before you were mine

who was before you were mine written by?

Duffy

what poem is best to compare before you were mine to?

Eden rock, follower or mother any distance

“in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy movie tomorrows”

hyperbole - emphasises the amount of fun and jealousy OR number of people, possession, jelous OR how much fun she had and how guilty she feels for taking it away - glamorous exciting language

“i remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics”

idolisation

red=love symbol

her mum (or the glamour) is scarce and precious

“my loud, possessive yell”

tone of regret that Duffy may have caused her mother to lose the carefree nature of her earlier life before her daughter was born

“clear as scent”

Duffy employs synaesthesia by blending smell and sight, this may be duffy reflecting on her first memories of her mother

“wrong pavement”

contrasts with the “right path” from the second stanza, which suggests Duffy thinks her mother made the wrong choice by having a child

“sparkle and waltz and laugh”

synthetic list - very positive and joyful verbs, written in present tense to highlight the change in behaviour and lifestyle her mother experienced after having a child

no fixed rhyme theme

represents freedom and endless opportunities