Скачать или смотреть ‘The Instant of My Death' by Sarah Jackson – Grade 9/A* Study Guide for Cambridge iGCSE

Ace your exam with this analysis of Sarah Jackson's 'The Instant of My Death'

Analysis
Sarah Jackson’s 'The Instant of My Death' is a subtle, unsettling poem that explores a fleeting yet transformative moment during a bus journey through the Spiti Valley in northern India. Blending the mundane with the profound, Jackson captures the disorientation of travel, emotional detachment, and the sudden jolt of perceived mortality. The poem unfolds in a liminal space — between earth and sky, life and death, presence and absence — and reminds us that even an instant of fear or clarity can alter us forever. With plain diction and restrained tone, Jackson turns a moment of shock into quiet epiphany.

00:00 Intro
00:05 Context
03:48 Structural overview
05:58 Title
07:09 Line-by-line analysis

Additional resources
For more exam tips, resources, and one-to-one tutoring, visit my website: www.clairesnotes.com
Check out the rest of my videos on the poems from the Cambridge iGCSE Vol 2 2026 onwards anthology:    • Songs of Ourselves Vol 2 2026  

Subscribe and Stay Ahead
Subscribe to Claire's Notes for detailed, exam-focused insights into GCSE English Literature and Language. Master exam techniques, explore poetry, and secure grades 7, 8, and 9.

The Poem
The Instant of My Death by Sarah Jackson

The bus was crammed and the fat man rubbed against my leg like
a damp cat
while you read The Jataka Tales* three rows from the back

and we all stumbled on; wheels and hours grinding, tripping
as Spiti** rose up around us, sky propped open by its peaks.

I traced the rockline on the window with my finger,
counted cows and gompas***, felt my eyes glaze over

until we reached Gramphoo**. There, where the road divided,
I saw a thin boy in red flannel squat between two dhabas****;

a black-eyed bean, slipped-in between two crags, he was so small
that I almost missed him, until he turned, gap-toothed, and shot me

with a toy gun. And a piece of me stopped then, though the bus
moved on,
and the fat man beside me cracked open an apple with his thumb.

The Jataka Tales = ancient Buddhist epic
** Spiti...Gramphoo = the Spiti Valley, in a mountainous range of the Himalayas, India, and a neighbouring district
*** gompas = Tibetan temples, or shrines
**** dhabas = roadside restaurant huts

About Me
I’m an experienced English teacher with over 25 years of classroom and private tutoring experience. My videos are tailored to help students achieve top marks in AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CCEA and Cambridge IGCSE English exams.

Please note that any literature analysis is highly subjective and may disagree with analysis by another person. All interpretations are valid if they can be justified by reference to the text. This interpretation is my own: it is not exhaustive and there are alternatives!

Let’s Discuss!
How does the speaker’s physical discomfort on the bus mirror her emotional disconnection or sense of isolation?
What do you make of the boy with the toy gun — is he simply a child, or does he represent something larger about innocence, threat, or transformation?
How does the use of enjambment and long lines contribute to the poem’s sense of movement, tension, or psychological drift?
And finally, is this a travel poem — or is it really about a moment of existential awakening that changes everything?
Share your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to hear your interpretations!