Page 2: Reflections and Memories

The second page of "Before You Were Mine" delves deeper into the speaker's reflections on her mother's past and their shared memories. The poem shifts between past and present tense, creating a dynamic interplay between different time periods.

The speaker imagines her mother's life in the decade before her birth as "the best one," suggesting a bittersweet acknowledgment of how motherhood changed her mother's life. This sentiment is captured in the line "The decade ahead of my loud possessive yell was the best one, eh?"

Quote: "I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics..."

This vivid image connects the speaker's childhood experiences with her mother's past, symbolizing how the daughter has, in a sense, stepped into her mother's shoes.

The poem continues to alternate between memories of the mother's youth and the speaker's childhood experiences with her. This structure reinforces the theme of generational connections and the passage of time.

Highlight: The poem's structure, alternating between past and present, reflects the complex relationship between mother and daughter across time.

Duffy employs sarcasm and comparison to highlight the contrast between her mother's carefree youth and her later life as a parent. The speaker remembers learning to dance from her mother, a poignant detail that links the mother's past as a vivacious dancer with her role as a parent.

The poem concludes with a return to the past, describing the mother "somewhere in Scotland, before I was born." This ending emphasizes the central theme of the poem: the exploration of a parent's identity before parenthood and the complex emotions this realization evokes in a child.

Example: The line "That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine" encapsulates the poem's bittersweet tone, acknowledging both the beauty of the mother's youth and the inevitable changes brought by parenthood.

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.