Mean Time - Memory
Uploaded by angeli on Jan 13, 2002
Discuss ways in which memory is explored
“Mean time” is, in essence, a collection of poems concerned with history and memory throughout the anthology. Carol Ann Duffy uses many literary and thematic devices to explore the theme of memory such as the dramatic monologue which enables the socialisation of self who can then speak without the fear of censorship; objectivity of viewpoints. It provides disassociation for the poet from the persona in which they are speaking thus making the poetry more universal and accessible, especially due to the different personas that Carol Ann Duffy adopts. These enable her to her to incite different times of life from which memories are, for example, Captain of the 1964 team” for childhood to “Adultery” for the pinnacle of adulthood and as the anthology progresses, the poetry becomes darker and less idealistic. The language highlights this; “star spangled and burst like a red balloon” to language of death throughout the later poetry. The difference of gendered and ungendered voices seems to re-negotiate the boundaries more acutely in love poetry between the lover and the beloved. Carol Ann Duffy uses personal memory with interwoven references to texts such as DH Lawrence’s “Humming Bird” in “Captain” which contexualise her poetry and add weight to its meaning.
A poem in which Duffy uses the device of evoking idealistic memory through childhood is in “Captain of the 1964 Team”. She underwrites personal memories with external textual references, for example in the progression of language from babyhood to adulthood, which encapsulates the meaning of the poem itself. “Humming bird is likened to the DH Lawrence’s work of the same name citing that it is “Primeval dumb, far back” which intensifies the theme of memory.
Within the poems I am using to examine the question of memory in Mean Time, temporal progression is represented by the progression by stanza and word association in “Captain” and in “Moments of Grace” where they “look for the doing words” juxtaposed to “peeling an orange”. This temporal movement is important in the theme of memory and enhances the poems effectiveness in conveying memory through the sense of urgency or disappointment that it invokes.
This is clearly illustrated in “Moments of Grace” where reflection is the force behind the poems effectiveness. Word association within it of “staggering” suggests disorientation further heightened by imbalanced lines and complex similes that Duffy uses to evoke remembrance. “Dusk” suggests an indistinct...