Anisa Khatoon 6C1
How does Duffy present her ideas in ‘The Long Queen?’
The Long Queen is one of many poems from ‘feminine gospels’ written by Carol Ann Duffy. It portrays feminism and feminist beliefs giving female empowerment and a sense of female identity.
The long queen is the first poem in the collection, which is quite significant because it can be considered as the most important poem due to it being the first one of the collection but also because the title itself. The queen is the most powerful female around and so by having this as the first poem gives credit to the queen as she was one of the most successful monarchs of time.
The first line immediately catches the attention of the reader with its first line. “The long queen couldn’t die”. The use of the word “couldn’t” plants the question in the reader’s mind as to why the queen couldn’t die and if she is even portrayed human or not in the poem. It also shows that maybe it isn’t a choice for her and that she has to go on and be a success. This shows her importance as it suggests that the queen couldn’t die because we don’t know where we would be without her. Also that even if she did die physically, she would still be on our minds and her soul will go on because she is an icon for many especially women who went through a lot of struggles during the era. The fact that she made a lot of changes to women’s lives and they will forever be thankful to her that she couldn’t die shows how much they relied on her. Alternatively this could be looked at in a different way. During the time people would be punished if they mentioned the queen dying because it suggested Gods power would stop so this could be another reason for saying the long queen couldn’t die.
In the next sentence, it goes on to say that she would have to bear the ‘cold weight’ of the crown implying that with such a huge role comes huge responsibility and that not everyone would like her which is true even in this day and age. Not everyone will like you for what you do but you have to prevent them from hindering you as a person and for her as an icon for many. It then carries on to give a list of males e.g. the duke, the lord, the foreign prince, showing that she was the only female surrounded by all these males yet still maintained her role to a high standard. This one female had to represent all females in a male dominated world which can’t be easy to handle yet she made it look fairly easy. It continues to say that even though she was surrounded by males she managed to take ‘Time’ for a husband, time being capitalised. We use a capital at the start of a sentence and so this could personify the start of something new.
In the second stanza, it asks what she was the queen of and it continues to give a list including matrons, wives, girls, showing that no matter what social class, she still treated them all the same. Her law was in the ‘wild kicks of their dancing’ showing that the queen became a part of who people were. It could suggest that she made women feel happy and free. The stanza ends with ‘no girl born who wasn’t the long queen’s always child’. This shows that she is in control of people which links in with what I said earlier about God because she was seen as an image of God and as a mother to all. She didn’t have any children in real life, however the nation was her child and each new child born became one of her own.
The third stanza can come across quite melancholy as it could symbolize death and in particular her husbands. This can be found when it mentioned the queen ruling regardless of her being ‘in a tower in the dark heart of a wood’. This could be personification because when her husband died she only ever wore black and never stopped mourning his death. This could also show her courage and determination because even though she was going through a hard time she still continued to do her job even if it was locked away. She would still support her country. Lastly, she can be referred to a fairy-tale character Rapunzel. She was a good person but trapped in a tower due to the evil witch. Referring this to the poem, it could show that even though all women are different, some can be good people, some can be bad, and we are all trapped by the conventions of society.
The fourth stanza starts with a rhetorical question ‘what were her laws?’ This could imply that even though women’s lives may be different, their roles in society are still the same. This stanza then ends with no girl growing who wasn’t the ‘apple of the long queen’s eye’. Being an apple to someone’s eye connotes something very precious again showing that motherly side to the queen.
Moving on to structure, these next few stanzas showcase the journey from a girl to a women. Each stanza has a different stage starting with ‘childhood’ and then progressing onto ‘childbirth’. They are all of same length and this regular motion could be a reflection of the life cycle.
Stanza five, tells the journey of a girl maturing into a women by beginning her menstrual cycle. We get a semantic feel when it says the following: ‘royal red’, ‘pain’, things to do with a woman being on her period. It continues to say ‘no cause for complaint’, which shows that Duffy thinks that being on a period is a good thing because it means being able to reproduce which is a blessing from God. It’s what gives a female her identity and so should be something to celebrate. It means that women are eternal because they live on to reproduce children who can help empower the world in the future. The stanza goes on to talk about tears because in reality, with a period comes a menopause which can be a devastating thing for many women. The word ‘tears’ implies grief and thus the change from being able to reproduce to becoming infertile.
Stanza six talks about childbirth. As I have mentioned during the essay, a child was seen as a gift from God and was treated as one of her own by the Queen. We imagine children being beautiful and special, however Duffy doesn’t think of them in this way. She chooses to tell the truth about them in the sense of the pain they cause during childbirth. She talks of how painful it is to be in labour mentioning them being ‘bawled and slithered into their arms’. Duffy makes them sound unhuman but in reality this is what it is like. It goes on to say ‘some to be godmother, aunt, teacher’, suggesting that not all women are fortunate enough to have children but they can still share the bond with children by being their carer etc. The stanza ends with ‘no mother bore daughter not named to honour the queen’. This shows that women all over the country looked up to the Queen and so named their children after her because they aspired to be like her. She was the representation of everyone feminism and loved people dearly.
Moving on to the last stanza, it ends in a way to give credit to the queen for all her work she has done to better the lives of others. ‘All her pleasures were stories’, showing that people would read all about her and be fascinated by what an honourable person she was, one being female, and two being the queen. ‘Drifting up on the air to the high window’. This is an imagery of persona. She is towering over the world and this is symbolic, as she is portrayed as a giant like structure. Even the negative things she hears: ‘gossip, scandal’, she hears everything yet still supports people, taking pleasure in what they do. It shows how down to earth she was and how caring she was for women for we all go through the same struggles and by hearing each other out we can become stronger and powerful. It then goes on to say that she addresses all and doesn’t discriminate against. Her ears turn to the ‘light music of girls, the drums of women, the faint strings of the old’. She is using music to represent the different stages of a female. The light strings are a reflection of a girl starting her life of a women, still unsure of what is happening with her life, however with experience, she changes into a women, which in terms of music is the drums. The drums are loud and overtake the music, showing that this is the highlight of a female’s life. It is loud and increases in strength compared to a light string. As a women matures, she has children, gets a job gets a house and this is when life is at its loudest. The faint strings being when life has climaxed. Your children have grown up, you have retired and are settling down. These faint strings may not be as loud as the drums but are still heard and Duffy is suggesting that even though the old may be less quiet, she still hears all and treats everyone fairly. She was a loyal person and supported people. This enjambment fluency allows Duffy to put all her thoughts into this one sentence and thus show how strong women are and how they have evolved over time. The poem ends with ‘all her possessions for a moment of time’, showing that being the queen isn’t forever, it’s the nature of life that we all die eventually and someone else will need to step in.
Overall, to conclude on this essay it is evident that Duffy likes her play of words. The truths of her scripture may be down to the fact she is female and so can easily empathize. This poem gives voice to society and especially women, wrestling ideas about identity.