The use of words from a variety of languages and origins is an important way in which the merging of cultures is shown, while the structure can be seen to represent cultural cycles. Learn more about the White Cliffs of Dover—and the ways that immigration (and invasion) have shaped British culture. The poem begins with the speaker describing the terrifying arrival into Dover There is nothing beautiful about this scene.

He speaks -- or rather, his characters speak -- in a whole variety of voices: teenage Jaswinder who wishes she was black and chilled, querulous Kabba laying into his son's English teacher ('my boy, vil he tink ebry new/Barrett-home Muslim hav goat blood-party/barbeque? I always enjoy poetry with a touch of fiction or drama about it -- the sort that introduces characters and makes them come alive, and tells stories or at least parts of stories, and keeps us entertained. This includes using ‘Punglish’ which imitates English spoken by those whose first language is Punjabi to help show experiences of people of Indian origin who are born in the UK. The link to immigration would become particularly clear with the reference to “Dover” as this is a key point of entry to the UK from mainland Europe as this is at the narrowest stretch of the English Channel.

Even more intriguing is that this poem was published in 2007, almost a decade before the European Migration Crisis and numerous migrant controversies around the world and in the UK. This also enables a broad range of interesting comparative points with other poems from the ‘Poems of the Decade’ collection. by Daljit Nagra tells of the arrival of immigrants to England and of their lives filled with hard work, fears, and dreams. At anytime they know that they might be stabbed in the back or hurt by something simple, like asthma contracted in parks.

The title is ungrammatical, Nagra teasing his own people for their incorrect English with gentle humour. Alternatively it could be seen as further representation of cycles, perhaps arguing that changes in immigration are natural changes which should be expected. Nagra’s poem reflects the themes of Arnold’s poem, written a hundred years ago, where the he imagines the conflict and chaos that might result if the there was no religious basis to our society.The poem is a dramatic monologue, the voice that of the poet, using the first person plural ‘we’ and in the last stanza ‘I’.

The immigrants are camouflaged while the animals are out in the open, making noise and going where they please. Although many of the poems dwell on darker themes -- racism, oppression, arranged marriages -- the prevailing tone is one of exuberance and charm, as exemplified by the first and last poems of the collection. In addition there is also the description “Blair’d in the cash” in the final stanza, where the use of “Blair” could be interpreted as a reference to former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who controversially decided not to use available restrictions to prevent large scale immigration from many new European Union countries such as Poland. However, as these pieces of punctuation are generally used to join sentences and words together (in comparison to full breaks with caesura, such as full stops and exclamation marks), it could be seen that this is demonstrating how different cultures and people bring society closer together.Born in London in 1966, Nagra often examines the idea of ‘Britishness’ and Asian culture, and the different ways in which they combine and change within society. is a great example of how poems can share so many ideas and thoughts regarding key contemporary events and issues within society. The use of non English words is an intriguing way in which Nagra can be seen to be critical of anti-immigration ideas and sentiments, demonstrating how English has naturally evolved to incorporate words from other languages. Lines 1-5: “Stowed in the sea to invade / the lash alfresco of a diesel-breeze / ratcheting speed into the tide, with brunt / gobfuls of surf phlegmed by cushy come-and-go / tourists prow’d on the cruisers, lording the ministered waves. This has been interpreted as representing the shape of the cliffs of Dover; cycles of emigration and immigration; the five oceans of the world; cycles of life, death and rebirth.

From Nobel Laureates Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter to theatre greats Tom Stoppard and Alan Bennett to rising stars Polly Stenham and Florian Zeller, Faber Drama presents the very best theatre has to offer. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. For example, the first line of every stanza has eight, six, or seven syllables and the fifth somewhere between fourteen and sixteen. It is scary, employed by the speaker to show how those in England would view the immigrants coming to their country. This could cause many different reactions, such as an immediate assumption that the poem is written by someone with a poor grasp of the English language, or that the idea of immigration is being mocked in some way.

Tagged with Conflict, Daljit Nagra, Edexcel, English, English Literature, Identity, Look We Have Coming to Dover! Descriptions such as “swarms” take individuality out of those coming to the country, showing how identity can easily be removed and stereotypes applied.