Carol Ann Duffy Swing

1st stanza Reference to marriage – someone putting a ring on someone’s finger. This action is done out of choice. Someone had looped a rope over a branch and made a rought swing for the birch tree next to the river. We passed it, walking and walking Enjambment Caesura Suggestion; someone walking down the aisle into the future of love. Repetition; walking for a long time, representing the length of their relationship.

1st stanza Idea continues of marriage is like entering a new love life. Metaphor; veil is a traditional item of clothing for the bride to wear during marriage. into our new love; soft, unbearable dawns of desire where mist was the water’s veil, or foam boasted and frothed like champagne at the river’s bend. Simile; comparing the water to the champagne that the bride and groom use to celebrate their new beginning. Description of the water, could be used towards the description of the champagne; a token of celebration.

2nd stanza Geese; no individual personality, appear quite structured. Second person direct address. First person. Imagery. You asked me if I was sure, as a line of Canada geese crowded the other bank, happy as wedding guests. Yes, sure as the vision that flares in my head, away from you now, Enjambment Caesura Second person direct address.

2nd stanza It is an elegant, important colour, representing 25 years of marriage, also resembling that there is more to come. Second person direct address. of the moment you climbed on the swing, and swung out into the silver air, the endless affirmative blue, like something from heaven on earth, from paradise. Suggestion; could be a reference to a cultural rhyme associated with marriage. Could give the suggestion of the honeymoon and also happy ever after.