The first three stanzas each start
with a reminder of the distance in
Sensory description (sound) – verb – the
time between the narrator’s birth
present tense is used to talk about an
Before You Were Mine and her mum’s youth and fun
event in the past. This creates a vivid
Informal term – shows image – the speaker could be imagining it
she was a relaxed person or looking at a photo
I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on Verb – childhood
with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff. delight The speaker compares her to Marilyn
The three of you bend from the waist, holding Monroe – she was a glamorous and desirable
each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement. film star, but also a tragic figure who died at
Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn. 36. Foreshadows unhappiness to come
This could a hint of Suggests energy and exciting
possible jealousy possibilities – she may have hoped
I’m not here yet. The thought of me doesn’t occur for a life like an actress. It also
in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows suggests she had attention
the right walk home could bring. I knew you would dance The speaker’s mum had freedom before
like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close she was born, but she was also restrained
with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it’s worth it. by her own mother. She wasn’t scared of
Sensory description (sound) – Conversational tone – attempt the consequences of enjoying herself
speaker was a demanding baby to reconnect with her mother Metaphor/noun – sacred religious
The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?objects from the past – the mother’s
I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics, glamour is precious, but ‘ghost’
and now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square highlights that it is in the past and
till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree, won’t return
with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart? Relics are associated with Saints. Saints are
associated with sacrifice – she admires her
Simile – the speaker’s imagination is The mother loved her freedom
mother as she sacrificed her freedom for her
so vivid, she can smell her mother
The mother is teaching her daughter –
Cha cha cha! You’d teach me the steps on the way home from Mass,
the one who was taught is teaching
stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then
Suggests that the mother might
Alliteration – I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere
have made the wrong choice in life.
stresses her in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts
mother The speaker might have regretted her
where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine. mother’s maturity and possibly
defiance and
energy wanted her mother as the ‘bold girl’
Positive Verbs/Repetition of ‘and’ –
Emphasises that the emphasises how many energetic Pronoun – suggest the speaker
speaker’s birth was a turning qualities the speaker has to describe did not discuss the mother’s past
point in her mother’s life her mother The speaker is combining imaginations and
memories of her mother to remember her
Carol Ann Duffy
Possessive tone – repetition –
emphasises the difference
between then and now
Themes: Comapre With:
Past Eden Rock
Memory Follower
Regret Mother, Any Distance
Mother/Family Walking Away
with a reminder of the distance in
Sensory description (sound) – verb – the
time between the narrator’s birth
present tense is used to talk about an
Before You Were Mine and her mum’s youth and fun
event in the past. This creates a vivid
Informal term – shows image – the speaker could be imagining it
she was a relaxed person or looking at a photo
I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on Verb – childhood
with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff. delight The speaker compares her to Marilyn
The three of you bend from the waist, holding Monroe – she was a glamorous and desirable
each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement. film star, but also a tragic figure who died at
Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn. 36. Foreshadows unhappiness to come
This could a hint of Suggests energy and exciting
possible jealousy possibilities – she may have hoped
I’m not here yet. The thought of me doesn’t occur for a life like an actress. It also
in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows suggests she had attention
the right walk home could bring. I knew you would dance The speaker’s mum had freedom before
like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close she was born, but she was also restrained
with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it’s worth it. by her own mother. She wasn’t scared of
Sensory description (sound) – Conversational tone – attempt the consequences of enjoying herself
speaker was a demanding baby to reconnect with her mother Metaphor/noun – sacred religious
The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?objects from the past – the mother’s
I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics, glamour is precious, but ‘ghost’
and now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square highlights that it is in the past and
till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree, won’t return
with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart? Relics are associated with Saints. Saints are
associated with sacrifice – she admires her
Simile – the speaker’s imagination is The mother loved her freedom
mother as she sacrificed her freedom for her
so vivid, she can smell her mother
The mother is teaching her daughter –
Cha cha cha! You’d teach me the steps on the way home from Mass,
the one who was taught is teaching
stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then
Suggests that the mother might
Alliteration – I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere
have made the wrong choice in life.
stresses her in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts
mother The speaker might have regretted her
where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine. mother’s maturity and possibly
defiance and
energy wanted her mother as the ‘bold girl’
Positive Verbs/Repetition of ‘and’ –
Emphasises that the emphasises how many energetic Pronoun – suggest the speaker
speaker’s birth was a turning qualities the speaker has to describe did not discuss the mother’s past
point in her mother’s life her mother The speaker is combining imaginations and
memories of her mother to remember her
Carol Ann Duffy
Possessive tone – repetition –
emphasises the difference
between then and now
Themes: Comapre With:
Past Eden Rock
Memory Follower
Regret Mother, Any Distance
Mother/Family Walking Away
