1. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.” Mathew 2:16-18

2. The Massacre of the Innocent by Jean Paul Rubens ($76.2 Million)

3. Q UEEN H EROD BY C AROL A NN D UFFY Emanuel Marcano

4. Q UEEN H EROD Ice in the trees. Three Queens at the Palace gates, dressed in furs, accented; their several sweating, panting beasts laden for a long hard trek, following the guide and boy to the stables; courteous, confident; oh, and with gifts for the King and Queen of here – Herod, me – in exchange for sunken baths, curtained beds, fruit, the best of meat and wine, dancers, music, talk – as it turned out to be, with everyone fast asleep, save me, those vivid three – till bitter dawn. Imagery Allusion Enumeration Epithet Metaphor Dialogue Miscellaneous Diction (whole word underlined) Rhyme (underlined) Alliteration (underlined)

5. They were wise. Older than I. They knew what they knew. Once drunken Herod’s head went back, they asked to see her, fast asleep in her crib, my little child. Silver and gold, the loose change of herself, glowed in the soft bowl of her face. Grace, said the tallest Queen. Strength, said the Queen with the hennaed hands. The black Queen made a tiny starfish of my daughter’s fist, said Happiness ; then stared at me, Queen to Queen, with insolent lust.

6. Watch, they said, for a star in the east – a new star pierced through the night like a nail. It means he’s here, alive, newborn. Who? Him. The Husband. Hero. Hunk. The Boy Next Door. The Paramour. The Je t’adore. The Marrying Kind. Adulterer. Bigamist. The Wolf. The Rip. The Rake. The Rat. The Heartbreaker. The Ladykiller. Mr Right. My baby stirred, suckled the empty air for milk, till I knelt and the black Queen scooped out my breast, the left, guiding it down to the infant’s mouth. No man, I swore, will make her shed one tear. A peacock screamed outside.

7. Afterwards, it seemed like a dream. The pungent camels kneeling in the snow, the guide’s rough shout as he clapped his leather gloves, hawked, spat, snatched the smoky jug of mead from the chittering maid – she was twelve, thirteen. I watched each turbaned Queen rise like a god on the back of her beast. And splayed that night below Herod’s fusty bulk, I saw the fierce eyes of the black Queen flash again, felt her urgent warnings scald my ear. Watch for a star, a star. It means he’s here…

8. Some swaggering lad to break her heart, some wincing Prince to take her name away and give a ring, a nothing, a nought in gold. I sent for the Chief of Staff, a mountain man with a red scar, like a tick to the mean stare of his eye. Take men and horses, knives, swords, cutlasses. Ride East from here and kill each mother’s son. Do it. Spare not one.

9. Q UEEN H EROD F ORM 7 Stanzas 77 Lines 3-17 Lines per Stanza 3-12 Syllables per line Free verse No end rhyme 18 cases of enjambment

10. L ITERAL M EANING Wife of King Herod Receive a visit from three queens Prophesize the arrival of a man into her daughter’s life Queen Herod has all the newborns killed Tone: Ironic, preoccupied, burdened

11. F IGURATIVE MEANING / IDEAS Maternity Duffy and her daughter Belittlement of males Feminism Homosexuality

12. A LLUSION King Herod Violence Extreme passion The Magi or Wisemen who visit Jesus Importance Purity The Sleeping beauty The Bestowing of gifts “Grace,” “Strength,” “Happiness” E PITHET “…drunken Herod…” (18)

13. D ICTION “beasts” (4 & 59) “courteous, confident; oh, and with gifts” (7) “Queen to queen, with insolent lust” (30) “Some swaggering lad” (66) Swaggering – Boastful, overconfident “some wincing Prince” (67) Wincing – Antonym of smiling “a nought in gold” (68) “Do it” (77) M ETAPHOR “The lose change of herself” (23) “rise like a god” (58)

14. I MAGERY “Ice in the trees” (1), “dressed in furs” (3), “kneeling in the snow” (50) “Till bitter dawn” (15) “silver and gold” (22), “the soft bowl of her face” (24) “pierced through the night like a nail.” (33) “My baby stirred, suckled the empty air for milk” (40-41) “A peacock screamed outside.” (48) – Immortality “a mountain man with a red scar, like a tick to the mean stare of his eye” (70-73)

15. A LLITERATION “The Husband. Hero. Hunk.” (35) “Rip. The Rake. The Rat.” (38) Men are predictable clichés R HYME “The Boy Next Door. The Paramour. The Je t’adore.” (36)

16. D IALOGUE Prophecy “Watch, they said, for a star in the east – a new star” (31-32) “Watch for a star, a star. It means he’s here…” (64-65) Insight into Queen Herod “Ride East from here and kill each mother’s son. Do it. Spare not one.” (75-77) “No man, I swore, will make her shed one tear” (46-47)

17. E NUMERATION “They were wise. Older than I. They knew what they knew.” (16-17) “Grace…Strength…Happiness” (25-29) “he’s here, alive, newborn. Who? Him. The Husband. Hero. Hunk. The Boy Next Door. The Paramour. The Je t’adore. The Marrying Kind. Adulterer. Bigamist. The Wolf. The Rip. The Rake. The Rat. The Heartbreaker. The Ladykiller. Mr Right.” (34-39) “hawked, spat, snatched” (54) “a ring, a nothing, a nought in gold.” (68) Take men and horses, knives, swords, cutlasses. (72- 74)

18. T HE B LACK Q UEEN Archetypal black reversed “Queen to queen, with insolent lust” (30) “the black Queen scooped out my breast, the left, guiding it down to the infant’s mouth.” (43-45) “Herod’s fusty bulk, I saw the fierce eyes of the black Queen flash again” (61-63)

19. D ISCUSSION Q UESTIONS Is this poem effective for all audiences? Or is it limited to mothers? How effectively does Duffy reverse situations? (King Herod vs. Queen Herod, archetype of black with the Black Queen) Is the massacre of the innocent justified in the poem?

20. B IBLIOGRAPHY https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/1792802274/que enh.jpg http://www.carolannduffy.co.uk/Images/carol-ann- duffy-portrait.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thum b/7/7c/0_Le_Massacre_des_Innocents_d'apr%C3%A8s _P.P._Rubens_-_Mus%C3%A9es_royaux_des_beaux- arts_de_Belgique_(2).JPG/1024px- 0_Le_Massacre_des_Innocents_d'apr%C3%A8s_P.P._ Rubens_-_Mus%C3%A9es_royaux_des_beaux- arts_de_Belgique_(2).JPG http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matth ew+2%3A16-18&version=NKJV http://www.sheerpoetry.co.uk/advanced/carol-ann- duffy/notes-on-selected-poems-advanced/queen-herod

21. B IBLIOGRAPHY http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/image/P&B/bab y-girl.jpg http://i3.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/incoming/ article5732183.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/carol- ann-duffy-5732183.jpg http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/feminism-1.jpg http://themeaningofsymbols.blogspot.com/2009/03 /peacock-symbolism.html http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2 013014/reg_600.TheBachelor2.mh.011413.jpg