Feminine Gospels Poems

What is ‘The Long Queen’ about?

Duffy introduces the collection by empowering women universally and embracing ‘laws’ of femininity

Themes in ‘The Long Queen’

Empowerment, Shared Experiences and History

Who is thought to be referenced in The Long Queen?

Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned for 45 years.

What were the Long Queen’s ‘laws’?

Childhood, Blood, Tears, Childbirth

How is The Long Queen’s position in the collection significant?

The LQ introduces the collection and encapsulates the female experience. Duffy also presents a feminine gospel truth, challenging the literary canon and introducing the central themes of the collection.

The Long Queen - Evidence of Empowerment

• ‘The Long Queen couldn’t die’ - Duffy presents this as a gospel truth, a figure who has lived and will live on

• Asyndeton of men who are cast aside and ignored by the LQ

• Taking ‘Time for a husband’ - she has control over who she marries - free from patriarchal influence under an enforced matriarch. She prioritises her reign over romance and marriage.

• ‘Long live the Queen’ - monosyllabic, the syntax places ‘Queen’ last in the stanza, further highlighting her importance and long life

The Long Queen - Evidence of History

• The poem’s consistent structure reflects the stability of her reign, perhaps Liz I’s reign

• ‘Young when she bowed her head’ ‘the cold weight of the crown’ references Liz becoming Queen at 25 years old

• Reference to witches - the mistreatment of women and fears of witchcraft

• ‘She sent her explorers away in creaking ships’ - The British Empire? discovering new lands/women to rule over

• ‘no cause for complain’ - historical mistreatment of women and girls with periods

• ‘the light music of girls…’ - women of all ages are embraced by the LQ

The Long Queen - Evidence of Shared Experiences

• Words of Law - positively represented as laws of femininity over negativity fuelled by misogyny.

• Thoughts on childbirth - ‘the pain was worth it’, oxymoronic ‘sore flowers’ all fight common conceptions of pregnancy, stating it is something to embrace even in realistic pain

• Gossip being a core part of the female experience - happiness and core time spent with other women while the LQ remains separate

What is ‘Tall’ about?

Duffy presents the social mobility of women and how men mistreat women in the workplace and in society. Female empathy is still shown despite this.

Themes in ‘Tall’

Marginalisation, Identity and Shared Experiences

Tall - Evidence of Marginalisation

• Traffic light - She bypasses signals to stop, gaining power and social mobility

• Men on stilts imagery - representative of how men diminish female achievement while women celebrate it

• “What could she see up there?” - her gift is reduced to a societal role

• “howled” - dehumanised to show her distancing from society

Tall - Evidence for Identity

• Starting with ‘Then’ - her past is forgotten, her identity revolves around her height

• Entering masculine spaces - her social status changes with her biology - Duffy presents this ridiculous notion as if it were fact, the common misconception

• Gaining height =/ gaining happiness - social mobility does not bring solace for women as other issues continue to contribute

• Female empathy in 9/11 reference - her mistreatment doesn’t matter in her attempts to save humanity

Tall - Evidence for Shared Experiences

• Catcalling - caesuras interrupt the meter, mirroring how women’s lives are interrupted by catcalling

• Seeing others in buildings - missing out on human experiences with her height

What is ‘Anon’ about?

Female writers being mis-represented and forgotten in the literary canon - Duffy fights for a stronger female canon.

What literary references are made in ‘Anon’?

“her skull on a shelf in a room” - Hamlet, “hey nonny” - Much Ado About Nothing

Themes in ‘Anon’

History, Female Identity and Heritage

Anon - Evidence of History

• Introduces with the conditional - remembering the voices of the past and amending misrepresentation

• Repetition of ‘she’ - demonstrating the presence of females throughout history

• Female professions of education - Nuns were taught how to write, lost literary canon is carried

• Arrival of a rhyme scheme - elements of female writing passed down over time + cohesion connects women across generations. Literary Vocab and ‘she lived on’ supports this

• ‘But I know best’ - Duffy enters with a modern POV as a successful writer

Anon - Evidence of Identity

• ‘Anon’ - forgotten female identity with no care to amend it, a continuing fight for equality

• ‘her skull on a shelf’ - shows voiceless nature of women and reference to Hamlet - female work is important but not fuelled. Skull also lacks specificity except from the female pronoun - universal in its image.

• ‘cleared its throat’ - the female voice is obsolete in skeletal remains

• ‘hey nonny’ - MAAN reference - Duffy tells female writers to focus on themselves and build a stronger female canon

Anon - Evidence for Heritage

• ‘But I know best’ - Duffy enters with a modern POV as a successful writer. Using her voice to combat female voicelessness

• ‘How she passed her pen like a baton’ - representing writers who came before her + semantics of sport connect to ‘Sub’

What is ‘The Light Gatherer’ about?

Duffy presenting her love for her daughter using semantics of light and developing imagery as her light grows.

Themes in ‘The Light Gatherer’

Life and Growth, Motherhood

Who is ‘The Light Gatherer’ about?

Duffy’s daughter Ella, who was born in 1995. As Duffy was in aa lesbian relationship, her father was Peter Benson.

How does the light imagery develop in ‘The Light Gatherer’?

“a candleworth under the skin”, “two clear raindrops”, “your kissed feet glowed”, “lit like a stage set”, “when language came, it glittered like a river”, “the whole moon held in your arms”, “shine like a snowgirl”, “a jewelled cave”

How does internal rhyme contribute in ‘The Light Gatherer’?

Connections between her daughter and light are made. “Skin” + “Begin” sets her on a journey of growth, supported by the “growth” of light in her

Quotes to signify her daughter’s emitting light in ‘The Light Gatherer’

“lit like a stage set” - her light shines on others as well as on herself, “a buttercup under a chin” - games for children highlights her joyful childhood and her natural happiness, “the end of a tunnel of years” - Light opens possibility and growth from a cave of beautiful light colours