1. Nostalgia

2. What is nostalgia?
Dictionary: A sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period or place in the past.
Do you have any sentimental longing for a period in your past? What do you ‘miss’ (if anything)?
Although the word ‘Nostalgia’ was not used for its current meaning until the 17th Century, it is a combination of two Ancient Greek words:
‘Nostos’ meaning ‘to return home’; and
‘Algos’ meaning ‘suffering’.

3. So when did the word take on its modern meaning?
In the 17th Century is was noted that Swiss mercenaries (soldiers who are paid to fight in battle) coming down from the hills to fight experienced various symptoms including weeping, anorexia and even suicide.
A Swiss doctor, Hufer, coined the term ‘nostalgia’ in 1688 to describe these symptoms, which people connected to the soldiers leaving (and missing) home. Others thought the cause was the ringing of cow bells or even demonic possession!
Subsequently, Dr Scheuchzer discovered that the cause was not homesickness as such but actually depressurisation (as the soldiers moved down from ‘thinner’ mountain air.

4. Why call the poem Nostalgia and not Mercenaries?
Those early mercenaries, it made them ill –
leaving the mountains, leaving the high, fine air
to go down, down. What they got
was money, dull, crude coins clenched
in the teeth; strange food, the wrong taste,
stones in the belly; and the wrong sounds,
the wrong smells, the wrong light, every breath –
wrong. They had an ache here, Doctor,
they pined, wept, grown men. It was killing them.
It was a given name. Hearing tell of it,
there were those who stayed put, fearful
of a sweet pain in the heart; of how it hurt,
in that heavier air, to hear
the music of home – the sad pipes – summoning,
in the dwindling light of the plains,
a particular place – where maybe you met a girl,
or searched for a yellow ball in the long grass,
found it just as your mother called you in.
But the word was out. Some would never
fall in love had they not heard of love.
So the priest stood at the stile with his head
in his hands, crying at the workings of memory
through the colour of leaves, and the schoolteacher
opened a book to the scent of her youth, too late.
It was Spring when one returned, with his life
in a sack on his back, to find the same street
with the same sign over the inn, the same bell
chiming the hour on the clock, and everything changed.
Why call the poem Nostalgia and not Mercenaries?
Although Duffy uses the original example of the Swiss mercenaries who ‘missed’ home, it is important to realise that Duffy is also exploring the modern sense of nostalgia i.e. our longing for a former time or place.

5. Stanza 1 seems to suggest the mercenaries were wrong to leave their homes
What alliteration and other repeated consonant sounds can you find? What is the effect of these?
Those early mercenaries, it made them ill –
leaving the mountains, leaving the high, fine air
to go down, down. What they got
was money, dull, crude coins clenched
in the teeth; strange food, the wrong taste,
stones in the belly; and the wrong sounds,
the wrong smells, the wrong light, every breath –
wrong. They had an ache here, Doctor,
they pined, wept, grown men. It was killing them.
How are words in the lexical fields of height and weight for both literal and metaphoric meaning?
What are the stated effects on the mercenaries who leave the mountains?
How does the narrative voice change on the 8th line and what is significant about the word in italics?
What words are repeated and what is the effect of this?

6. Stanza 2 seems to continue the message, but could it be critical of staying behind?
What alliteration and assonance (internal vowel sounds) can you find? What is the effect of these?
It was a given name. Hearing tell of it,
there were those who stayed put, fearful
of a sweet pain in the heart; of how it hurt,
in that heavier air, to hear
the music of home – the sad pipes – summoning,
in the dwindling light of the plains,
a particular place – where maybe you met a girl,
or searched for a yellow ball in the long grass,
found it just as your mother called you in.
What is the name which is given to it? Why is it significant that the symptoms are given a name?
Find and explain an example of personification in this stanza.
How do you interpret the memory which is referenced on the final 2/3 lines?
What does the oxymoron in this stanza suggest?

7. Stanza 3 could suggest that longing for something which is no longer there can limit us
Find and explain how the letter ‘c’ is used to create different sounds in this stanza.
What are the possible different meanings of the word being out?
But the word was out. Some would never
fall in love had they not heard of love.
So the priest stood at the stile with his head
in his hands, crying at the workings of memory
through the colour of leaves, and the schoolteacher
opened a book to the scent of her youth, too late.
It was Spring when one returned, with his life
in a sack on his back, to find the same street
with the same sign over the inn, the same bell
chiming the hour on the clock, and everything changed.
Which word is repeated in this stanza?
What point is Duffy making about love (and, indeed, nostalgia) as abstract concepts? Why might love be more real for those who leave home?
What tone is conveyed by the people who have stayed behind (the priest and the teacher)?
What paradox does the mercenary discover when he returns? What do you think the message in the final 2/3 lines is?

8. Stanza 1 seems to suggest the mercenaries were wrong to leave their homes
Sound is used to convey a harsh and percussive (beaten) tone, though hard consonants, like:
Alliterative ‘c’s
Repeated ‘d’s
‘t’s
‘k’s.
The final ‘kill’ echoes the word ‘ill’ in the first line.
These also help to create a rhythm which drives the poem on, like the mercenaries.
Those early mercenaries, it made them ill –
leaving the mountains, leaving the high, fine air
to go down, down. What they got
was money, dull, crude coins clenched
in the teeth; strange food, the wrong taste,
stones in the belly; and the wrong sounds,
the wrong smells, the wrong light, every breath –
wrong. They had an ache here, Doctor,
they pined, wept, grown men. It was killing them.
Height and weight is used both literally and metaphorically.
‘High, fine’ and ‘down, down’ are contrasted to suggest their home air was precious, whereas repetition of ‘down’ could be literal descent down the mountains and a, metaphorically, reflection of their sadness at leaving home.
The coins are literally ‘tested’ by biting but metaphorically this becomes the ‘wrong taste’ (and ‘strange food’) of the mercenaries and weighs them down like ‘stones in the belly’, rather than the ‘high’ air of home.
A second voice (other than the narrator) appears to interject here as one of the displaced mercenaries identifies their pain. The paralinguistic Here in italics represents him pointing to his heart.
The strength of the ‘grown men’ is undermined by their pining, weeping and, ultimately, ‘it’ killing them.
Repetition is used to convey their distress at leaving:
‘leaving’
‘down’
‘wrong’

9. Stanza 2 seems to continue the message, but could it be critical of staying behind?
There is a softer, different Sound in this stanza: Assonance (rhyming of internal vowels) creates a softer , wistful longing for the past/home.
Sibilance, and the soft consonant ‘w’s also create this effect, and the use aspirants could be mimetic of a sigh (sadness or relief?) or of tough breathing. But is this ironic?
‘It’ is given the name nostalgia. It is thought that once the relationship between a signifier and the signified is established it cannot be undone. Thus once the term ‘nostalgia’ was used, people would identify their symptoms as being those of this ‘disease’. The mythologising of the term ‘nostalgia’ therefore had a negative effects as people then avoided leaving and changing.
It was a given name. Hearing tell of it,
there were those who stayed put, fearful
of a sweet pain in the heart; of how it hurt,
in that heavier air, to hear
the music of home – the sad pipes – summoning,
in the dwindling light of the plains,
a particular place – where maybe you met a girl,
or searched for a yellow ball in the long grass,
found it just as your mother called you in.
The pipes are personified as the mercenary’s memories are triggered by their (sad) sound. They are separated by parenthesis, as the mercenary is also separated from home.
Detailed and seemingly precious memory but made vague by ‘maybe’ and mother’s call, though safe, may be limiting exploration. If the ‘yellow ball’ symbolises the sun, this could suggest the world behind is smaller.
Oxymoronic: pain of leaving can ultimately be a sweet thing

10. Stanza 3 could suggest that longing for something which is no longer there can limit us
Although there are again harsh percussive sounds and internal rhyme ‘ck’, change is shown by the softer ‘c’ in ‘chime’ and ‘changed’. Change is no longer a threatening thing. Indeed, change is required for one to be complete.
A suggestion that the word ‘nostalgia’ is now in existence (‘out’) but could also be a command that we should all get ‘out’ and explore.
But the word was out. Some would never
fall in love had they not heard of love.
So the priest stood at the stile with his head
in his hands, crying at the workings of memory
through the colour of leaves, and the schoolteacher
opened a book to the scent of her youth, too late.
It was Spring when one returned, with his life
in a sack on his back, to find the same street
with the same sign over the inn, the same bell
chiming the hour on the clock, and everything changed.
Reiterates the idea that abstract ideas like love and nostalgia only become recognised when named – the power of language. It could show that you cannot truly fall in love unless you moved, changed and explored life.
Repetition and ‘wrong’ in the 1st stanza is now ‘same’.
These two images show people left behind, who seem to have a narrowed perspective. The aspirants describing the priest’s stance suggest sadness, with ‘leaves’ from trees or the Bible.
The teacher smells the scent of a wasted youth. A priest and schoolteacher are also emblems of culture i.e. those who shape society.
There is a paradox in the soldier returning at Spring (time of new life) to find everything the same but changed, as he himself is different. The final line could suggest a hope that one can embrace change and the future rather than remain in the past. The clock symbolises time passing.

11. Internal rhyme (‘sack on his back’) creates a wistful tone.
STRUCTURE
Irregular and no fixed rhyme scheme, mimetic of disorientated feelings of the mercenaries.
Past tense throughout as Duffy focuses on the past and then resurfaces in the present towards the end of the poem.
Internal rhyme (‘sack on his back’) creates a wistful tone.
Use of repetition as the person constantly tries to go back to the past.
Discordance (lost sound) in the first stanza, the ‘wrong’ sound in the second stanza is finally found in the third stanza.
Alliteration used to highlight and link key words and to create a rhythm which drives the poem on, like the mercenaries.

12. What do think are key themes?
Your ideas…
Key themes:
Time/ the past
Home
Change
Etymology and the power of language
What is the poem’s main message?
Although change can seem painful, it can be better to move on and embrace the future than to desire the past .
Your ideas…

13. Useful tutorials: www.youtube.com/watch?v=siH1_b4vot4