1. By Lauren Phare and Katie Martin
Finding the Words
By Lauren Phare and Katie Martin

2. This poem is about Duffy’s contemplation of the relationship and her rediscovery of love. She has realised her need to say the words ‘I love you’ – is an illustration of their importance and significance.

3. Symbol of the death/decaying nature of their relationship
Associate with danger/unknown – colour of death and mourning
Lost words – forgotten
Common place where forgotten things are found
Suggests warmth and protection – as if they are cherished and have been kept safe
I found the words at the back of a drawer, wrapped in black cloth, like three rings slipped from a dead woman’s hand, cold, dull gold. I had held them before,
Symbol of the cyclical nature of life
Wedding band – a promise
Separated by two commas and at the end of the line – void of emotion and feeling
Emphasising the memory, that her love was real and true in the past
Unpolished/tarnished love (like their relationship) – but there is hope as there is beauty and wealth when polished

4. The gap in the first line illustrates time and distance
Is unable to remember the specific time their love faded/ she stopped saying ‘I love you’
Speaks of the words individually, as though they all have precious meaning
years ago,
then put them away, forgetting whatever it was
I could use them to say. I touched the first to my lips,
the second, the third, like a sacrament,
like a pledge, like a kiss,
Suggestion of carelessness
Like a kiss
Reference to Catholicism – is what people do with their cross – like a prayer or blessing
Reverting to simple, innocent intimacy
It is the truth that will not be broken
Gentle, as if savouring the moment
Reference to Catholicism – sacred significance, a religious symbol
Reference to baptism – the words and her love are being reborn

5. Breathlessness – overwhelmed and making speech difficult
Is giving them life and vitality – making them live again
Like a prayer – delicate and gentle
and my breath warmed them, the words I needed to utter this, small words, and few. I rubbed at them till they gleamed in my palm - I love you, I love you, I love you - as though they were new.
Punctuation suggests she is stumbling over her words
Repetition shows that her thoughts/realisation is overwhelming – impassioned and joyous
The dash stops the flow of the poem so the words are powerful and resounding
Reference to Aladdin’s lamp – wants to make her wishes and dreams come true and is pinning all her hopes on this
As though they are starting afresh and the arguing/strain on the relationship has been erased – as though it never happened

6. Use of ‘I’ pronoun throughout – as though she is placing the blame for the failure of the relationship solely on herself – is a personal journey of realisation. Structure is disjointed and on the page it looks irregular which mirrors her thought – confused, jumbled. Sonnet form (14 lines) but no rhyme scheme – is rediscovering her love but it is not yet whole again.