Originally Carol Ann Duffy

Context Originally is an autobiographical poem about Duffy and her family moving from Scotland to England and the impact this had on the family. Carol Ann Duffy was six years old when her family moved from Glasgow to Stafford. The poem reflects a young person’s move from one country to another.

Structure and Form Originally is made up of three 8-line verses. The poem is in first person from the viewpoint of a young child at the start of the poem and then progresses to an adult reflecting on the experience towards the end of the poem. We came from our own country in a red room which fell through the fields, our mother singing our father’s name to the turn of the wheels. My brothers cried, one of them bawling, Home, Home, as the miles rushed back to the city, the street, the house, the vacant rooms where we didn’t live any more. I stared at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw. All childhood is an emigration. Some are slow, leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays. Others are sudden. Your accent wrong. Corners, which seem familiar, leading to unimagined pebble-dashed estates, big boys eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand. My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head. I want our own country, I said. But then you forget, or don’t recall, or change, and, seeing your brother swallow a slug, feel only a skelf of shame. I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake, my voice in the classroom sounding just like the rest. Do I only think I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space and the right place? Now, Where do you come from? strangers ask. Originally? And I hesitate.

Key Themes Isolation Impact on Family Confusion Change & Time Loss Importance of Childhood memories and experiences Nostalgia National and Individual Identity

Isolation “big boys/ eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand.” Reinforces her sense of confusion as she is met with this behavior and language that is foreign to her. “Big”, “Eating worms” and “shouting” all create aggressive impressions of the boys, and intensify a sense of vulnerability and feelings of isolation as this behavior is unknown to her.

National Identity “We came from our own country” Duffy makes reference to Scotland being her “own country” “Own” suggests she still associates herself as being a part of Scotland and has difficulty in separating herself from Scotland.

Loss “Home, Home,” Repetition and capitalisation of “Home” reinforces the misery and overwhelming sense of loss that she relates with this time of her childhood.

Relevant Techniques Personification “miles rushed back to the city,” This reinforces Duffy’s inability to embrace the change and shows how much Duffy longs to return home. Metaphor “All childhood is an emigration” Introduces the idea of how childhood is equated with both physical and mental changes that are out of our control.

Word Choice “a red room” This makes reference to the vehicle they’re travelling in. “red” has connotations of anger and danger which represents the feelings of anxiety and betrayal Duffy feels. Simile “my tongue/ shedding its skin like a snake” Duffy compares losing her Scottish accent to a snake shedding its skin. This suggests regrowth, with the loss of her accent, she gains a new one however she still feels sad at the loss of her Scottish accent. Also conveys the change that she’s been through was an uncomfortable experience.