Litany

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Overview

Read the poem.

Context

A litany is a prayer in a Christian church service in which people at the service respond to lines spoken by the leader of the service (call and response style).

A litany can also be a long list of complaints/problems.

In the 1960's, agents would have catalogues where people could order products via hire purchase; usually very large catalogues.

The catalogues would likely be a large phone book size, offering a range of products.

There would be one agent in the street, and people would order products that would be sent to the agent's home, then collected by people themselves.

Hire purchase was a method of paying for products in instalments, which allowed poorer families to buy things.

Duffy describes herself as a young child, where her mother's friends are sitting around looking at a Pyrex catalogue and gossiping; spelling words out to protect her; 'cancer', 'sex'

Duffy swears in front of them; showing she is not as innocent as they believe, and her mother washes her mouth out with soap

Litany in the poem is her mother telling her to apologise; e.g. Say sorry to Mrs Smith. I'm sorry, Mrs Smith

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Imagery

'cellophane round polyester skirts' - helps readers to imagine the crackling sound, 'cellophane' links to ordering new things from a catalogue

'hard as the bright stones in engagement rings' - 'hard' could represent resentment, as the women cannot have new rings as they are already married. This also could have connotations of the difficulty of relationships, that their husbands are controlling as the women are not allowed equal status or power.

'the year a mass grave of wasps bobbed in a jam jar; / a butterfly stammered itself in my curious hands' - The wasps represent the women, as they are bitter towards others and have a sting (punishment of soap). The butterfly represents Duffy, as she is flourishing and growing, innocent and beautiful.

'in a jam jar' - shows how the women are trapped, as society was restrictive for women in the 1960's

'salted my tongue like an imminent storm' - salt is a flavouring, swearing changes the atmosphere of a room; saying "rubbing salt in my wounds" could be a foreshadowing of punishment

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Tone

Duffy doesn't understand the adult's embarrassment about words; confused, almost scornful; she looks back and makes fun of them; 'certainly not leukaemia, which no one could spell'

the reader feels sorry for Duffy because of her use of pathos; 'My mother's mute shame. The taste of soap.'

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Structure and Form

There are 4 stanzas with 6 lines each.

This strict regularity is similar to the control Duffy's mother had over her; Duffy had to obey strict rules when it comes to what she is allowed to say.

The slight difference in line length represents a small amount of rebellion.

'An embarrassing word, broken / to bits' - emphasises brokenness of conversation and words themselves

Memories are expressed with short sentences - memory comes in gasps? Perhaps memories are hard to speak about because of Duffy's shame; blunt, trying to avoid telling the story for longer than necessary

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Language

'The Lounge seemed to bristle with eyes' - shows discomfort

'the soundtrack then was a litany' - complaints, repeating and disagreeing with one another

'A boy in the playground, I said, told me to fuck off' - Duffy remembers saying this to the women; unusual for Duffy to swear in poetry or in 60's - word has big impact

'my mother's mute shame' - shows embarrassment, but doesn't shout at her; guests are present - appearances matter

'Yes, I can summon their names' - clear memory of a long time ago, engraved in memory, traumatic, shameful, hard to forget

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Themes and Comparison

childhood, family and everyday life

escapism

pivotal moment in her childhood

Memory - 'yes I can summon their names'

Regret - 'my mother's mute shame'

The past - 'stiff-haired' links to bee-hie hairstyle from the 1960's, 'Pyrex' is a popular catalogue in the 1960's

Everyday life/family - discusses behaviour of mother and her mother's friends

Direct address - form of dramatic monologue

Forms of alienation and oppression - not given freedom of speech

Dramatising scenes from childhood - description of memory from Duffy's childhood

'First Love' and 'Litany' in the presentation of memories

'Litany' describes a memory a person could be ashamed of and be upset by, as the child was not happy being controlled and was punished if they rebelled. 'First Love' describes a happy memory that the narrator is nostalgic about. However, since the memory is from a long time ago, the events could have been romanticised and exaggerated by the narrator. 'Litany' is more factual, as it names things; e.g. 'Pyrex', so is more likely to be closer to the truth.

Memory in 'Litany' is not pleasant, as if the narrator would rather not remember, whereas the imagery in 'First Love' makes the memory seem dreamlike - especially with longer sentences. 'Litany's lack of imagery shows the narrator's lack of enthusiasm for the memory.

Language in 'First Love' is enough to spark the creation of images in the reader's mind, whereas language in 'Litany' does not focus on the reader, but sharply on the memory itself - as if the narrator doesn't want to tell the story any longer than they have to.