"Look We Have Coming to Dover!" is the title poem from Daljit Nagra's prize-winning 2007 collection. A dramatic monologue spoken by a new immigrant to England, it portrays a group of immigrants' first years in the country—from their dangerous arrival, to their under-the-table jobs, to their wistful hopes for the future. The speaker highlights the struggles of immigrant life: the lack of official documentation, the difficulty of finding work and housing, and the threat of violence and deportation. But the poem's sparky, inventive language suggests that immigration is a revitalizing force, offering immigrants' adoptive countries fresh energy and fresh perspectives.

• Read the full text of “Look We Have Coming to Dover!”

• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Summary

• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Themes

  • 

    The Hardship and Hope of Immigration

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-25

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Look We Have Coming to Dover!”

  • Lines 1-3

    Stowed in the ...
    ... into the tide,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-5

    with brunt ...
    ... the ministered waves.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-10

    Seagull and shoal ...
    ... a Bedford van.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-15

    Seasons or years ...
    ... pylon and pylon.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    Swarms of us, ...
    ... for the clear.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-23

    Imagine my love ...
    ... crash clothes, free,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-25

    we raise our ...
    ... chalk of Britannia!

    

    

    

    

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• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Stowed,” “sea”
    • Line 4: “cushy come-and-go”
    • Line 5: “cruisers”
    • Line 8: “camouflage,” “crumble”
    • Line 9: “cliffs”
    • Line 13: “back,” “breathing”
    • Line 15: “poling,” “pylon,” “pylon”
    • Line 20: “human,” “hoick”
    • Line 22: “Blair’d,” “cash”
    • Line 23: “beeswax’d,” “cars,” “crash clothes”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Before Line 1: “"So various, so beautiful, so new…" / — Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"”
    • Line 21: “my love and I,”
    • Line 25: “the chalk of Britannia!”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “lash alfresco,” “diesel-breeze”
    • Line 3: “speed”
    • Line 7: “upon,” “huddled”
    • Line 8: “past,” “ vast,” “crumble,” “scummed”
    • Line 9: “mulch,” “thunder unbladders”
    • Line 11: “Seasons,” “we reap”
    • Line 13: “stab,” “back,” “teemed,” “breathing”
    • Line 14: “sweeps”
    • Line 15: “ennobled, poling,” “pylon,” “pylon”
    • Line 17: “shot”
    • Line 18: “spotlight”
    • Line 22: “cash”
    • Line 23: “beeswax’d,” “crash”
    • Line 24: “charged glasses”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “tide, with”
    • Line 5: “cruisers, lording”
    • Line 9: “cliffs, scramming”
    • Line 10: “escape, hutched”
    • Line 12: “inland, unclocked”
    • Line 13: “back, teemed”
    • Line 15: “burdened, ennobled, poling”
    • Line 16: “us, grafting”
    • Line 18: “spotlight, banking”
    • Line 19: “rainbow, passport,” “life. Only”
    • Line 20: “ourselves, bare-faced”
    • Line 22: “others, Blair’d”
    • Line 23: “cars, our,” “clothes, free,”
    • Line 25: “East, babbling,” “lingoes, flecked”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Stowed,” “sea,” “invade”
    • Line 2: “lash alfresco,” “diesel-breeze”
    • Line 3: “ratcheting,” “speed,” “into,” “tide,” “brunt”
    • Line 4: “gobfuls of surf,” “phlegmed,” “cushy come-and-go”
    • Line 5: “prow’d,” “lording,” “ministered”
    • Line 6: “Seagull,” “shoal life”
    • Line 7: “Vexin,” “blarnies upon,” “huddled”
    • Line 8: “camouflage,” “past,” “vast,” “crumble,” “scummed”
    • Line 9: “cliffs,” “scramming,” “mulch,” “thunder unbladders”
    • Line 10: “rain and wind,” “hutched,” “Bedford”
    • Line 11: “Seasons,” “years”
    • Line 12: “inland, unclocked”
    • Line 13: “stab,” “back,” “breathing”
    • Line 14: “sweeps,” “grass,” “whistling,” “ asthma,” “parks”
    • Line 15: “burdened, ennobled,” “poling,” “sparks across,” “pylon,” “pylon”
    • Line 16: “Swarms,” “us”
    • Line 17: “shot”
    • Line 18: “spotlight,” “sun”
    • Line 19: “span,” “rainbow,” “passport”
    • Line 20: “human,” “hoick”
    • Line 22: “Blair’d,” “cash”
    • Line 23: “beeswax’d,” “cars,” “crash clothes”
    • Line 24: “glasses,” “unparasol’d tables”
    • Line 25: “babbling,” “lingoes,” “flecked,” “chalk”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “invade / the”
    • Lines 2-3: “diesel-breeze / ratcheting”
    • Lines 3-4: “brunt / gobfuls”
    • Lines 4-5: “come-and-go / tourists”
    • Lines 6-7: “life / Vexin”
    • Lines 7-8: “huddled / camouflage”
    • Lines 8-9: “scummed / cliffs,”
    • Lines 9-10: “unbladders / yobbish”
    • Lines 11-12: “reap / inland,”
    • Lines 12-13: “eye / or”
    • Lines 13-14: “breathing / sweeps”
    • Lines 16-17: “in / the”
    • Lines 17-18: “moon’s / spotlight”
    • Lines 18-19: “sun — / span”
    • Lines 19-20: “then / can”
    • Lines 21-22: “I, / our”
    • Lines 22-23: “cash / of”
    • Lines 23-24: “free, / we”
    • Lines 24-25: “tables / East,”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “Stowed in the sea to / the lash alfresco of a diesel-breeze / ratcheting speed into the tide”
    • Line 1: “invade”
    • Line 16: “Swarms of us”
    • Lines 21-25: “Imagine my love and I, / our sundry others, Blair’d in the cash / of our beeswax’d cars, our crash clothes, free, / we raise our charged glasses over unparasol’d tables / East, babbling our lingoes, flecked by the chalk of Britannia!”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • 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.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3
    • Lines 3-5
    • Lines 6-7
    • Lines 9-10
    • Line 10
    • Lines 11-13
    • Line 14
    • Line 15
    • Line 16
    • Lines 16-18
    • Lines 18-19
    • Line 19
    • Lines 19-20
    • Lines 22-23
    • Line 25

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 6-7: “Seagull and shoal life / Vexin their blarnies”
    • Lines 9-10: “thunder unbladders / yobbish rain and wind on our escape”

• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” 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.

  • Stowed
  • Lash
  • Diesel-breeze
  • Alfresco
  • Ratcheting
  • Gobfuls
  • Brunt
  • Surf
  • Phlegmed
  • Cushy
  • Cruisers
  • Prow'd
  • Lording
  • Ministered
  • Shoal
  • Vexin
  • Blarnies
  • Scummed
  • Mulch
  • Scramming
  • Yobbish
  • Unbladders
  • Hutched
  • Bedford Van
  • The National Eye
  • Unclocked
  • Teemed
  • Pylon
  • Grafting
  • Banking
  • Hoick
  • Sundry
  • Blair'd
  • Beeswax'd
  • Crash Clothes
  • Unparasol'd Tables
  • Charged Glasses
  • Babbling
  • Lingoes
  • Chalk
  • Flecked
  • Britannia
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Stowed in the sea to invade”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Look We Have Coming to Dover!”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Speaker

• “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Look We Have Coming to Dover!”

• More “Look We Have Coming to Dover!” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to Daljit Nagra reading the poem aloud.

    • An Interview with the Poet — Hear an interview in which Nagra talks about his beginnings in poetry.

    • Dover's History — Learn more about the White Cliffs of Dover—and the ways that immigration (and invasion) have shaped British culture. 

    • More Poems by Nagra — Read more of Nagra's poetry on his own website. 

    • Immigration and Britain — Learn more about immigration in British history.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Daljit Nagra

    • Singh Song!

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