Before You Were Mine Flashcards
Brief of poem
Reminiscing on mums life and best times before she was born inspired by photograph
What quote compares mother to Marilyn Monroe
“Your polka dot dress blows round your legs.Marilyn”
Reason of comparing mum to Marilyn
She was a glamorous and desirable film star but also a tragic victim of young suicide,foreshadows sadder happenings for later on
What quote hints at possible jealousy of mum living before daughter
“The thought of me doesn’t occur”
What quote sees narrators mother having freedom but also restrained by her mother
“Before you were mine,your ma stands at the door”
What quote implies narrator has a vivid imagination
“Clear as scent”
What does “clear as scent mean”
Reader has such vivid imagination she can even smell her own mother
What quote uses repetition of the word and
“Sparkle and waltz and laugh”
What does repetition of and in quote show
Emphasises how many energetic qualities the narrator thinks her mother had (list goes on and on)
What’s the poems form
Four equal stanzas of five lines
What does the form show
The consistent forms reflects steady passage of time and the inevitable changes time brings
What’s the poems structure
Begins and ands with mother on pavement.
Start- with fiends
End- with daughter
Clear Division between events
Poems key feelings
Admiration
Nostalgia
Self criticism (for taking away mothers freedom)
Who’s the Poem written by
Carol Ann Duffy
