”
  • Lines 39-40: “yolks / and”
  • Lines 40-41: “crab / lay”
  • Lines 41-42: “school / where”
  • Lines 43-44: “from / a”
  • Lines 46-47: “Show / when”
  • Lines 48-49: “sleeve / and”
  • Lines 51-52: “brood / to”
  • Lines 52-53: “notes / was”
  • Lines 54-55: “on / and”
  • Lines 55-56: “bake / if”
  • Lines 60-61: “forbids / me”
  • Lines 61-62: “bag / when”
  • Lines 67-68: “handkerchiefs / but”
  • Lines 69-70: “complain / of”
  • Lines 71-72: “material / to”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 8: “one, always, up”
  • Line 16: “mated, raising”
  • Line 17: “own; I”
  • Line 19: “sets, with”
  • Line 22: “too, more”
  • Line 23: “ones: serious, and”
  • Line 24: “larger, like”
  • Line 26: “headscarves, girdles, knitting”
  • Line 27: “presses; homely”
  • Line 29: “Hankies, which”
  • Line 33: “somehow, with”
  • Line 36: “history, and”
  • Line 42: “White, with”
  • Line 44: “stumbling, out”
  • Line 45: “step-together, step-together, step-together”
  • Line 46: “point! The”
  • Line 47: “mother, fencing”
  • Line 65: “mine. I'll”
  • Line 66: “too, eventually”
  • Line 69: “say, should”
  • Line 72: “with, daughter, what”

“Material” 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.

• Hanky
• Material
• Cardi
• Spittled
• Ponce
• Naffest
• Trouser presses
• Girdles
• Homely props
• Purified
• Shuttered
• Greengrocer
• Dodgy
• Comma van
• Veg
• Fishmonger
• Haddock
• Parcelled
• Talons
• When You're Smiling
• Ten-bob notes
• Lassitude
• Bought biscuits
• 50p

• (Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “My mother was a hanky queen / when hanky meant a thing of cloth”; Line 7: “when hankies were material”; Line 15: “where dried-up hankies fell in love”; Line 18: “Hankies were presents from distant aunts”; Line 25: “It was hankies that closed department stores”; Line 29: “Hankies, which demanded irons”; Line 33: “with the hanky's loss”; Line 48: “would whip a hanky from their sleeve”; Line 57: “There's never a hanky up my sleeve”; Line 63: “I miss material handkerchiefs”; Line 67: “who died not leaving handkerchiefs”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Material”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Material” Speaker

“Material” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Material”

More “Material” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Reading of the Poem — Watch Barber perform two of her poems, including Material.  

  • The Poet's Website — Learn more about Barber's books and other accomplishments on her website.  

  • A History of the Hanky — Learn more about the surprisingly fascinating subject of "Material."

  • Saturday Sessions: an Interview with Ros Barber — The poet talks about her novels, her relationship to poetry, and her work as a poetry mentor.