Hour

Carol Ann Duffy

To learn about the sonnet form.

To analyse the poem Hour by Duffy.
 Analysing Poetry
First step: Subject & message
What is the topic of the poem?
What is it literally about? What is it figuratively about?
Second step: Language
What poetic techniques are used?
Third Step: Structure
How many stanzas are there, and why?
What is the rhyming scheme?
What is the flow of the poem, and how does it impact the
tone?
 Hour
Loves times beggar, but even a single hour, Duffy has chosen to
write this poem
bright as a dropped coin, makes love rich. using the sonnet
We find an hour together, spend it not on flowers form.
or wine, but the whole of the summer sky and a grass ditch.
Highlight and
For thousands of seconds we kiss; your hair annotate:
like treasure on the ground; the Midas light The rhyme
scheme
turning your limbs to gold. Time slows, for here The quatrains
we are millionaires, backhanding the night and rhyming
couplet.
so nothing dark will end our shining hour,
no jewel hold a candle to the cuckoo spit Why do you think
hung from the blade of grass at your ear, Duffy has chosen
to use the sonnet
no chandelier or spotlight see you better lit form in Hour?
than here. Now. Time hates love, wants love poor,
but love spins gold, gold, gold from straw.
 Similes & Metaphors
1. Lets lift all the similes and metaphors in the poem. What initial
impression do you have of this relationship?
2. Look for other poetic techniques and annotate:
Personification
Repetition
What is the effect on the reader?
How might these images be associated with love?
What might they suggest about a relationship?

Light
Gold/
Treasure

Time
Subject

Hour is about the feelings that arise from spending time with a loved one.
The poem suggests that to be with a loved one, even for just an hour, is
precious and valuable. It also presents the traditional idea of time as an
obstacle to lovers.
Language
Hour has many references to money and riches, contrasting the concept of material wealth and possessions
against love and time spent with a loved one.

The traditional territory of lovers ("Flowers" and "wine") is replaced by alternatives: for example, "a grass ditch" is an
improbable romantic location. There is simplicity and perfection to "the whole of the summer sky", an image rich
in meaning, a visual feast for a loving couple lying down together and looking up. They enjoy the "Midas light".
(Midas was the mythical king whose touch turned things to gold.)

As the poem's title suggests, time is an important consideration for the lovers. "For thousands of seconds we kiss" is
a striking phrase, offering the idea of excess - "thousands" - with the limitation of available time, measured in
seconds. This precise measurement indicates how precious time is to the speaker, a "treasure" to be carefully
counted.

There is a contrast between images traditionally seen as romantic (or associated with wealth) and
the ordinary: "Flowers" and "grass ditch" compare to a "jewel" and "cuckoo spit" (insect eggs left on long
grass); "sunlight" contrasts with a "chandelier"; "gold" contrasts with "straw". These contrasts emphasise the
romance of the lovers' time together. Traditional ideas are shown to be unimportant compared to the personal
experience of the two characters.

Hour also makes frequent references to images of light in contrast to the night and the darkness of inevitable
separation. These include: "Bright", "summer sky", "Midas light", "shining hour", "candle", "chandelier or spotlight".
Duffy uses light to suggest a positive, warm, optimistic liaison. Rather than dwelling on the darkness of separation
the lovers make the most of the time they have together.

In the final stanza there is a single-word sentence "Now.". It is simple, like the lovers' situation, and yet has a strong
sense of being complete; nothing more is needed. It celebrates the moment rather than dwelling on the future or
the past.
 Attitudes, themes and ideas
The traditional battle of love versus time is boldly presented in the
poem: "Time hates love". The poem questions the assumption that time will
triumph, forcing a separation. Instead "love spins gold, gold, gold from
straw". Duffy alludes to the fairytale character Rumpelstiltskin, able to
transform straw into gold. This reference adds a magical feel to the closing
lines. It is an image that sums up the key theme: love can find riches in
anything - "straw" or even "a grass ditch".
The poem is about enjoying the intimacy of a moment in time rather than
thinking about the world beyond. The simple nature of the experience is a
reminder that material possessions cannot replace something as magical
and powerful as time spent with a loved one.
 Imagery
Choose one quote from each category analyse further:

Your hair/ like treasure on the ground

This could suggest Connotations of treasure suggest

that the hair is that the hair is precious and
golden or shiny. important.

Simile
 Imagery
Gold/ Treasure/ Money Light/ Dark Time
Bright as a dropped coin The Midas Light Loves times beggar
Structure

Hour follows the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet: it has fourteen lines

and a predictable rhyme scheme (a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g). Sonnets
often use a final rhyming couplet to offer a 'turn' in the meaning; however,
Duffy only offers a partial turn, which is confirmation of the idea that love
will always triumph by finding unlikely sources of value.
 Sonnet
A 14 line poem, traditionally about love.

Sonnets usually use a strict rhyme scheme and structure.

The exact rhyme scheme depends on the type of
sonnet.

Sonnets can usually be divided into three quatrains (four

lines ABAB) and a couplet (two lines CC).
The couplet might also rhyme- if so this is called a rhyming
couplet.
Last couplet might signal a turn in the poem.
 Creating a Poem
Choose a Fairy Tale from the list below or one of your
own choosing, and write your own poem referencing
this story in some way.

Fairy Tale Ideas

Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Beauty and the Beast
Rapunzel
Cinderella