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.
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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
Metaphor. Their love
was consuming and
dizzying. It threw her off
balance and made her
view the world
differently.
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.
Assonance.
Shakespeare’s words
seduced her.
where we would dive for pearls. My lover’s words
Enjambment
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.
His work, creativity and
language were all gifts from God
“fell from earth” which
impassioned her.
Continuing the language metaphor.
Suggesting that she is feminine while
Shakespeare was masculine. She was
powerless to his touch.
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
Enjambment. She finds
his touch exciting and
erotic. “dancing” = his
touch – moving,
unpredictable, exciting.
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
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
Enjambment.
Romance is what
she associates more
with their
relationship.
The genres that Shakespeare is famous for.
Suggests that his work mirrored their life.
and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
Use of senses -she can very vividly
recall their love and passion.
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 “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.