before you were mine

Question 1

summary

Answer 1

• emphasises Duffy’s love for her mum but looks back at how her possessiveness may have made her mothers life worse.
• The daughter contrasts this carefree version of her mother with the more responsible, perhaps tired figure she became after having children.
• looking at old photographs and recalling stories, the speaker envisions her mother as a vibrant, fun-loving young woman in the 1950’s- dancing, laughing, and full of life.
• tone of admiration and love but also bittersweet awareness about how motherhood changed her identity.
• semi autobiographic.

Question 2

what is the poetic voice?

Answer 2

• a daughter reflecting on her mothers younger self before she became a parent.

Question 3

how is the poetic voice created?

Answer 3

• speaker addresses her mother directly by using the second-person ‘you’.
• colloquial tone and free verse -> closeness
• enjambment ->mimics natural speech and memory.
• imagery.
• longing.

Question 4

themes

Answer 4

• memories
• time
• identity
• motherhood/ love
• guilt
• childhood