Hour

'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy: summary

‘Hour’ by Carol Ann Duffy: context

Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet. In 1983, Duffy won the National Poetry Competition and in 2009 she was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, becoming the first woman to receive the honour since its creation in 1616. Her collection Standing Female Nude (1985) established her as a key figure in poetry.

Although Duffy typically subverts traditional expectations of relationships and romance in her poems, 'Hour' follows a more traditional form and structure. The poem itself has an intimate nature, as it represents a moment taken from Duffy's own life. However, the use of a traditional form indicates that Duffy is aware that the experience she is describing is essentially universal.

Fig. 1 - Carol Ann Duffy is a prominent Scottish poet who is still studied in schools and universities today.

Literary context

‘The Love Poem’ is part of Duffy’s 2005 poetry collection Rapture, which contains a range of poems written in different forms and styles, following the story of a love affair. Rapture is a modern-day sonnet sequence. However, instead of being made up of sonnets, the collection consists of various poems of different forms, styles, and structures.

While Duffy's work usually uses techniques associated with modernism, 'Hour' holds many similarities to poems associated with romanticism. These similarities include a sonnet form and natural imagery.

‘Hour’ by Carol Ann Duffy: full poem

Carol Ann Duffy's poem 'The Hour' is about the passing of time and the inevitability of change.

Title of 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy

The simplistic language of the poem's single-word title indicates the main theme of the poem, time. While 'Hour' has clear connotations of time and the passing of time, the simplicity of the title also creates a sense of ambiguity, as it does not tell us any more about the poem's content. This sense of ambiguity is reflected by the idea that love is outside the limits of time.

Form of 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy

Poetic devices in 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy

The main poetic devices in 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy are enjambment and caesura.

Enjambment

Although 'Hour' (2005) isn't written in free-verse, Duffy still utilises the poetic device of enjambment. For instance, lines five to nine have enjambment throughout:

Here the enjambment allows the poem to flow naturally from line to line, as if the narrator is lost in the moment, recalling each sense and memory.

The use of caesura across these lines enhances the effect of the enjambment, as the narrator appears to pause as they recall each moment, from the 'kiss' to how the 'midas light' appeared to turn their lovers 'limbs to gold'. These pauses emphasise each moment, indicating that the narrator is cherishing each small memory.

Caesura

Caesura is used in the poem to place emphasis on certain lines and phrases by breaking up the poem's rhythm. This device is most evident in line thirteen:

Here, the caesura creates a Volta in the poem. There is a shift from the description of the hour which the two lovers spent together, made up of small moments, to the more general concept of time being the enemy of love. The caesura and single word sentence of 'now' highlights this shift.

Language devices in 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy

The main language devices in the poem 'Hour' are the use of personal pronouns, simile, and personification.

Personal Pronouns

Duffy makes use of the repetition of 'we' to represent her and the lover as a collective unit. While the use of personal pronouns adds an intimate feel to the poem, they also create a sense of ambiguity. Considering that Rapture (2005), the collection this poem is part of, is about an affair, the anonymity of the poem adds a sense of secrecy to its intimate nature.

Simile

Duffy uses similes throughout the poem to evoke images of wealth. The association of the lover's physical attributes with 'a dropped coin' and 'treasure', indicates that the narrator perceives their lover and the feelings they hold for them as more significant than material goods or money. For instance, the simile:

idealises such a simple part of the lover's appearance. Their hair is 'like treasure', something the narrator is lucky to have found. Moreover, the use of enjambment emphasises the comparison, placing it on a separate line, creating a pause in the rhythm by doing so.

Personification

Toward the end of the poem, Duffy personifies time:

By giving the abstract noun of time human qualities, Duffy highlights its impact on love, as it actively 'wants love poor'.

‘Hour’ by Carol Ann Duffy: tone and imagery

The poem has a romantic tone, underpinned by its stylistic similarities to poems associated with the romanticism literary movement. Duffy's use of allusions to the natural world are particularly effective at creating a traditionally romantic style.

Imagery

The main imagery in the poem 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy is nature and materialism.

Nature

Duffy parallels the romantic tradition of using natural imagery in love poetry, for instance:

By likening her lover and the time they spend together to the natural world, the narrator and lover's experience together transcends time and the material world of people.

Fig. 2 - The poem 'Hour' implies that time is better spent on nature.

Materialism

A semantic field of material imagery is evident in the poem; 'dropped coin', 'flowers or wine', 'limbs to gold', 'jewel hold a candle', and 'no chandelier or spotlight'.

The use of material imagery may make an analogy to the lover:

The imagery may also refer to that which the lovers should reject:

This imagery shows that the love between the two characters is both equal to and greater than the material riches of the world. This contributes to the idea that the emotion of love and the moments spent with a lover can transcend the boundaries of time and reality.

'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy: themes

The main themes in the poem 'Hour' are time and romantic love.

Time