stafford afternoons

Describe the persona of this poem

The persona is an adult recounting a traumatic childhood memory of an adult exposing himself to her and being rid of her childlike innocence

What is the type of narration for this poem

It is a homodiegetic narrator

Describe the structure of of the stanzas in the poem

Stafford afternoons has 6stanzas and each are 4 line stanzas making them a quatrain, there is no fixed rhyme scheme and instead the poem weaves her narrative of events so each stanza builds up to an event making it formal and orderly however it can also reflect that the adult is so deeply traumatised that she was able to recount the memories vividly in order

What type of verse is the poem written in

It is written in free verse

Why could you say that the poem is autobiographical

Because the events took place in Stafford where she grew up in

What are the themes of the poem

Place, memories, innocence, time, loss, isolation

How is place a theme of this poem

Because the place is portrayed as threatening and isolated which contrasts with conventional connotations of a suburban area. Duffy has used this to create a sense of enigma and foreshadow what is gonna happen later on in the poem

How is memories a theme of this poem

Because the persona looking back on an experience which had happened when she was a child. It also shows how this memory is vivid and has stayed with her and has taken her childhood away from her

How is innocence a theme of this poem

The poem uses personification and childhood images to show how her innocence has been taken away from her too early

How is time a theme of this poem

In the Poe time stand still and at the end it falls from the sky. It shows her childhood was taken away from her too early and the mundanity of the place

How is loss a theme of this poem

In the poem the persona loses her innocence, childhood and time because of a traumatic experience

How is isolation a key theme of this poem

The place is described as isolating, threatening and trapping. It is symbolic for the bubble of childhood

“Only there, the afternoons could suddenly pause” analysis

• the spatial deixis of “only there” implies the persona has negative attachments to this place as it is a symbol of her trauma. It also gives a sense of detachment

• The intransitive verb “pause” could convey the place as monotonous and dull, it could also describe her traumatic event and how it paused her childhood innocence

“I looked up from lacing my shoe a long road held no-one, the gardens were empty, an ice cream van chimed and dwindled” analysis

• The indefinite pronoun “no-noun”, the adjective “empty” and the action verb “dwindled” all create a semantic field of isolation. The isolation could represent how she was isolated and trapped within her childhood

• the ice-cream truck “chimed and dwindled” implies that her childhood innocence is gonna escape her, foreshadowing the traumatic events which will eventually take place

“On the motorway bridge, I waved at windscreens, oddly hurt by the blurred waves back, the speed” analysis

• she waves at the common noun “windscreens” instead of the people which adds on to the sense of loneliness and isolation

• The act of her doing the regular verb “waved” at the windscreen showed that she is bored and lonely

• It is strange that she is the adjective “oddly hurt” as it is usually an exciting game to play for a child. This implies the place is negative and melancholy

• The abstract noun “speed” adds to the sense of isolation as they are leaving her

“And invented, in colour, a vivid lie for us both” analysis

• her daydreams are liras as they’re not her reality. She wants to escape her reality

• The descriptive adjective “vivid” and “in colour” converts the quality of her daydream. The adjective “colour” implies her daydreams are exciting juxtaposing her black and white reality

“In a cul de sac, a strange boy threw a stone. I crawled through a hedge into a long grass at the edge of a small wood, lonely and thrilled” analysis

• The common noun “cul-de-sac”, the descriptive adjective “small” and a countable noun “hedge” implies that she feels trapped in this place. This could be a metaphor that she is trapped from reality. The fact that she is escaping through the hedge implies she is leaving childhood and facing reality

• The “long grass” can be a metaphor that she can’t see what is in front of her and is blinded by her innocence

• Woods are usually associated with fairytales and childhood however this wood is more sinister foreshadowing something will take place in the woods which is not suitable for children

• The adjective “lonely” and “thrilled” juxtaposes each other, implying how she is excited for her adventure

“The green silence gulped once and swallowed me whole” analysis

The plosives shows that the woods gold something sinister and danger was approaching

“The way the trees drew sly faces from light and shade, the woods lets out its sticky breath on the back of my neck and flowering nettles gathered spit in their throats” analysis

• the personification of the trees, nettles and wood is threatening and frightening reflecting the imagination of the child

• The phrase “light and shade” is used instead of shadows implying the battle between good and bad or the light of childhood/innocence or the darkness of adulthood/reality

• The oxymoron “flowering nettles” gives positive connotations of growing up but the “nettle” juxtapose this and implies th dangers and pain that growing up can cause

“Too late”

• it’s a minor sentence and reflects how quick th traumatic event had occurred and she regrets because she thought it could be avoided

“With a living, purple root in his hand” analysis

• the euphemism showcases a childish way to describe the penis emphasising how her childish innocence prevented her from having full knowledge on what is happening to her

“Into a game where children scattered and shrieked” analysis

• The persona has now lost her identity as an innocent child snd it can’t be seen when she is detached from the other kids as they still have their innocence meanwhile she doesn’t

• The action verbs scattered and shrieked showcases their childlike behaviours

• The plosives in shattered and shrieked, this contracts the silence which occurred in the woods

“Time fell from the sky like a red ball” analysis

• the simile showcases how quick time went showcasing how quickly she went from being an innocent child to more mature. She was forced to grow up fast because of her traumatic experience

• May be a biblical allusion as to how an angel fell from heaven and entered hell reflecting how she fell from her innocent childhood into the hell of adulthood

What is the message of the poem

• to be careful when leaving your comfort zone

• Warning against naivety and growing up too quickly