Queen Herod
In the new testament, Herod was king at the time of
the birth of Christ. Learning of the three wise men’s
following a star that would lead them to a new born
king, Herod tries to question them to discover what
they will find at the end of their journey. However,
they distrust Herod and once they discover the
meaning of Christ’s birth, go on to help Mary, Joseph
and the baby flee. In a fury, Herod orders the
execution of all new born children in Bethlehem,
intending to put an end to any threat to his own
power.
In Duffy’s poem, the story is narrated from the point
of view of Herod’s Queen, and the three visitors
searching for the new born baby are reimagined as
three women. Through twisting the original story
around, Duffy shows us the bonds of friendship and
camaraderie that women must share in order to
survive in a world ruled by men.
No active verbs – creates a
sense of stillness/suspense –
like a tableau
Emphasises
distance/importance of he
queens’ quest. The contrast
between their status & that
of the servants introduces
unusual gender dynamics.
Consonance emphasises the
queens’ poise
Sibillance creates a silent
wintry world, whilst
assonance suggests a sing
song effect
Ice in the trees.
Three Queens at the Palace gates,
dressed in furs, accented;
Judea not specified –
their several sweating, panting beasts
universality of poem’s
laden for a long hard trek,
themes.
following the guide and boy to the stables;
courteous, confident; oh, and with gifts
for the King and Queen of here – Herod, me –
Asyndeton highlights the
in exchange for sunken baths, curtained beds,
wealth & power of Herod &
fruit, the best of meat and wine,
his queen
dancers, music, talk –
as it turned out to be,
Em dashes separate the
with everyone fast asleep, save me,
‘talk’ creating intimacy,
those vivid three –
emphasised by the end
till bitter dawn.
rhymes.
Foreshadows later
unpleasantness, emphasised
by cacophonous consonance
Assonance creates hypnotic
effect. The caesura & end
stop add to declarative
effect.
Diacope further emphasises
the queens’ mysterious
power.
Three gifts like the magi –
but representing personal
qualities, not wealth.
‘Hennaed’ & ‘black’
highlight the exotic, far
travelled nature of the
queens. Also adds to
universality of female
experience.
Suggests disapproval. Herod
is simultaneously less
authoritative (excluded from
female wisdom) than the
queens BUT also controlling.
They were wise. Older than I.
They knew what they knew.
Once drunken Herod’s head went back,
Imagery suggests parallelism
they asked to see her,
with Christ child. They ‘ask’
fast asleep in her crib,
suggesting prior knowledge.
my little child.
Silver and gold,
Precious metals show
the loose change of herself,
child’s value. ‘Loose
glowed in the soft bowl of her face.
change’ – no specific
Grace, said the tallest Queen.
Strength, said the Queen with the hennaed hands. purpose – potential. ‘bowl’
child contains all she is &
The black Queen
will be. Assonance long o’s
made a tiny starfish of my daughter’s fist,
highlights QH’s pride &
said Happiness; then stared at me,
delight.
Queen to Queen, with insolent lust.
Metaphor creates intimate
connection, but also ‘opens
out’ child’s potential.
Lesbian attraction – diacope
shows equality/mutual
understanding. Sibilance
suggests attraction is illicit.
Prophecy alludes to the Star
of Bethlehem, but here the
imperative creates a
monitory tone.
Enjambment allows the star
to be isolated/prominent –
as it will stand out in the sky.
Initially positive – but the
Watch, they said, for a star in the east –
plethora of epithets suggests a new star
a mocking tone.
pierced through the night like a nail.
Juxtaposition creates
negative impression of
marriage.
Animalistic/violent diction –
creates a sense of threat,
emphasised by use of iambs.
It means he’s here, alive, newborn.
Who? Him. The Husband. Hero. Hunk.
The Boy Next Door. The Paramour. The Je t'adore.
The Marrying Kind. Adulterer. Bigamist.
The Wolf. The Rip. The Rake. The Rat.
The Heartbreaker. The Ladykiller. Mr Right.
Mix of anachronisms
highlights global, timeless
nature of how patriarchy
oppresses women.
Simile suggests the pain the
baby boy will bring to QH’s
daughter. Nail allusion also
suggests the crucifixion.
Alliteration suggests
interchangeable stereotypes.
Aspiration could be
whispering.
Bitterly ironic conclusion to
list.
The baby breaks the pause
in the poem (no
enjambment here). The
kneeling of QH implies
worship.
Assonance of short e & long
o creates a tender, lyrical
effect like a lullaby, which
contrasts with…
Symbol of male vanity &
pride; reacts with rage to a
woman’s assertion of power.
Women supporting women
in a patriarchal society.
My baby stirred,
suckled the empty air for milk,
till I knelt
and the black Queen scooped out my breast,
the left, guiding it down
to the infant’s mouth.
No man, I swore,
will make her shed one tear.
A peacock screamed outside.
…the harsh long o &
aggressive diction – duality
of maternal love as both
nurturing & violently
protective.
The masculine symbol is
excluded  symbolically
emasculated by being
placed ‘outside’ the palace.
Time jump separates the
moment QH spent with the
queens. Half rhyme
emphasises dreamlike
quality…
Animals kneeling associated
with Christ. This & the
peacock suggest a female
connection with nature
which excludes men.
Gender reversal in simile.
‘Turbanned’ – foreign,
exotic. Plosives emphasise
that Queens are dangerous,
as does the word ‘beast’ –
they can control male
‘bestial’ desires.
Afterwards, it seemed like a dream.
The pungent camels
kneeling in the snow,
the guide’s rough shout
as he clapped his leather gloves,
hawked, spat, snatched
the smoky jug of mead
from the chittering maid –
she was twelve, thirteen.
I watched each turbaned Queen
rise like a god on the back of her beast.
And splayed that night
below Herod’s fusty bulk,
I saw the fierce eyes of the black Queen
flash again, felt her urgent warnings scald
my ear. Watch for a star, a star.
It means
he’s
here…
Imagery
of light
& heat
from
sexy Queen contrasts with
this, emphasised by
fricatives.
…which contrasts with the
harsh sensory imagery of
smelly camels & shouting
guide.
Asyndeton & cacophony
highlight guide’s roughness.
‘Snatched’ shows QH’s view
of male/female power
dynamics.
Foreshadows potential fate
of QH’s daughter.
Contrasts with QH’s
uncomfortable sex with her
husband. Diction of ‘fusty’ –
stale smelling - & ‘bulk’ –
he’s large! – implies
distaste.
Parallel structure &
anaphora show QH’s
mounting anger,
emphasised by infantilising
diction (‘lad’ & ‘Prince’ not
King).
Anachronistic term adds to
universality of themes – GIs!
Description resembles a
storybook villain.
‘mother’s son’ shows that
QH is aware that she is
protecting her own child by
destroying others. Maternal
instinct can be ruthless.
Suggests women lose their
identity on marriage.
Internal rhyme & asyndeton
add to the rhythm.
‘Nowt’ = nothing. Marriage
is an empty promise. Gold
imagery (cf Mrs Midas)
contrasts with description
of baby’s value in earlier
stanza.
Some swaggering lad to break her heart,
some wincing Prince to take her name away
and give a ring, a nothing, a nought in gold.
I sent for the Chief of Staff,
a mountain man
with a red scar, like a tick
to the mean stare of his eye.
Take men and horses,
knives, swords, cutlasses.
Ride East from here
and kill each mother’s son.
Do it. Spare not one.
Imperatives show QH’s
power – could be indirect
(women cannot exercise
power directly) OR abuse by
powerful individual.
End rhyme & caesura make
the tone curt & brutal here.
Natural world seems to
mirror QH’s emotional state
through personification of
stars/sky.
QH’s reverence towards
natural world & figures from
pagan mythology suggests
subversion of Christian
values in Nativity story.
Plosives suggest abrupt,
threatening appearance.
Em dash adds humour with
anachronistic allusion to ‘blue’
for a boy’.
The midnight hour. The chattering stars
shivered in a nervous sky.
Orion to the South
who knew the score, who’d seen,
not seen, then seen it all before;
the yapping Dog Star at his heels.
High up in the West
a studded, diamond W.
And then, as prophesied,
blatant, brazen, buoyant in the East –
and blue –
The Boyfriend’s Star.
Mythical Greek huntsman &
pursuer of women. May
symbolise patriarchy – ‘seen
it all before’ = male
oppression is eternal.
Diacope represents the
constellation’s endless
cycling through the sky.
Constellation of Cassiopeia
– enraged Poseidon by
boasting her daughter was
more beautiful than a sea
nymph. QH as imperfect
mother.
Anachronistic bathos adds to
universality of mothers’ fears
for their daughters.
Shift in structure to 3 tercets
signals a more formal, less
personal narrative. Honours
the three Queens.
Resigned tone suggests
powerlessness in the face of
the patriarchy.
Anaphora of collective
unifying pronoun creates a
choral effect & emphasises
universality of women’s
experience.
Cf Macbeth – Lady Macbeth
as archetype of female
savagery. ‘sleeping girls’
could suggest protectiveness
OR a degree of resentment?
Duality of motherhood –
tender & soothing/fiercely
protective & ruthless.
We do our best,
we Queens, we mothers,
mothers of Queens.
We wade through blood
for our sleeping girls.
We have daggers for eyes.
Suggests a specific
relationship – not just
parent/child. Pride in
daughter.
Double entendre – ‘looking
daggers’ but also can see
sharply (into the future?).
Behind our lullabies,
the hooves of terrible horses
thunder and drum.
Assonance of long I creates
initial soothing tone, later
contrasted with h aspirated
consonance (harsh
breathing) & half rhyme of
‘thunder and drum’ –
mimics hoofbeats.
Symbols
The Boy: symbolises
male oppression of
women.
The Peacock: symbolises
male oppression of
women.
Orion: symbolises male
oppression of women.
Global Issues
Maternal Instinct:
both tender &
ruthless.
Patriarchal
Oppression: through
marriage.
Collective Feminine
Power: subverts the
patriarchy.