*It was the first gift he ever gave her, buying it for five francs in the Galeries in pre-war Paris. It was stifling. A starless drought made the nights.

The Black Lace Fan My Mother Gave Me

By Eavan Boland

*It was the first gift he ever gave her,buying it for five francs in the Galeriesin pre-war Paris. It was stifling. A starless drought made the nights

stormy.

*They stayed in the city for the summer.They met in cafés. She was always early. *He was late. That evening he was later.They wrapped the fan. He looked at his

watch.

She looked down the Boulevard des Capucines.She ordered more coffee. She stood up.The streets were emptying. The heat was killing.She thought the distance smelled of rain and

lightning.

These are wild roses, appliquéd on silk by hand,

darkly picked, stitched boldly, quickly.The rest is tortoiseshell and has the reticent,*clear patience of its element. It is

a worn-out, underwater bullion and it keeps,

even now, an inference of its violation.The lace is overcast as if the weatherit opened for and offset had entered it.

*The past is an empty café terrace.

An airless dusk before thunder. A man running.*And now way now to know what happened then- none at all- unless, of course, you improvise:

*The blackbird on this first sultry morning,in summer, finding buds, worms, fruit,feels the heat. Suddenly she puts out her wing-the whole, full, flirtatious span of it.

Vocabulary Francs (2): The basic monetary unit of

several European countries until the introduction of the euro, equal to 100 centimes.

Galeries (2): Refers to the Galeries Lafayette, a10-story department store in Paris.

Appliquéd (13): Ornamental needlework in which pieces of fabric are sewn or stuck onto a large piece of fabric to form pictures or patterns.

Reticent (15): Not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily.

Vocabulary (cont.)

Bullion (17): › Gold or silver in bulk before coining, or valued by

weight.› Ornamental braid or trimming made with twists of

gold or silver thread. › Way of crocheting a rose/flower.

Inference (18): A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning.

Sultry (25): › (Of the air or weather) Hot and humid.› (Of a person, esp. a woman) Attractive in a way

that suggests a passionate nature.

Historical/Geographical References

Galeries (2): Refers to the Galeries Lafayette, a10-story department store in Paris.

Pre-war Paris (3): Paris before WWII.› Implies that speaker is post-war.

Boulevard des Capucines: one of the four “grands boulevards” in Paris, a chain of boulevards running east-west.› Named after the convent of the Capuchin

nuns.

Inarguables

Speaker is a daughter a woman who was courted one summer in pre-WWII Paris.

About the fan the daughter inherited from her mother, and how the fan came to be in the family.

Context:› Being in different places: In Which the Ancient

History I Learn Is Not My Own› Love: IV Quarantine & V Embers of Marriage

Iambic pentameter used at places throughout

Arguables

Poem is set up to resemble a film Interconnection between humans and

nature› Nature is violated to an extent

Draws attention to conflict between the lovers

Questions:› Was the man the speaker’s father?› How did the fan exchange go exactly?› What was the role of the gift?

Literary Features

Enjambment› Only in stanzas detailing fan

Staccato› Supports film idea

“I use no caesura in the first or last line.  Then in the following three lines I put the caesura or internal line-break after the second stress.  That way I get a jerky, grainy feel to the stanza: a little like the frames of an old film.  And that’s what I wanted.”

-Eavan Boland› Timing/Order word choice also support film idea

Literary Features (cont.)

Iambic pentameter› Combine iambic lines and get synopsis?

It was the first gift he ever gave herThey stayed in the city for the summer.He was late. That evening he was later.…clear patience of its element. It is…The past is an empty café terrace.And no way now to know what happened

then-The blackbird on this first sultry morning,…

Works Cited

Boland, Eavan. Object Lessons: the Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. Print.