Prayer by Carol Ann Duffy

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  • Created by: Bethany
  • Created on: 08-04-19 16:42
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  • Prayer By Carol Ann Duffy
    • Structure
      • SONNET: a love poem, in this case maybe for God
      • AB AB CD CD EF EF AB
      • Iambic Pentameter
    • Connotations of 'Prayer'
      • Ritual
      • Dedication
      • Blessing
      • Form of communication
      • God/religion
      • Help/hope
      • From the heart
        • Religious or not?
        • Internal connection
      • Giving thanks
    • Themes
      • Memory
      • Peace
      • Religion/Ritual
      • Despair/Pain
      • Healing
    • STANZA 4
      • "Darkness outside" - threatening
      • "Inside" - light, hopeful
      • "radio's prayer" - unusual form of prayer
      • "Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre." - places read on a shipping forcast; comforting
        • Poem finishes with word meaning 'ends of the Earth' - end of world/entrance to Heaven
        • Repeated and unending
  • From the heart
    • Religious or not?
    • Internal connection
  • "we" - Duffy's positioning herself with others
    • Collective experiences
    • STANZA 1
      • "a prayer/ utters itself" - not actively doing it (instinctive)
        • Personification of the prayer
      • "sieve of her hands" - kitchen utensil referring to woman's trad. domestic work in the kitchen?
        • Metaphor for filtering worry/distress; inescapable loss for women
      • "minims sung by a tree"
        • Personification: the wind rustling the leaves
      • "gift" - joyous and free; contrast to the sieve
      • Prayer By Carol Ann Duffy
        • Structure
          • SONNET: a love poem, in this case maybe for God
          • AB AB CD CD EF EF AB
          • Iambic Pentameter
        • Connotations of 'Prayer'
          • Ritual
          • Dedication
          • Blessing
          • Form of communication
          • God/religion
          • Help/hope
          • Giving thanks
        • Themes
          • Memory
          • Peace
          • Religion/Ritual
          • Despair/Pain
          • Healing
        • STANZA 4
          • "Darkness outside" - threatening
          • "Inside" - light, hopeful
          • "radio's prayer" - unusual form of prayer
          • "Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre." - places read on a shipping forcast; comforting
            • Poem finishes with word meaning 'ends of the Earth' - end of world/entrance to Heaven
            • Repeated and unending
  • "a prayer/ utters itself" - not actively doing it (instinctive)
    • Personification of the prayer
  • STANZA 2
    • "faithless" - secularisation of society
    • "truth" - your own situation
      • What you've ignored, religion, problem...
    • "enters our hearts" - religious words/prayer
    • "small familiar pain" - happened before; a pang (good but sad)
    • "man" - prayer is universal; contrast to woman in S1
    • "stand stock-still" - profound impact
    • "distant Latin chanting of a train" - rhythm of line replicates train
      • Sound of train mimics Latin chants
  • STANZA 3
    • "Pray for us now" - imperative
    • "Grade 1 piano scales" - unusual but provides same comfort
      • Nostalgic memories perhaps of childhood
        • Hopeful + painful image of solace
          • Doesn't need to pray b'c piano brings comfort
      • Doesn't need to pray b'c piano brings comfort
    • "a Midlands town" - unnamed gives sense of loneliness
    • "console the lodger" - lonely image
    • "calls/a child's name" - everyday activity
  • Locates mystical experiences in everyday life
    • e.g. when in despair, isolation, difficulty
  • While none of the practices are religious they have the same effect as a prayer

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