Carol Ann Duffy's "Salome" appears in The World's Wife (1999), a collection of dramatic monologues that reimagine historical and mythical tales through the eyes of women. The speaker of this poem is Salome, the notorious biblical princess who ordered the execution of the prophet John the Baptist, demanding that his head be brought to her "on a platter." Duffy portrays Salome as a powerful, vice-ridden seductress and John as one of her many one-night stands. Salome can hardly recall who John is or what's happened to him, and frankly, she doesn't care. She takes sadistic pleasure in using and abusing him—in a sense, flipping the script on sexist men who mistreat and objectify women.

• Read the full text of “Salome”

• “Salome” Summary

• “Salome” Themes

  • 

    Seduction, Conquest, and Violence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4
    • Lines 11-16
    • Lines 30-35
  • 

    Power and Gender Roles

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-10
    • Lines 13-14
    • Lines 27-29
    • Lines 33-35
  • 

    Vice and Compulsion

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 3-4
    • Lines 13-22
    • Lines 23-26
    • Lines 32-35

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Salome”

  • Lines 1-4

    I'd done it ...
    ... did it matter?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-10

    Good-looking, of course, ...
    ... how to flatter…

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-16

    Colder than pewter. ...
    ... for the maid.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-22

    And, indeed, her ...
    ... on the batter.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 23-26

    Never again! ...
    ... and the sex.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 27-31

    Yes. And as for ...
    ... to Salome's bed.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 32-35

    In the mirror, ...
    ... on a platter.

    

    

    

    

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• “Salome” Symbols

  • 

    The Color Red

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 6: “the reddish beard several shades lighter;”
    • Lines 9-10: “and a beautiful crimson mouth that obviously knew / how to flatter…”
    • Line 33: “I flung back the sticky red sheets,”

• “Salome” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “done,” “doubtless,” “do”
    • Line 11: “kissed”
    • Line 12: “Colder”
    • Line 15: “tea,” “toast”
    • Line 17: “clatter”
    • Line 18: “cups,” “plates”
    • Line 19: “clearing,” “clutter”
    • Line 20: “patter”
    • Line 28: “time,” “turf,” “blighter”
    • Line 29: “beater,” “biter”
    • Line 30: “slaughter”
    • Line 31: “Salome's”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “I'd done it before (and doubtless I'll do it again, sooner or later) / woke up with a head on the pillow beside me”
    • Lines 13-14: “ What was his name? Peter? / Simon? Andrew? John?”
    • Lines 27-31: “And as for the latter, / it was time to turf out the blighter, / the beater or biter, / who'd come like a lamb to the slaughter / to Salome's bed.”
    • Lines 33-35: “I flung back the sticky red sheets, / and there, like I said—and ain't life a bitch— / was his head on a platter.”

  • Colloquialism

    

    

    

    

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    Where colloquialism appears in the poem:

    • Line 22: “hungover and wrecked as I was from a night on the batter.”
    • Lines 24-25: “I needed to clean up my act, / get fitter,”
    • Line 26: “cut out the booze and the fags and the sex.”
    • Line 28: “it was time to turf out the blighter,”
    • Lines 30-31: “who'd come like a lamb to the slaughter / to Salome's bed.”
    • Lines 34-35: “there, like I said—and ain't life a bitch— / was his head on a platter.”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 27-31: “And as for the latter, / it was time to turf out the blighter, / the beater or biter, / who'd come like a lamb to the slaughter / to Salome's bed.”
    • Lines 34-35: “there, like I said—and ain't life a bitch— / was his head on a platter.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “I'd done it before (and doubtless I'll do it again, sooner or later) / woke up with a head on the pillow beside me / —whose?— / what did it matter?”
    • Lines 13-14: “What was his name? Peter? / Simon? Andrew? John?”

• “Salome” 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.

  • Matted
  • Pewter
  • Patter
  • On the batter
  • Fags
  • Turf out
  • Blighter
  • Like a lamb to the slaughter
  • Ain't life a bitch
  • (Location in poem: Line 5: “dark hair, rather matted;”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Salome”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Salome” Speaker

• “Salome” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Salome”

• More “Salome” Resources

  • External Resources

    • About the Poet — Learn more about Carol Ann Duffy's life and work at the Poetry Foundation.

    • More on Salome — Learn more about Salome, as both a historical and literary figure, at Encyclopedia Britannica. 

    • Salome in the Gospel of Mark — Read the story of Salome and John the Baptist, as told in Mark 6:21-28. 

    • Salome by Henri Regnault — Visualize Salome through this painting by French artist Henri Rengault, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

    • A Dramatic Reading of the Poem — Experience Salome out loud via this dramatic recitation by English actress Annette Badland. 

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy

    • A Child's Sleep

    • Anne Hathaway

    • Before You Were Mine

    • Circe

    • Death of a Teacher

    • Demeter

    • Education For Leisure

    • Elvis's Twin Sister

    • Eurydice

    • Foreign

    • Havisham

    • Head of English

    • In Mrs Tilscher’s Class

    • In Your Mind

    • Little Red Cap

    • Mean Time

    • Medusa

    • Mrs Aesop

    • Mrs Darwin

    • Mrs Faust

    • Mrs Icarus

    • Mrs Lazarus

    • Mrs Midas

    • Mrs Sisyphus

    • Originally

    • Penelope

    • Pilate's Wife

    • Pope Joan

    • Prayer

    • Pygmalion's Bride

    • Queen Herod

    • Quickdraw

    • Recognition

    • Standing Female Nude

    • Stealing

    • The Darling Letters

    • The Dolphins

    • The Good Teachers

    • Thetis

    • Valentine

    • Warming Her Pearls

    • War Photographer

    • We Remember Your Childhood Well

    • Work

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