Reincarnation (in latin)

Dies Natalis

Carol Ann Duffy

Overview
KEY IDEAS - Reincarnation - Growth and development - Miscommunication Abstraction of language: Use of metaphors "muttering syllables of fish" "I talk to myself in shapes" "They are trying to label me, translate me into the right word" ---Duffy plays on an ambiguous definition of identity. Repetition of the personal pronoun I (used by all 4 personae) - sense of detachment Sense of isolation - use of different personae - use of ellipsis

Cat

"When i was cat"

placement of voice other lives- ironic because next life is a bird

"mistress tossed me sweetmeats"

sibilance sleek, luxurious

"sleek ghost"
shadow, mysterious

"She thought me sacred" "I purred"

onomatopoeia cats pleasure Luxurious life

"shadow of pyramids" obviously set in Egypt cats revered "different, frantic notes... meanings I could not decipher" sense of alienation can not understand human "my vain furred tongue erased a bowl of milk" image of richness and comfort "erased" - to drink, unique imagery "I slept and fed on river rats..." Reason my cats worshiped by Egyptians Contrast to luxury Ellipses

"throw pebbles at the soil" cat observing human owner "searching with long, gold nails for logic in chaos" long, gold - rich owner clearly shown theme of searching "my collar of jewels and eyes shining" sparkling imge, rich "impartial" detached nature isolation of cat "cool breeze, eucalyptus" short sentences thought process of cat - what it can remember

"map of stars above which told us nothing, randomly scattered like pebbles" lack of route/path - irony using a guiding object pebbles connected by the pebbles thrown by the mistress
"the man who feared me came at dawn" unknown man mysterious - mistresses lover "fought her until she moaned into stillness... pattern of death" violent - misunderstanding of cat sexual implication death imagery

The Bird
- observing the scene... - as it is a bird; it provides a bird's eye view of the event happening - "A speck became a ship" ; suggests the bird being high up, and that the ship is small in size from the eye's of the bird - the diction in this section are used clearly to present the characteristics of the bird - phrases; "swooped" - suggest a sense of freedom

The Bird
- there are images portray in the section suggesting the bird is powerful "pincered the world in my beak," using the physical feature to make a difference/change in the world -

Man
"But when I loved, I thought that was all I had done" "d's" Burden "One Day..." Dramatic due to the one line sentence "it was years and years" Repetition emphasizes yearning.

Baby
Language brings chaos of experience -->experiences faces, tastes, smells Colours "man and the woman"- Combination- lack of identity "mosaic"- Bright, new and lack of understanding- lost "I cry"- Dissolution