Duffy 'rapture': Elegy

What are the main themes of Duffy’s poem "Elegy"?

The main themes include death, mortality, intense intimacy, grief, love transcending death, and abject intimacy with the decaying body.

How is the poem structured?

The poem is structured in free verse, consisting of 16 lines divided into two octaves (8 lines each). The first stanza focuses on the physicality of the beloved and their corporeal presence, while the second stanza discusses more abstract ideas about love and mortality.

How does Duffy emphasize the impermanence of the beloved's physical existence?

Duffy uses the adjective ‘brittle’ to describe the bones of the beloved, evoking their fragility and the transient nature of life, highlighting the physical degradation after death.

What literary technique does Duffy use with the words "this" and "that" to describe the beloved?

Duffy uses demonstrative pronouns (e.g., "this" and "that") to create a sense of alienation and impersonality, emphasizing the emotional distance between the narrator’s intimate knowledge of the beloved’s body and how others may perceive it as lifeless and anonymous.

How does Duffy express the narrator's continued love for the deceased?

Duffy uses the present tense in the first octave to show that love persists beyond death, and adjectives like ‘perfectly’ and ‘beautiful’ convey a tone of reverence and affection for the beloved, suggesting that the narrator’s love remains undiminished despite mortality.

What is the significance of the narrator’s act of “counting with my lips”?

This act is ritualistic and sensual, underscoring the narrator’s attempt to reconnect with the beloved’s corpse and transcending the finality of death. It highlights the narrator’s obsessive devotion and grief, echoing acts of necrophilia or desperate mourning.

How does Duffy make an intertextual reference to Wuthering Heights?

The narrator's intimate acts with the beloved’s decaying body resemble Heathcliff’s actions in Wuthering Heights, where Heathcliff disturbs his deceased lover’s grave, symbolizing a desperate desire to retain intimacy and defy the separation of death.

How does the second stanza reflect the narrator’s reverence for the beloved?

The second stanza uses personification of ‘love’ (e.g., "Love loved you best"), portraying love as a powerful, omnipresent force. The metaphor of ‘lit you with a flame’ symbolizes intense passion and devotion, while references to ‘flesh’, ‘blood’, and ‘hair’ evoke religious imagery, likening the narrator’s love to a sacred act.

What religious imagery is used in the poem, and what does it signify?

The use of ‘flesh’, ‘blood’, and ‘garments’ evokes Christian sacrament (specifically the Eucharist), where the body and blood of Christ are consumed symbolically. The narrator’s love is presented as a ritualistic act akin to communion, elevating the intimacy to something sacred and divine.

What does the line “press their thumbs to the scars of your dates” signify?

This line uses tactile imagery to convey the narrator’s belief that no one else can ever have the same depth of intimacy with the beloved. It also suggests that the love they shared is unique and irreplaceable.

How does the final line of the poem convey the narrator’s grief?

The final line, “I would lie on the grass above your bones till I mirrored your pose, your infinite grace”, conveys the narrator’s deep grief and desire for consolation, symbolizing a form of union with the deceased. It also implies the narrator would mimic the stillness of death, reflecting the finality and immense sorrow after the lover’s passing.

How does the poem comment on the boundaries of love?

The poem suggests that love knows no boundaries, transcending moral, social, and mortal constraints. The narrator’s act of intimacy with the beloved’s corpse challenges the separation between the animate and inanimate, symbolizing love’s transcendence over societal norms and even death itself.

What does Duffy’s portrayal of love as a force imply in the poem?

Duffy presents love as an uncontrollable, transcendent force, similar to how nature functions in ‘You’. Love is depicted as boundless, dangerous, and all-consuming, willing to defy all barriers, even the boundary between life and death.