The Cord - Feminine Gospels

The Cord

Tells the story of a child's search for the story of her birth, in searching for "the cord" perhaps it suggests the hunt for an absent father.

Could perhaps be Duffy's daughter Ella who was born into a lesbian relationship. 

Title:

Emphasises the bond between mother & child.

Structure: 

The poem is a decication to her daughter "Ella" which is crucial to understanding to poem & the symbolism of the "cord".

The poem sees to chronologically map the growth of a child, her intellect grows at the child questions in the second stanza "had a princess spun it / from a golden spinning wheel? / could the cord be silver? was it real?" The rhyme of "wheel" and "real" and the monosyllabic last sentence adds to the sense of urgency that is beginning to invade the child's curiosity.

Techniques/Language/Themes: 

"Great Forest "ancient oak" "golden spinning wheel" = creates a tone of childhood fantasy, where all stories end happily. The…