3. 2nd Best bed

8. Euphemisms "he would dive for pearls"
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses
"My lover's words
on these lips"
‘Anne Hathaway’ uses a lot of euphemisms.
A euphemism is a way of describing something without using direct, or taboo language.
Euphemisms are used in this poem to describe sex.
a verb dancing in the centre of a noun."
"his touch
"our guests dozed on,
dribbling their prose"

9. Metaphors
A metaphor is a comparison where you say that something is something else.
‘Anne Hathaway’ uses an extended metaphor, where one comparison is developed throughout the poem.
The extended metaphor in this poem is the comparison of Shakespeare’s writing to the sexual intercourse between Shakespeare and his wife.

10. The extended metaphor …
The idea is that together, Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare make poetry as they make love, whereas the guests in the best bed can only hope to “dribble” prose, an inferior and less sensuous style of writing, in
Comparison to the poetry created in the second best bed.
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11. Subject matter
Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s ‘neglected’ wife, delivers a monologue that refutes the idea they had a loveless marriage
She describes their intimate moments in the ‘second best bed’, famously (and somewhat callously!) left to her in her husband’s will.
Language
Fairytale imagery is evoked in the first two lines of the poem – ‘forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas’. This has the effect of creating an idyllic representation of the love shared between Shakespeare and Hathaway.
Ideas and attitudes
Form and structure