Page 1: Before You Were Mine - Setting the Scene
Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Before You Were Mine" opens with a powerful exploration of time and perspective. The speaker, presumably Duffy herself, reflects on her mother's life before she was born.
The poem begins with the line "I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on," immediately establishing a temporal distance between the speaker and the subject. This use of present tense creates a vivid, immediate image, despite the historical nature of the scene being described.
Highlight: The present tense is used throughout the poem to create a sense of immediacy and vividness, bringing past events to life.
The speaker describes a photograph of her mother with friends, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duffy, bent at the waist and laughing on a street corner. This image captures the carefree spirit of youth, contrasting sharply with the implied responsibilities of motherhood that would come later.
Quote: "Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn."
This comparison to Marilyn Monroe emphasizes the glamour and vitality of the mother's youth, creating a stark contrast with her later role as a parent.
The poem then shifts to describe the mother's life before the thought of children, dancing in ballrooms and enjoying the attention of men. This portrayal of the mother's vibrant social life serves to humanize her, presenting her as a complex individual with desires and experiences beyond her role as a parent.
Vocabulary: Omniscient - all-knowing or all-seeing. In this context, it refers to the speaker's ability to describe events that occurred before her birth.
The structure of the poem alternates between descriptions of photographs and imagined scenes from the mother's youth, creating a layered narrative that spans different time periods.
