vry interesting response Rebecca - glad you came out of lurkdom to comment.
(I usually lurk a lot too - it is fun having the time to engage) I remember
reading Boland's discussion too, how to make that switch from object to
subject..... Carol Ann works a great deal through voices, which is one
response I think - the persona/dramatisation acting as a carrier for the
shift...... (for those who dont know it 'Warming Her Pearls' is written in
the voice of the maid, - blah blah see below - it is to my mind a verrrrry
sexy poem, and my students always think so too)
Liz
Warming Her Pearls
for Judith Radstone
Next to my own skin, her pearls. My mistress
bids me wear them, warm then, until evening
when I'll brush her hair. At six, I place them
round her cool, white throat. All day I think of her,
resting in the Yellow Room, contemplating silk
or taffeta, which gown tonight? She fans herself
whilst I work willingly, my slow heat entering
each pearl. Slack on my neck, her rope.
She's beautiful. I dream about her
in my attic bed; picture her dancing
with tall men, puzzled by my faint, persistent scent
beneath her French perfume, her milky stones.
I dust her shoulders with a rabbit's foot,
watch the soft blush seep through her skin
like an indolent sigh. In her looking-glass
my red lips part as though I want to speak.
Full moon. Her carriage brings her home. I see
her every movement in my head...Undressing,
taking off her jewels, her slim hand reaching
for the case, slipping naked into bed, the way
she always does...And I lie here awake,
knowing the pearls are cooling even now
in the room where my mistress sleeps. All night
I feel their absence and I burn.
-CAROL ANN DUFFY
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