Write: Key Quotes

“Write: Key Quotes” Overview

Exploration of Writing Process

• “The trick to writing an alphabet / was knowing when to stop at z.”, exhibits the poet’s mastery over words and an understanding of limits in writing.
• “I wrote to loneliness in a book shut tight like a clam”, her writing is depicted as a coping mechanism, her solace amidst solitude.

Writing Realities

• “I woke early and saw the morning break, then wrote it down.”, this portrays the close relationship between writing and the world the poet inhabits.
• “Like falling, they wrote, not meaning to land”, illustrates the unexpected outcomes that often results from writing, thus creating an element of unpredictability.

Relationship with Reader

• “I wrote to you / in a language I didn’t understand;”, highlights the complexity of self-expression and how words may limit our ability to communicate emotions.
• The phrase “You read / between my lines;”, suggests the poet’s intimacy with her reader who can comprehend the underlying meanings in her work.

Expression of Self

• “I signed my name and made my mark – crossed out, rewritten”, reflects the poet’s struggle with identity, and how writing serves as a silent introspection.
• “I lay in the white space of the page, shaded with my truth,”, is indicative of the vulnerability the poet experiences through her writing, by exposing her authentic self on a blank canvas.

In sum, ‘Write’ by Carol Ann Duffy provides vivid portrayals of the intricate correlations between writing and living. It explores how writing acts as a refuge, a mirror of reality and an intimate space for interaction with readers. Through this poem, Duffy effectively conveys the joys, struggles, and vulnerabilities tied with the process of writing.