"A Minor Role" appears in English poet U. A. Fanthorpe's 2003 collection Queuing for the Sun, one of the last books she published before her death in 2009. The poem's speaker compares themselves to an actor with "a minor role" in a play: they excel at staying out of the spotlight and keeping the action of the play going smoothly just as, in everyday life. they quietly keep things humming along without calling attention to themselves. The speaker gradually reveals that they're suffering from a serious illness (or perhaps that they're caring for someone else who is) and describes the tedium of dealing with doctors, hospitals, and intrusive questions about how they're doing. Despite the confident face they present to the world, the speaker eventually admits that everything isn't all right, after all. Nevertheless, they insist that life is precious, even when you're not the star of the show.

• Read the full text of “A Minor Role”

• “A Minor Role” Summary

• “A Minor Role” Themes

  • 

    The Ordinary and Unassuming Life

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-18
    • Lines 34-39
  • 

    The Isolation and Tedium of Illness

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-33
  • 

    Societal Discomfort With Death

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-33
    • Line 39

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Minor Role”

  • Lines 1-6

    I'm best observed ...
    ... to unwanted sniggers.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    But my heart's ...
    ... Parking at hospitals.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-14

    Holding hands under ...
    ... music of civility.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 15-18

    At home in ...
    ... For well-meant intrusiveness.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-22

    At home, ...
    ... but grateful always;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 23-27

    Contrive meals for ...
    ... Admit it's not.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 28-32

    Learn to conjugate ...
    ... else. Consultant's holiday.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 34-39, After Line 39

    Not the star ...
    ... trans. EF Watling

    

    

    

    

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• “A Minor Role” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-6: “I'm best observed on stage, / Propping a spear, or making endless / Exits and entrances with my servant's patter, / Yes, sir. O no, sir. / If I get / These midget moments wrong, the monstrous fabric / Shrinks to unwanted sniggers.”
    • Line 8: “The waiting-room roles”
    • Lines 10-11: “making sense / Of consultants' monologues”
    • Lines 34-38: “Not the star part. / And who would want it? I jettison the spear, / The servant's tray, the terrible drone of Chorus: / Yet to my thinking this act was ill-advised / It would have been better to die.*”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 36-38: “the terrible drone of Chorus: / Yet to my thinking this act was ill-advised / It would have been better to die.* / No it wouldn't!”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Line 35: “And who would want it?”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “best observed,” “stage”
    • Line 2: “Propping,” “spear,” “endless”
    • Line 3: “Exits,” “entrances,” “servant's,” “patter”
    • Line 5: “midget moments,” “monstrous”
    • Line 6: “Shrinks,” “sniggers”
    • Line 8: “room roles”
    • Line 9: “Holding hands”
    • Line 10: “magazines”
    • Lines 10-11: “making sense / Of consultants' monologues”
    • Lines 11-12: “asking pointed / Questions politely”
    • Lines 12-13: “checking dosages, / Dates”
    • Line 13: “receptionists”
    • Line 14: “Sustaining,” “civility”
    • Line 29: “Tears,” “torpor,” “lassitude”
    • Line 30: “simpler illness,” “like,” “leg”
    • Line 31: “Enduring ceremonial delays”
    • Line 32: “Somewhere else. Consultant's”
    • Line 34: “star part”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “the unobtrusive, / The waiting-room roles:”
    • Lines 8-9: “driving to hospitals, / Parking at hospitals.”
    • Lines 9-14: “Holding hands under / Veteran magazines; making sense / Of consultants' monologues; asking pointed / Questions politely; checking dosages, / Dates; getting on terms with receptionists; / Sustaining the background music of civility.”
    • Line 17: “getting on, getting better”
    • Lines 21-27: “(Bed solves a lot); answer the phone, / Be wary what I say to it, but grateful always; / Contrive meals for a hunger-striker; track down / Whimsical soft-centred happy-all-the-way-through novels; / Find the cat (mysteriously reassuring); / Cancel things, tidy things; pretend all's well, / Admit it's not.”
    • Line 29: “Tears, torpor, boredom, lassitude, yearnings”
    • Lines 31-33: “Enduring ceremonial delays. Being referred / Somewhere else. Consultant's holiday. Saying / Thank you / For anything to everyone”
    • Lines 35-36: “I jettison the spear, / The servant's tray, the terrible drone of Chorus:”

• “A Minor Role” 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.

  • Propping
  • Patter
  • Midget
  • Sniggers
  • Unobtrusive
  • Veteran
  • Consultant
  • Monologues
  • Intrusiveness
  • Contrive
  • Conjugate
  • Genres
  • Torpor
  • Lassitude
  • Holiday
  • Jettison
  • Chorus
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “Propping a spear”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Minor Role”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Minor Role” Speaker

• “A Minor Role” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Minor Role”

• More “A Minor Role” Resources

  • External Resources

    • U. A. Fanthorpe's Life and Work — A short biography of Fanthorpe via the Poetry Foundation.

    • U. A. Fanthorpe's Obituary — The Guardian recounts U. A. Fanthorpe's life and major influences following the writer's death in 2009.

    • A Short Interview with Fanthorpe —  U. A. Fanthorpe shares why she started writing poetry.

    • How Fanthorpe Inspired Others — The Guardian explores the influence U. A. Fanthorpe had on generations of women poets in Britain. 

    • The Poetry of Illness — Discover other poems exploring the experience of illness and disability in this list curated by Poets.org.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by U. A. Fanthorpe

    • Half-Past Two

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