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Perhaps they are a neutral friend? Acting like a go-between for the couple. Who is the sheriff? Their identity is left ambiguous. The metaphor expands to say that the narrator shows the phone (gun) to the sheriff. The narrator then proceeds to describe their relationship, using a tricolon of western-themed words/phrases to push the metaphor emphatically. I think this gives the impression of a stuttering, wounded cowboy gasping to get his/her last words out. It is interesting how Duffy uses a sentence that runs on into the next stanza. However, clearly, the narrator feels they are losing this verbal joust as their comments is deemed by themselves to be “wide of the mark” and then their partner “blasts them” it would seem that in their “jockeying for position” the narrator is currently being outwitted by their partner. The line “I twirl the phone, then squeeze the trigger of my tongue” is basically talking about the verbal sparring that occasionally is emblematic of a relationship. Maybe this line suggests a level of intimacy or maybe it is the narrator trying to make their significant other feel guilty? Perhaps this is their way of “firing back?” You can almost imagine the words in this poem being read by a gunslinger and that is a testament to Duffy’s skill as a poet. You can’t be affected strongly by somebody’s words unless you care about them. This is a powerful statement, not least of all because an admission of being wounded by somebody’s words suggests a vulnerability. The opening line refers to how the narrator’s words have wounded them emotionally rather than referring to a physical wound. The choice of the verb groan is interesting as it can have slight sexual connotations, although Freud may have something to say about my interpretation of that! She likens receiving a phone call to a gun being drawn.

The end of the second line is a short enjambment sentence where the word alone is left widowed on the following line, making the word appear to be alone! This is a technique Duffy has employed in a couple of her poems including Stealing. She begins by comparing phones to the guns that a gunslinger might have worn around their waist in “wild west” This is q metaphor that continues throughout the poem.

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I wear the two, the mobile and the landline phones,įrom the start of the poem, which can be read in full here, Duffy sets the scene beautifully. I read the poem in the voice of a woman, but perhaps that is because I know that Duffy herself is female. The gender of the narrator is left ambiguous. Duffy uses a mixture of short and longer sentences (often forming enjambment lines) to symbolize the ups and downs of a modern relationship. It is divided into four stanzas each one is four lines long.

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‘ Quickdraw’ is written in free verse with no rhyming pattern (although rhyme is used a couple of times in the poem) It is playful and humorous in tone, drawing comparisons between a gunslinger in the wild west and two, perhaps three people in a relationship. I think the entire poem mirrors a back and forth argument where a couple frequently hurts one another and the last stanza, being so ambiguous, represents how an argument can result at the end of a relationship or a passionate interlude. Phones and by extension, words, are used as metaphorical weapons throughout this poem. The idea of secrecy is hinted at certain points during the poem by the multiple phones. Why this passion exists is unclear and could be because the relationship is in fact an adulterous one. Duffy has put a sexual undertone to the poem that reverberates throughout and suggests heightened levels of passion between the couple which would explain why their relationship can be so torrid at times. The metaphor of the Wild West for a relationship is a good fit and creates an amusing poem that is pleasant to read and fun to analyse. The gender of the narrator and their love interest, whether they are still together or not – the mention of the last chance saloon suggests that they are but it is never stated explicitly. ‘Quickdraw’ by Carol Ann Duffy describes the telephonic conversation between a broken-up couple.Ĭarol Ann Duffy leaves a lot of ambiguity in this poem.