12.1.1

Summary, Structure & Form

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Summary of Before You Were Mine

Carol Ann Duffy's poem Before You Were Mine tracks the relationship of the poet's mother with her own mother.

Background

Background

  • Duffy was born in Glasgow in 1955.
  • Duffy was formerly the Poet Laureate.
  • This poem shifts between the past and the present in a fluid manner, encompassing both the life of Duffy’s mother in the past and their relationship in the present.
Summary

Summary

  • The poem begins in an uncertain time frame – Duffy is in the present but she is looking at a photograph from the past of her mother with her friends.
  • The narrator goes on to imagine her mother’s life before she was born, informed by photographs and stories her mother has told her.
  • The narrator considers how her mother’s happiest years were in the 10 years before she was born.
  • The poem ends with the narrator’s own childhood, in which she fondly remembers her mother teaching her how to dance.
Parental relationships

Parental relationships

  • Duffy explores parental relationships in an innovative way in this poem – imagining her mother’s life before she had her and exploring what she gave up to be a mother.
  • Through this layered interpretation of her life, Duffy tries to imagine her mother as a whole person – beyond her role as a parent and care giver.
  • Duffy also recognises her mother's deep love for her – as she has given up these pursuits of her youth to care for her.

Structure and Form in Before You Were Mine

Here are some key features of the structure and form in Before You Were Mine:

Circular structure

Circular structure

  • The poem has a circular structure.
    • The narrator describes her mother on the pavement in both the first and last stanza. The difference is that, in the first stanza, the narrator was 'not here yet'.
    • A contrast is also drawn between the narrator's mother having fun and laughing with her friends, and then teaching her daughter how to dance.
Playing with time

Playing with time

  • The poem is set out in four equal stanzas, showing the steady passage of time.
  • But within these stanzas, Duffy shifts from her present to her mother’s past – ‘I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on’ and ’now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square’.
  • Past and present merge to create a portrait of her mother.
Jump to other topics
1

When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)

1.1

When We Two Parted Analysis

1.1.1Summary & Structure1.1.2Themes: Death & Loss1.1.3Themes: Time & Anger1.1.4Key Quotes & Comparisons1.1.5End of Topic Test - When We Two Parted
2

Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

2.1

Love's Philosophy Analysis

2.1.1Summary & Structure2.1.2Themes2.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons2.1.4End of Topic Test - Love's Philosophy2.1.5Exam-Style Questions - Love's Philosophy
3

Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

3.1

Porphyria’s Lover Analysis

3.1.1Summary & Structure3.1.2Themes: Porphyria & Violence3.1.3Themes: Sin & Pathetic Fallacy3.1.4Key Quotes & Comparisons3.1.5End of Topic Test - Porphyria's Lover
4

Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

4.1

Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis

4.1.1Summary & Structure4.1.2Themes4.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
5

Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

5.1

Neutral Tones Analysis

5.1.1Summary & Structure5.1.2Themes5.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons5.1.4End of Topic Test - Sonnet 29 & Neutral Tones
6

Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)

6.1

Letters from Yorkshire Analysis

6.1.1Summary & Structure6.1.2Themes6.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
7

The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

7.1

The Farmer's Bride Analaysis

7.1.1Summary, Structure & Form7.1.2Themes7.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons7.1.4End of Topic Test - Dooley & Mew7.1.5Exam-Style Questions - The Farmer's Bride
8

Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

8.1

Walking Away Analysis

8.1.1Summary, Structure & Form8.1.2Themes8.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
9

Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)

9.1

Eden Rock Analysis

9.1.1Summary, Structure & Form9.1.2Themes9.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons9.1.4End of Topic Test - Walking Away & Eden Rock
10

Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

10.1

Follower Analysis

10.1.1Summary, Structure & Form10.1.2Themes10.1.3Quotes and Comparisons
11

‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born 1963

11.1

'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis

11.1.1Summary, Structure & Form11.1.2Themes11.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons11.1.4End of Topic Test - Follower& Mother, Any Distance
12

Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)

12.1

Before You Were Mine Analysis

12.1.1Summary, Structure & Form12.1.2Themes12.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
13

Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

13.1

Winter Swans Analysis

13.1.1Summary, Structure & Form13.1.2Themes13.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons13.1.4End of Topic Test - Duffy & Sheers
14

Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)

14.1

Singh Song! Analysis

14.1.1Summary, Structure & Form14.1.2Themes14.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
15

Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

15.1

Climbing My Grandfather Analysis

15.1.1Summary, Structure & Form15.1.2Themes15.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons15.1.4End of Topic Test - Nagra & Waterhouse
16

Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1

Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
17

Recap: Main Quotes

17.1

Recap: Main Quotes

17.1.1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)17.1.2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley17.1.3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)17.1.4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (17.1.5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)17.1.6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)17.1.7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)17.1.8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)17.1.9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)17.1.10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)17.1.11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963)17.1.12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)17.1.13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)17.1.14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)17.1.15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

Practice questions on Summary, Structure & Form

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  1. 1
    Summary of Before you Were MinePut in order
  2. 2
    Has Carol Ann Duffy ever been Poet Laureate?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Facts about Carol Ann Duffy:True / false
  4. 4
    What time frames does the poem _Before You Were Mine_ focus on?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Structure and form in _Before You Were Mine_:True / false
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End of Topic Test - Follower& Mother, Any Distance

Themes