Before you were mine - Carol Ann Duffy

• Written by:

  Carol Ann Duffy
• Themes:

  Parental Bonds, Admiration, Nostalgia, Guilt
• Tones:


  Personal, Possessive, Reflective
• Summary of Poem:

  Daughter looks at photographs of her mother, relfecting on her mother's life before she was born, and during her childhood
• Big Ideas:


  - Explores societal expectations of women and mothers

  - Explores how motherhood limits freedom

  - Admiration of a parent
• Duffy became Poet Laureate in...

  2009
• The poem was published in...

  1993
• "George Square" , "Scotland"


  - Reference to Glasgow, showing nostalgia for her home city as she was born there
• "your polka dot...

  dress blows around your legs. Marilyn"
• "your polka dot dress blows around your legs. Marilyn"

  - description of 'polka dot dress' is reminiscient of Marilyn Monroe's iconic style

  - metaphor conveys admiration for her mother's youthful and carefree spirit as Monroe was a symbol of glamour

  - The metaphor is enclosed in a single word sentence to emphasise the separation between the mother before and after Duffy was born

  - Monroe commits suicide, which could foreshadow the unhappiness associated with Duffy's birth to her mother

  - Personification of the dress brings life to the photograph the speaker is looking at, adding sense of energy to reflect the mother's lively and energetic spirit before she was born
• "the fizzy, movie...


  tomorrows the right walk home could bring"
• "The thought of me doesn't occur in the ballroom with the thousand eyes"

  - 'Thousand eyes' could be a metaphor for a disco ball, showing mother's youthful, carefree spirit as she is the life of the party

  - It could also be a metaphor for the head's that her mother turned, as she was beautiful

  - Bitter, jealous undertone to explore idea that Duffy feels unwanted

  - The mother is carefree and not worried yet about motherhood
• "The thought of me doesn't...

  occur in the ballroom with the thousand eyes"
• "the fizzy, movie tommorows the right walk home could bring"

  - Noun 'movies' extension of comparison to Marilyn Monroe, and connotes fiction and stories which contrasts the harsh realities and expectations of motherhood

  - Adjective 'fizzy' conveys excitement of mother's youth, and could refer to prospect of a date

  - Semantic field of glamour continued throughout poem to conjure a rich and desirable lifestyle the mother lives

  - 'Right walk home' creates antithesis with 'wrong pavement', suggesting glamorous lifestyle was the 'right' life path for her, but she was forced into motherhood
• "Cha Cha Cha! You'd...

  teach me the steps on the way home from Mass"
• "Cha Cha Cha! You'd teach me the steps on the way home from Mass"

  - Onomatopoeia creates rhythm and adds a playful and lively element to the poem, which may be reminiscent and nostalgic of the mother's spirit

  - Religious language of 'Mass' juxtaposes her mother's reckless and carefree behaviour earlier in the poem, showing her change as she adopted to motherhood

  - Direct Address 'you' adds personal tone, showing appreciation for her mother

  - Repetition of 'Cha' indicates the excitement Duffy feels at this memory, contrasted by the way it indicates the reinforcement of an instructment, like the way a mother scolds a child

  - Verb 'teach' has implications of the parental responsibility to pass down their knowledge to their children, showing the mother is good at her job and caring
• "The decade ahead...


  of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?"
• "The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?"

  - Rhetorical question sets tone of regret, as Duffy realises she caused the loss of her mother's carefree nature

  - Emotive language 'yell' shows a release of emotion, which contradicts how restrictive motherhood was

  - Question is also interrogative, as if expecting the mother to disagree, saying that Duffy was wanted

  - Adjective 'possessive' relates to the possession in the title, 'mine', exploring how motherhood limits individuality
• "stamping stars...

  from the wrong pavement"
• "stamping stars from the wrong pavement"

  - "wrong pavement" creates antithesis to "right walk home", implying motherhood was the wrong choice for her mother as it limited her freedom she enjoyed before giving birth

  - sibilance of 'stamping stars' could add a tone of frustration and regret, perhaps at society for their strict expectations that forced her mother down this path // guilt?

  - 'Stars' could symbolise her mother's bright aspirations, which she was never able to fulfil as she became a mother
• "your ghost clatters...

  towards me over George Square till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree"
• "I see you...

  clear as a scent"
• "your ghost clatters toward me over George Square till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree"

  - Reference to Glasgow, where Duffy grew up, but no longer lives, exploring idea of physical unreachability of the past

  - Symbolism of 'ghost' imply how her mother is dead

  - 'Ghosts' typically glide, but the onomatopoeia of verb 'clatter' hint that she was noisy and vibrant, even in death

  - Verb 'clatter' could insinuate she is wearing high heels, extending this semantic field of glamour

  - Synaesthesia 'clear as scent' to trigger her first memory of her mother
• "my hands in those high-heeled...

  red shoes, relics"
• "my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics"

  - imagery of shoes symbolise the vibrancy of youth which are now a part of history

  - consonance of 'high-heeled' slows the rhythm, emphasising the contrast between Duffy's mother before and after becoming a mother

  - Extension of semantic field of glamour to show Mother's life as desirable before motherhood, hyperbolising the contrast before and after Duffy was born
• "glamorous love lasts...

  where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine"
• "glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine"

  - Polysyndeton emphasises the triple, which highlights the mothers joy in her youth

  - Reflects on how the mother changed, with the preposition 'before' implying she lost her joy as she took the role of a mother

  - Title drop (repeated in poem) explores idea of how a mother's life is no longer their own

  - Direct address 'you' shows personal tone and deep relationship

  - Possessive pronoun 'mine' shows close bond or unbalanced relationship
• Form of Poem:

  Autobiographical
• Stanza Structure is stable to...


  show ongoing loveORreflect strong conventions for mothers in 1950sORshow motherhood lacks freedomORreflect a photo album
• Caesura is used to show...

  the strong bond as it creates a conversational tone
• Irony is used as...

  Duffy speaks about her mother's life as if she is an outsider to suggest that not everything in a mother's life has to be about their children
• Start of each stanza focuses on the daughter because...

  it shows how a mother's life becomes about their daughter and is no longer theirs
• Lack of Rhyme scheme to...

  inject a personal tone, and add to the authenticity of the poet's love for mother