The Cord Flashcards
What is the main conceit of the poem?
A quest narrative for an umbilical cord symbolising Ella’s (Duffy’s daughter) hunt for identity
What are the main language methods that we see in the Cord?
- conceit of the umbilical cord
- fairytale iconography
- capitalisation of the Great Forest
- volucrine imagery
What are the key structural methods that we see in the cord?
- Caesura- ‘to hunt for her chord.’
- harsh scission of opening line ‘They cut the cord’
What quotes support the method of: conceit of the umbilical cord?
buried… under a tree in the heart of the Great Forest
What quotes support the method of: fairytale iconography?
‘gold’ ‘silver’ rope’
What quotes support the method of: capitalisation of the Great Forest?
‘in the roots of an ancient oak’
What quotes support the method of: volucrine imagery?
‘stare… across the fields to the woods where rooks spread their pages of wings like black unreadable books’
‘follow(s) a bird’
What quotes support the method of light/natural imagery?
one huge darkness’
wind in the grass scribbling sentences’
‘the stars that were her mother’s eyes
