Teeth
The speaker rebukes Lil for squandering the money Albert gave you / To get yourself some teeth...
In the early part of the twentieth century, it was realtively common for young people to have all their teeth extracted, and to be fitted out with a nice set of upper and lower dentures. The procedure was often a twenty-first birthday present for girls, particularly in Scotland.
The rationale for this practice, which seems strange in modern eyes, was that tooth decay was inevitable, painful and unattractive - better to have the teeth removed in one fell swoop, and replaced by something easier to look after.
An image of decaying teeth returns in the final
part of the poem, describing the mountain landscape in the desert.
In the early part of the twentieth century, it was realtively common for young people to have all their teeth extracted, and to be fitted out with a nice set of upper and lower dentures. The procedure was often a twenty-first birthday present for girls, particularly in Scotland.
An image of decaying teeth returns in the final
part of the poem, describing the mountain landscape in the desert.
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