Anne Hathaway
by Carol Ann Duffy from The World's Wife
'Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed ...'
(from Shakespeare's will)
The bed we loved in was a spinning world
of {forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas}
Suggests speed
exhilaration and
excitement.
Suggests
enchantment, or
magical
where we would dive for pearls. My lover's words
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
Suggests fairy-tale
romance
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed
a page beneath his writer's hands. Romance
and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose. My living laughing love I hold him in the casket of my widow's head
as he held me upon that next best bed.
Suggests a carnival
atmosphere or
celebration
Suggests extreme
height – almost
dizzying – proximity
to danger, dominance
Suggests romance as
a pearl is an
expensive and rare
precious stone, it
takes a lot of effort to
gather them. Also
suggests
exotic/unusual. Also
quite an erotic image.
{All settings for
Shakespeare’s plays}
Metaphor. Suggests brightness,
magic, special.
The bed we loved in was a spinning world
of {forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas}
where we would dive for pearls. My lover's words
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed
a page beneath his writer's hands. Romance
and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose. My living laughing love I hold him in the casket of my widow's head
as he held me upon that next best bed.
Continuing the metaphor - A
tactile and sensual image,
reiterates the fact that theirs
was a physical and emotional
relationship. She admired his
skill as a writer.
Metaphor. Suggests the lovers’
connectedness; sense of belonging
to one and other; fulfilling each
other. Literary connection through
mention of rhyme.
Another literary term. Suggests
that they are very similar, but also
have their own individuality.
Metaphor. Suggesting her
lover’s ability to create – a verb
is an action word. Taken in the
context of a physical
relationship this could suggest
her lover’s ability to bring life.
Suggests she thinks of herself
as his creation; his love made
her a complete person – she
owes everything to him.
Presents the bed as a
blank page – somewhere
to be imaginative and
dream. Suggests that
she is the recipient of his
creativity.
Compares their
relationship to actors in
a great performance.
Again very sensual
imagery – all of the
senses are involved in
this poem.
Sleeping (with a
suggestion of laziness),
The bed we loved in was a spinning world
while others are more
pleasurably engaged
of {forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas}
;-) Nudge, nudge, wink,
where we would dive for pearls. My lover's words wink.
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme
to his, now echo, assonance; his touch
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun.
Connotations of old age
and messiness compared
with the others’
apparent creativity and
vitality/energy
Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed Suggests that their
a page beneath his writer's hands. Romance
and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.
In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose. My living laughing love I hold him in the casket of my widow's head
as he held me upon that next best bed.
The poem uses the sonnet form, a form Shakespeare
famously used.
guests’ lives are not as
exciting as
Shakespeare’s and
Hathaway’s – S and H
have poetry which is
exciting, imaginative and
creative, but their guests
“dribble[e] prose”
Alliteration: Emphasises
her fondness and love
for him. She misses his
energy and the sound of
him.
Rhyming couplet. A casket is
generally an empty, hollow
container. Suggests that she
is empty/lost without him,
but is trying to hold on tight
to his memory. Simile
compares her holding on to
his memory to him
embracing her in their
marriage bed.