Hour: Key Quotes

“Hour” Key Quotes

“Love’s time’s beggar… but even a single hour, bright as a dropped coin, makes love rich.”

Here, Carol Ann Duffy contrasts material wealth with emotional richness. The hour together, even though brief, holds more value for the beloved because it’s filled with love.

“We find an hour together, spend it not on flowers or wine, but the whole of the summer sky and a grass ditch.”

These lines demonstrate that spending time together is more valuable than material offerings such as “flowers or wine.” The “summer sky” and “grass ditch” suggest an ordinary, accessible setting, emphasising this is a love for everyone, not just the privileged.

“So we love each other for an hour.”

The simple statement reinforces the contrast between the brevity of time and the depth of love experienced within that hour. It emphasises the theme of seizing fleeting moments for love.

“Love spins gold, gold, gold from straw.”

A reference to the folk tale of Rumpelstiltskin, suggesting that love has the transformative power to make ordinary moments or things (like straw) valuable (like gold), again emphasising the distinction between emotional and material wealth.

“For thousands of seconds, we kiss…”

The use of “thousands of seconds” to portray an hour amplifies the prolonged intensity of the moment, demonstrating how each second is treasured and aligning with the poem’s theme of time and love.

Remember, understanding and memorising key quotes from “Hour” will provide solid evidence for your essay responses and help you accurately discuss Carol Ann Duffy’s exploration of love and time.