Duffy Poems Flashcards
The good teachers
The good teachers is about young Carolann Duffy loving primary school and getting on well with all of the teachers progressing into later life at high school where she no longer liked the teachers or the subjects and fell into bad habits such as smoking dancing lovebites and rolling up her skirt.
Welltread
Well tread is about the headteacher of a primary school who was very strict. The children are feared him and the persona remembers having her hands caned for something that was not her fault.
Captain of the 1964 top of the form team
This poem is about a young boy being on a game show where he knows lots of useless 1950/60’s trivia that wins him the title however in later life he becomes unhappy as this title is no longer significant
Litany
Litany is about housewives who are obsessed with consumer goods in Christian faith. The atmosphere seems artificial and when the young persona curses, the embarrassment of the mother and friends it evident, and the young persona’s mouth is washed with soap for using the power of words
Nostalgia
The poem nostalgia is about war and how soldiers miss their homes and their loved ones. The poem tells us how soldiers reminisce about their home towns and fond memories they had. Duffy contrast this warm comforting feeling with the concept of war and suffering that soldiers undergo
Brothers
Brothers is an autobiographical poem about how Carol ann Duffy loves her brothers. She reminisces on the memories of them as children and she likes to talk about them as they remind her of her mother. They and the poem on a note of death and how brothers will carry the coffin, either her own or her mothers
Stafford afternoons
Stafford afternoons is about a young girl harmlessly wondering around on afternoon, very lonely and bored and as she goes into the woods a man exposes himself to her and she runs home
Moments of grace
This poem is about love, but more specifically about longing and missing old experiences with people she used to know. The idea that time moves quickly with or without you. Duffy wrote this to focus on the importance of memories and people and how they can affect your future. It talks about first kiss, playing out on the street, how people represent language, modern day
Meantime
Meantime is a poem about a persona walking through town after a break up, everything seems broken and wrong and she regrets what she has said. The last stanza says that we will all die and time cannot be reversed like when the clocks go back
Never go back
Never go back is a poem about returning to a town where you used to live and finding out it’s not the same as you would have wanted it to be. Everything seems cheap and rundown and there are negative memories
Close
This poem seems to be about a controlling relationship which is very one-sided and she feels helpless within it. Seems to be an exploration on love and how forcing the relationship wont mean it’ll work.
Disgrace
Disgrace is a poem that seems to be about a couple who no longer love each other. The house is the personification of their relationship, as the furniture and plants are shown to be miserable, until things have gone cold and they should no longer be together
Havisham
Havisham is a poem about the Charles Dickens character and how anger and jealousy have taken over her. She has become murderous and reclusive and violent. The persona talks about wanting to kill men and how she is stuck constantly reliving this anger
Like earning a living
This poem is about a teacher who really hates all of her students. She mimics them and uses short sentences with simple language making a joke out of education. It suggests problems with new generations such as slang and gossip
The cliche kid
This poem is an allegory for the problems that children face and are expected to deal with, when in reality very little manage to healthily deal with it. It suggests that childhood is difficult and the persona is being oppressed. This poem gives us insight into isolation irony mental illness and bullying
Confession
Confession is most likely autobiographical about how Catholicism was a terrifying and restrictive concept for young Carol Ann Duffy who was convinced that she would be judged for everything she did and would go to hell
Themes of religion, childhood, fear, memory
Adultery
Adultery is that person who was cheating on their significant other and is trying their best to hide it. They are however court and embarrassed. There is thrilling nature to the act however language seems to be the only thing of meaning
Small Female Skull
about drinking too much and holding her head in her hands, seeing her skull as separate from her body. Its about how she has been influenced by a series of events and how she comes to love herself
First Love
its obviously about being in love for the first time and how this has a lasting impact on the persona. Despite it being years later, she still remembers and feels happy that it happened
Caul
about being born with the amniotic sack still intact, like a protective membrane. it was a lucky charm somehow and it talks about sailors in folklore buying Cauls as a protection against drowning. her protection being stripped away
Pluto
about an elderly person, likely with Alzheimer’s, thinking back to when Pluto was discovered. they realise they’re actually old and cant remember his father’s laugh or his wife’s death. it concludes by saying it would be better to live no where than here
Away and See
A parent talking to their child saying how they need to go out and explore the world. it is a push for them to go out and do the things that they couldn’t do.
Oslo
about being abroad and feeling a sense on anonymity and lack of responsibility for your actions. This is countered in the final stanzas where the persona wants to go home to the one who loves them
