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Sisyphus

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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1K views

Sisyphus

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

Uploaded by

pierrette1
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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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