SPM LITERATURE - POEM

What Has Happened to Lulu?

by Charles Causley

What is the Poem about?

• It is a story of a mother grieving because her elder daughter, Lulu has run away.
• The child narrator questions her mother about the incident in a series of rhetorical questions.
• The mother is distraught and ends up tells her child a series of lies.

The Poem

What has happened to Lulu, mother? 
What has happened to Lu? 
There's nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll 
And by its side a shoe. 

Why is her window wide, mother, 
The curtain flapping free, 
And only a circle on the dusty shelf 
Where her money-box used to be? 

Why do you turn your head, mother, 
And why do tear drops fall? 
And why do you crumple that note on the fire 
And say it is nothing at all? 

I woke to voices late last night, 
I heard an engine roar. 
Why do you tell me the things I heard 
Were a dream and nothing more? 

I heard somebody cry, mother, 
In anger or in pain, 
But now I ask you why, mother, 
You say it was a gust of rain. 

Why do you wander about as though 
You don't know what to do? 
What has happened to Lulu, mother? 
What has happened to Lu?

Meaning of Lines

Stanza 1

• The persona is questioning her mother about the mysterious and sudden disappearance of Lulu. An old rag doll and a shoe was left behind.

Stanza 2

• The persona saw that the windows are wide opened and the curtains are "flapping free" in the wind. The persona also notice her money-box on the dusty shelf is gone.

Stanza 3

• The persona asks the mother why she is hiding her tears. The mother crumples up a note (most probably from Lulu) and throws it into the fire. Mother then tells her child that it is nothing at all. The persona does not believe her.

Stanza 4

• The persona tells that she was awakened by "voices late last night" and heard the sounds of an "engine roar", probably a car starting up and being driven away. The mother lies that the child was only dreaming.

Stanza 5

• The persona insists that she had heard someone cry "in anger or in pain". The mother says it was just "a gust of rain".

Stanza 6

• Puzzled about the mother's distraught behavior, the narrator wants to know why the mother is pacing about, uncertain what to do. The use of "Lu" is an affectionate shortened form of "Lulu".

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU?

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU?

Themes

• Grief and love 
• A young family member who has run away from home 
• Feelings of helplessness 
• Confusion over family situations
• No one is exempted from having problems 
• Parents' and siblings' feeling of loss

Moral Values / Lessons

• We should not even entertain the idea of running away from home
• We should be concerned a bout our parents' feelings
• W e should not give parents and siblings reason to grieve
• We should be observant of other family members' behaviour and show concern
• We should remember that everyone,young and old, has to face problems
• Every problems can be solved if we work together

Literary Devices 

• Imagery - 'a circle on the dusty shelf where her money-box used to be' gives 
•   an image of Lulu's decision to disappear completely as she has taken her life                              
•    savings with her
• Rhetoric questions - 'Why do you tell me ... a dream and nothing more?'
• Symbol - 'the curtain flapping free' is a symbol of the persons' freedom.                                       
•  'nothing on her bed' symbolize the emptiness of the room
• Metaphor - The cry of anger or pain is compared to 'a gust of rain'
• Repetition - The question 'What has happened to Lulu, mother?                                                         
•  What has happened to Lulu?' is repeated in the first and last lines to                                                 
•  emphasise the desperation of a person