Before you were mine Flashcards
Brief summary
Poem addressed to mother while looking at a photograph.
Context
She was raised in the 1950s with Roman Catholic parents. About adhering to social conventions of women
Visual imagery
“The thousand eyes”
“The thousand eyes”
Hyperbolic description suggests she has a lot of pride for her mother and thinks other people are fascinated by her as well. Glamorises mother as she is the centre of attention.
…… language
Colloquial language “pals” demonstrates their close bond and relationship however it is juxtaposes with “mother” which is very formal”
“Mother”
Implies that their is a distance between the daughter and the mother and links to Duffy who had a traditional catholic upbringing with expectations between mothers and daughters in the 1950s
Possessive language
“Mine” assertive tone possessive pronoun implies she belongs to the speaker and has almost ownership of her.
“Relics”
Reduced her shoes to relics. Red high yelled shoes symbolise her fun and exciting youth with red having connotations to passion and love. Implies that her happiness and excitement has been extinguished after having children
Quotes
“Relics”
“The thousand eyes”
“Mine”
“Pals and mother”
Structure separated pronouns
“I” and “you” highlight distance between the pair
Enaleptic frames
Flashbacks to mothers early life
