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    Sisyphus

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    pierrette1
    The poem imagines what it would be like to be married to the mythical figure Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally push a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down. Specifically: - It depicts the wife's perspective on being married to a man who spends all his time doing futile labor, constantly starting over again. - The rhyming in the poem emphasizes the sounds of words and builds rhymes and half-rhymes to privilege rhyme over meaning at times. - In the final stanza, allusions are made to biblical and historical couples, implying Sisyphus' dedication to his work leaves little time for his wife, in contrast

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    Sisyphus

    Uploaded by

    pierrette1
    1K views5 pages
    The poem imagines what it would be like to be married to the mythical figure Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally push a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down. Specifically: - It depicts the wife's perspective on being married to a man who spends all his time doing futile labor, constantly starting over again. - The rhyming in the poem emphasizes the sounds of words and builds rhymes and half-rhymes to privilege rhyme over meaning at times. - In the final stanza, allusions are made to biblical and historical couples, implying Sisyphus' dedication to his work leaves little time for his wife, in contrast

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    The poem imagines what it would be like to be married to the mythical figure Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally push a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down. Specifically: - It depicts the wife's perspective on being married to a man who spends all his time doing futile labor, constantly starting over again. - The rhyming in the poem emphasizes the sounds of words and builds rhymes and half-rhymes to privilege rhyme over meaning at times. - In the final stanza, allusions are made to biblical and historical couples, implying Sisyphus' dedication to his work leaves little time for his wife, in contrast

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    1K views5 pages

    Sisyphus

    Uploaded by

    pierrette1
    The poem imagines what it would be like to be married to the mythical figure Sisyphus, who was condemned to eternally push a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down. Specifically: - It depicts the wife's perspective on being married to a man who spends all his time doing futile labor, constantly starting over again. - The rhyming in the poem emphasizes the sounds of words and builds rhymes and half-rhymes to privilege rhyme over meaning at times. - In the final stanza, allusions are made to biblical and historical couples, implying Sisyphus' dedication to his work leaves little time for his wife, in contrast

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    MRS SISYPHUS

    In the poem, Duffy 
    Sisyphus, according to legend, was a imagines what it would be 
    trickster, who stole the secrets of the gods. like to be married to a 
    At one time he was said to have chained up man who spends all his 
    time in futile labour.
    the King of the underworld, Hades, so that
    nobody could die. When he finally released
    him, Sisyphus himself became near to death.
    He persuaded his wife not to bury him. When
    he arrived in the underworld he protested to
    Persephone, its Queen, that he had not been
    buried and so he should not be there. He
    hoped to gain himself an extra lease of life.
    However, when death finally caught up with
    him, he was condemned to an eternity of
    futile labour, pushing a great rock up a
    mountainside, only to have it roll back as soon
    as it reached the top, so Sisyphus would have
    to start all over again.
    Sad eh?

    1
    MRS SISYPHUS
    FOCUS ON THE RHYME Read as far as "Musn't shirk!"
    What is the effect of the rhyming in the poem?

    Look at
    • the sounds of words
    • the meaning of the words
    • the build‐up of rhymes and half‐rhymes
    • the privileging of rhyme (Sisyphus has to 'bark'
    rather than 'howl' at the moon
    • the use of dialect and archaic words.

    jerk folk shark


    kirk flock shirk
    irk bollocks murk
    walk dark
    berk
    park squawk
    dirk
    dork ark
    perks
    gawp Bach
    shriek
    shirk smirk
    cork
    hawk work

    2
    3
    MRS SISYPHUS
    Compare this stanza with the rest of READ THE FINAL STANZA

    the poem.

    What similarities and differences are


    there?

    • Comment on the tone,


    • the allusions to the biblical and
    historical couples,
    • the implications for his wife given
    Sisyphus' dedication to his work.

    4
    MRS SISYPHUS
    How does Duffy's poem differ from the myth? Once again the modern
    pragmatic world is in
    collision with ancient myth

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