Before you were mine by Carol Ann Duffy
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_d8iq1a
1. OVERALL - 4 quatrains written in free verse with no rhyme scheme
- the rigid unfaltering structure can symbolise the organi-
sation of photos in the album
- conversational tone which is typical of Duffy's poetry
- There are a few enjambment lines that give the poem a
steady pace and provide a nice ebb and flow
- also contains a few lines that do not follow on, this gives
these particular lines a very authoritative feel as if they
contain truth in some way
- evocative and sensorial imagery
' I believe when the Duffy talks of being ten years away
she is suggesting she is sixteen years old when writing the
poem, as this would be ten years after she left Glasgow in
reality.
2. 'i'm ten years -present tense -> vivid image
away from the
corner you laugh - circularity, starts and ends on pavement
on'
- temporal deixis used in 'ten years away' to introduce
distance and nostalgia
- ultimately the first 2 stanzas create still images to show
photographs or how slow time is moving- speaker is in awe
at her mother
- following enjambment to mimic the 'laugh'; emphasises
how much she is laughing and how happy she is
3. 'ten years away' - specific temporal deixis is used in order to show their
distance as they are 'ten years away' from each-other
'corner'
- 'corner' symbolises unknown new beginnings; her moth-
1/6
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_d8iq1a
1. OVERALL - 4 quatrains written in free verse with no rhyme scheme
- the rigid unfaltering structure can symbolise the organi-
sation of photos in the album
- conversational tone which is typical of Duffy's poetry
- There are a few enjambment lines that give the poem a
steady pace and provide a nice ebb and flow
- also contains a few lines that do not follow on, this gives
these particular lines a very authoritative feel as if they
contain truth in some way
- evocative and sensorial imagery
' I believe when the Duffy talks of being ten years away
she is suggesting she is sixteen years old when writing the
poem, as this would be ten years after she left Glasgow in
reality.
2. 'i'm ten years -present tense -> vivid image
away from the
corner you laugh - circularity, starts and ends on pavement
on'
- temporal deixis used in 'ten years away' to introduce
distance and nostalgia
- ultimately the first 2 stanzas create still images to show
photographs or how slow time is moving- speaker is in awe
at her mother
- following enjambment to mimic the 'laugh'; emphasises
how much she is laughing and how happy she is
3. 'ten years away' - specific temporal deixis is used in order to show their
distance as they are 'ten years away' from each-other
'corner'
- 'corner' symbolises unknown new beginnings; her moth-
1/6
