In the famous Birthday line referenced above the line breaks perfectly mimic the way in which Monroe sang it, allowing the reader to begin to recollect even before the “Mr.

After witnessing a woman waste away to almost nothing, being swept by the wind there is almost this relief when we realize it is merely an inner desire. Duffy takes the reader through the school day filling in each character as she goes, but the true exploration of each woman is not until we are able to understand her personal life. From verbal nuances to mind-expanding imaginative leaps, her words seem freshly plucked from the minds of non-poets -- that is, she makes it look easy' Charlotte Mendelson, Observer 'Nobody is ever going to need to be told how to enjoy a Carol Ann Duffy poem . This is exemplified by the subject matter of both poems separately that both deal with certain beauty standards, and the forceful nature in which women are expected to uphold those. I have read anything I can get my hands on since I was a small child, but have never really been able to get into poetry.

A mysterious giggle grows ineluctably into an all-consuming merriment that destroys the whole structure of grammar school propriety.

These are great as individual poems (mostly) but, as an anthology, the same themes endlessly repeated become tedious. And though she uses conventional stanza forms she somehow seems to make their blocks disappear so that they all blend smoothly into a delicious current, causing the poems to flow, carrying the alluvial affection for Duffy's subject.

Together, they will challenge and entertain as they explore the fullness of the female condition through their author's unique poetic voice. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. As a way of understanding just how these women were viewed in their respective periods, and this examination of historic figures may not become evident until the reader’s knowledge corresponds with the writing. in stripping women bare of their layers, carol ann duffy centres her anthology feminine gospels on expanding upon the historical, the archetypal, the biblical, and the fantastical visions of female identity, often rewriting them as she sees fit. It is one thing to examine celebrity and analyze it; it is very different when a poet begins to explain how that celebrity may effect the general population.