Carol Ann Duffy's "Anne Hathaway" first appeared in the British poet's 1999 collection, The World's Wife. As with the other poems in this collection, "Anne Hathaway" imagines the perspective of a female counterpart to a famous male figure—in this case, Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare. In the poem, the widowed Hathaway reflects on the passionate love she shared with her husband, describing their physical intimacy using language typically used to talk about poetry. In doing so, Hathaway presents lovemaking as an artistic, creative act while also emphasizing the enduring power of her husband's writing. The poem isa sonnet (not coincidentally, a form Shakespeare helped popularize), and it riffs on a famous bit of trivia about the couple: Shakespeare bequeathed his "second best bed" to Hathaway in his will. While this might sound like an insult, this probably referred to the couple's marital bed, the "best bed" being set aside for guests.
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The Full Text of “Anne Hathaway”
The Full Text of “Anne Hathaway”
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“Anne Hathaway” Summary
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“Anne Hathaway” Themes
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Love and Passion as Art
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-14
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Grief and the Power of Memory
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-10
- Lines 12-14
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The Enduring Power of Literature
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Anne Hathaway”
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Before Line 1, Lines 1-3
"Item I gyve ...
... dive for pearls. -
Lines 3-5
My lover’s words ...
... on these lips; -
Lines 5-7
my body now ...
... of a noun. -
Lines 8-12
Some nights I ...
... dribbling their prose. -
Lines 12-14
My living laughing ...
... next best bed.
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“Anne Hathaway” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 2: “castles,” “torchlight,” “cliff-tops”
- Lines 3-4: “words / were”
- Line 10: “touch,” “taste”
- Line 11: “bed,” “best”
- Line 12: “living laughing love”
- Line 13: “hold him,” “head”
- Line 14: “he held,” “best bed”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Lines 1-3: “The bed we loved in was a spinning world / of forests, castles, torchlight, cliff-tops, seas / where he would dive for pearls.”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “world”
- Line 3: “pearls,” “lover’s words”
- Line 4: “were,” “earth,” “kisses”
- Line 5: “lips,” “body,” “softer”
- Line 8: “dreamed he’d,” “me”
- Line 9: “hands. Romance”
- Line 11: “bed,” “best,” “guests,” “dozed”
- Line 12: “prose”
- Line 13: “head”
- Line 14: “he,” “me,” “next best bed”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 2: “forests, castles, torchlight, cliff-tops, seas”
- Line 3: “pearls. My”
- Line 5: “lips; my”
- Line 6: “his, now echo, assonance; his”
- Line 8: “me, the”
- Line 9: “hands. Romance”
- Line 10: “touch, by scent, by”
- Line 11: “bed, the best, our”
- Line 12: “prose. My”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “world / of”
- Lines 2-3: “seas / where”
- Lines 3-4: “words / were”
- Lines 4-5: “kisses / on”
- Lines 5-6: “rhyme / to”
- Lines 6-7: “touch / a”
- Lines 8-9: “bed / a”
- Lines 9-10: “Romance / and”
- Lines 13-14: “head / as”
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Juxtaposition
Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:- Lines 9-12: “Romance / and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. / In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, / dribbling their prose.”
- Line 14: “as he held me upon that next best bed.”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
- Lines 13-14
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Lines 5-6: “my body now a softer rhyme / to his, now echo”
- Line 10: “by touch, by scent, by taste”
- Lines 13-13: “I / him”
- Line 13: “hold”
- Line 14: “he held me”
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“Anne Hathaway” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Dive for pearls
- Dozed
- Dribbling
- Casket
- Next Best Bed
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(Location in poem: Line 3: “he would ,” “dive for pearls”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Anne Hathaway”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Anne Hathaway” Speaker
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“Anne Hathaway” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Anne Hathaway”
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More “Anne Hathaway” Resources
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External Resources
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Duffy's Influence — Read an article by novelist Jeanette Winterson in which she discusses Duffy's poetry, focusing on Duffy's belief that poetry should be a pleasure.
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Biography of Carol Ann Duffy — Learn more about Duffy's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.
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Duffy on the Power of Poetry — Read an article about Duffy's recent Pandemic Poetry project, in which she discusses how poetry can help people through troubling times.
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Anne Hathaway's Story — Learn more about Shakespeare's wife.
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Shakespeare's Will — Check out a scan, transcription, and analysis of Shakespeare's will.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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