Before you were mine

• who is before you were mine by?

  carol ann duffy
• summary of the poem

  speaker is looking at a photograph of her mother and imagines the life she had before she was born.
• context

  • Duffy's mother died in 2005 which a decade after the poem was written
  • she was raised as roman catholic
  • her mother was experience world war 2
• key themes

  • brevity of happiness
  • regret
  • childhood
  • aging
  • sacrifice
• analysis of the title

  • "before" implies it is a reflective poem
  • 'you" direct address and create an intimate and personal tone
  • "mine" sense of possessiveness- imbalance in relationship
• perspective

  • speaker is a child reflecting on the changes of her mother
  • semi auto biographical- addressing her mother
  • first and second narrative -intimate and personal tone
• Language

  • visual imagery - "red", "thousand eyes", "polka dot" - allows reader to visualize and layers to the photo
  • auditory imagery - "shriek","laugh"- suggests that Duffy had a strong bond with her mother that she can imagine the sound
  • colloquial language - "pals" and "mother"- close bond but juxtaposed by the idea that there is still an air of distance~
  • possessive language - "mine"- assertive tone
  • religious connotations - "mass"- conflict with roman catholic background as her mother is seen as carefree and sexualised in the images
• structure

  • seperated pronouns-"i" and "you" - highlights generational distance
  • simple sentence - reflects the perspective of a child
  • stable structure - reflects structure of mother's life which contrasts her flexibility and sacrifice.
  • caesura - creates conversational tone
  • enaleptic frames - gives insight to Duffy's childhood
• comparisons

  • mother, any distance
  • Eden rock