Before you were mine Flashcards
‘Marilyn’
L: metaphor - refers her mum to Marilyn Monroe
I: 1) her mothers skirt is blowing up like the famous Marilyn Monroe
2) to show how impressive and glamorous her mum was like a celebrity
‘Cha cha cha’
L: onamatopia - you can visualise the dance
Short sharp sounds have connotations of excitement amp thrill that dancing brings
‘possessive’
L: adjective - the young child took over her mothers life and is demanding of her mothers attention
Links with the title
Suggests the speaker feels guilty about taking the glamour away from her mums life
‘My hands in those red high heeled shoes, relics’
L: shoes are a metaphorical - relics - she desires to be like her mum and has always admired her from a young age
C: catholics worship religious relics
D: the speaker worships her mother
‘Red high helped shoes’ suggest she was glamorous and extrovert
‘sparkle’ ‘waltz’ ‘laugh’
L: verbs - shows she was dazzling, fun-loving, energetic
Vivid sensory imagery of light, colour ans sounds to show the mothers life before her child
‘You reckon it’s worth it’
Young and carefree attitude
‘reckon’ - L: colloquial language (informal language’ which shows what era her mum was living in
“I’m not here yet.”
L: caesura - emphasises her regret that her arrival stopped her mother having fun
R: reader feels sympathy for the speaker as it wasn’t their fault that she interrupted her mothers fun
“I see you, as clear as scent’
L: synaesthetic sensory simile - speaker feels as if she is there with her mother and emphasises how she can vividly immerse herself in the imagined scene
‘stamping stars from the wrong pavement’
C: reference to the Hollywood walk of fame - speaker feels her mother should have been a glamorous star
R: reader may think this is sweet/nice that the speaker admires her mother and sees her as an inspiration
‘decade’ ‘ten years away’
I: 1) her mother has changed since she was born
2) the speaker wishes she was there and wishes she could meet her mother as a young girl
Structure
Four, 5 line stanzas in which each describe her mother in a different setting - based on photographs
Rhyme
Written in free verse to reflect the conversational style of the poem as she directly addresses her mother
Mood
Admiring - ‘you’d teach me those steps’
Wistful - ‘i remember…those high heeled shoes’
Playful- ‘whose small love bites in turn neck, sweetheart?’
Affectionate - ‘love lasts’
Meaning and message
I: 1) parenthood changes a person - they need to take responsibility for their child and sacrifice some of their freedom
2) you can never truly know another person, however strong the parent-child bond is
Context
Poem refers to Glasgow where her mother grew up
Poem is commentary on the fact that our parents are individuals who are not just defined by their parental role
The speaker is fascinated with the way in which becoming a parent changes a person - they have to become more responsible for another life
