Poet For Our Times Poem Summary

Poet for our time's commentary
The headlines of Newspapers are those that catch our eye, and “grab attention”. The poem Poet for our Times by Carol Ann Duffy is one that explores, from the perspective of a newspaper headline writer, scandals and the normal aspects discussed in poetry. Referencing News headlines, the speaker, who is in a bar, provides the audience with social critics as well as the state of what art has become in 1980’s Britain. Through the use of chatty language, as well as a non-intrusive iambic rhythm, the speaker presents himself as an arrogant, heartless person who is only occupied with his own issues.
The poem is set in a bar, where the speaker is casually talking with another, although slightly intoxicated, causing the use of slang language as well as setting a background for the dramatic context which will be discussed within the poem. The persona uses typical slang words, indicating that the speaker is relaxed and …show more content…
Throughout the poem, there is one constant repetition. This is the 2 headlines placed in bold at the end of each stanza. This, however, is different in the last stanza, where there is a reference to another poem “the instant tits and bottom line of art”. The actual poems idea that is referenced is that poetry is not talking about the high end of humans, instead of in poetry one only looks at the messy aspects of human existence. Whilst in the poem, this is a reference to show that in today’s society, in poetry we only show the good and high end of society but we should be showing the messy and unsightly aspects of humans instead, just like the speaker’s headlines expose all things wrong in society. Further, the headline indicates Carol Ann Duffy’s own personal opinion saying that being a scandalous headline write is the “bottom line of art” and therefore cannot be considered at all like