Duffy Higher Scottish Texts
Born 1555/56 Died 6 August 1623 Married William Shakespeare in November 1582. She was already pregnant with their first child. She was 7 years older than Shakespeare who was 18 when they married.
Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed How would you feel if you were Anne? Is that it??? Thank you. I m very grateful!
At that time it would have been expected that their children would look after Anne after Shakespeare s death. Also, beds were much more extravagant and often cost the equivalent of a house. The best beds were reserved for guests suggesting that their second best bed was their marital bed. An insult or a last romantic gesture from the playwright?
Who is the narrator? Summarise, in detail, what you think the poem is about. What themes are conveyed in this poem?
14 lines Often associated with theme of love. Was regularly used by Shakespeare. Usually consists of 3 quatrains (a group of 4 lines with a set rhyming scheme eg ABCA, ABBA etc) and a rhyming couplet at the end. Identify the rhyming scheme of this poem. Does it follow this pattern?
Now look back through the poem highlighting and labelling any of the following techniques that you can identify. Metaphor Simile Alliteration Assonance Enjambment Rhyme As you are identifying these techniques, or once you have finished, annotate what effect these techniques have.
Metaphor The full poem is a metaphor for their love and passion. The narrator compares their love and love-making to poetry and the art of writing suggesting that their love is deeper and more meaningful than just basic human urges. Enjambment and unusual rhyming scheme Very few of these lines end with a full stop and the rhyme of this sonnet is not as restricted as a traditional sonnet. This is to mirror the sensuality, fluidity and freedom of their love. The lines tend to end mid sentence but on the most seductive and passionate words. Make a list of these words. These embody the message that she is trying to convey.
Past tense reminiscing after his death. Love = passion and affection in their relationship. The bed we loved in was a spinning world Alludes to some of her husband s famous settings. Connotations of romance and love of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas Pearls = precious and valuable like their love and marriage. where we would dive for pearls. My lover s words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses Sibilant. The s sound is soft and seductive just like Shakespeare and his writing. Could also represent fireworks to suggest the passion in their marriage. Metaphor. Their love was consuming and dizzying. It threw her off balance and made her view the world differently. Assonance. Shakespeare s words seduced her. Enjambment His work, creativity and language were all gifts from God fell from earth which impassioned her.
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Continuing the language metaphor. Suggesting that she is feminine while Shakespeare was masculine. She was powerless to his touch. Enjambment. She finds his touch exciting and erotic. dancing = his touch moving, unpredictable, exciting. Some nights, I dreamed he d written me, the bed Shakespeare created her like one of his characters. His love brought her alive. Enjambment. See next slide.
Metaphor. Comparing the bed to the writer s page. Where creativity is actualised and brought to existence. a page beneath his writer s hands. Romance The genres that Shakespeare is famous for. Suggests that his work mirrored their life. and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, Critical of others not as passionate as them. She sees prose as being boring, not as exciting or as passionate. dribbling their prose. My living laughing love - Enjambment. Romance is what she associates more with their relationship. Use of senses -she can very vividly recall their love and passion. dozed and dribbling word choice and alliteration. boring, not exciting, passionate or seductive Alliteration l seductive and soft. She recalls vividly their passion and love. Dash used to suggest her own private reflection as she recalls.
Metaphor She keeps him and their love safe in her memory, casket, and keeps him alive through her memories. I hold him in the casket of my widow s head as he held me upon that next best bed. Simile She felt secure in his hold and he held her tightly as she promises to do to his memory now. Final rhyme is plosive and harsh and definite just like the end of their marriage, through his death, and now to the end of the poem.
Havisham - both tell the story of a woman s life after love. Mrs Midas Both have a famous spouse the woman s perspective. Valentine Unusual perspective of poet Love. Use your grid to track the similarities and differences of the poems we have already studied.