The British poet Carol Ann Duffy included "Death of a Teacher" in her collection New Selected Poems 1984-2004. Written in response to the death of Duffy's favorite childhood English teacher, the poem features a speaker who fondly remembers sitting in class and listening to her teacher recite poetry by famous poets like W. B. Yeats and John Keats. This experience profoundly impacted the speaker, who as a 13-year-old student fell in love with the sounds of poetry. Remembering this meaningful experience, the speaker says that teaching is like an "endless love" that lasts "for life," implying that the influence of a good teacher is something that never fades.
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The Full Text of “Death of a Teacher”
The Full Text of “Death of a Teacher”
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“Death of a Teacher” Summary
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“Death of a Teacher” Themes
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The Power of Poetry and Education
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 5-18
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Death, Loss, and Memory
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-18
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Death of a Teacher”
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Lines 1-4
The big trees ...
... You died yesterday. -
Lines 5-8
When I heard ...
... poem by Yeats -
Lines 9-12
to the bored ...
... on the air. -
Lines 12-14
We were truly ...
... lines from Keats. -
Lines 14-17
Teaching ...
... for life. -
Lines 17-18
Under the gambling ...
... to be turned.
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“Death of a Teacher” Symbols
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The Trees and Leaves
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4: “The big trees outside are into their poker game again, / shuffling and dealing, turning, folding, their leaves / drifting down to the lawn, floating away, ace high, / on a breeze.”
- Line 17: “Under the gambling trees,”
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“Death of a Teacher” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4: “The big trees outside are into their poker game again, / shuffling and dealing, turning, folding, their leaves / drifting down to the lawn, floating away, ace high, / on a breeze.”
- Lines 9-10: “my heart stumbled and blushed / as it fell in love with the words”
- Line 17: “Under the gambling trees,”
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Pun
Where pun appears in the poem:- Lines 12-13: “We were truly there, / present, Miss,”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 2-4: “shuffling and dealing, turning, folding, their leaves / drifting down to the lawn, floating away, ace high, / on a breeze.”
- Lines 11-12: “heard the bird / in the oak outside scribble itself on the air.”
- Lines 13-14: “the smoke from your black cigarette / braided itself with lines from Keats.”
- Lines 17-18: “the gold light thins and burns, / the edge of a page of a book,”
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Juxtaposition
Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4: “The big trees outside are into their poker game again, / shuffling and dealing, turning, folding, their leaves / drifting down to the lawn, floating away, ace high, / on a breeze. You died yesterday.”
- Lines 8-10: “reading a poem by Yeats / to the bored girls, except my heart stumbled and blushed / as it fell in love with the words”
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Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Line 4: “You died yesterday.”
- Lines 7-8: “You sat on your desk, / swinging your legs, reading a poem by Yeats”
- Lines 12-14: “We were truly there, / present, Miss, or later the smoke from your black cigarette / braided itself with lines from Keats.”
- Lines 16-17: “the lessons, just as you said, / for life.”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1
- Line 2
- Line 3
- Line 4
- Line 5
- Line 6
- Line 7
- Line 8
- Line 9
- Line 10
- Line 11
- Line 12
- Line 13
- Line 14
- Line 15
- Line 16
- Line 17
- Line 18
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “drifting down”
- Line 4: “You,” “yesterday”
- Line 5: “heard,” “hour – home,” “last”
- Line 6: “late”
- Line 7: “three,” “thirteen”
- Line 10: “with,” “words”
- Line 11: “hands, heard”
- Line 13: “smoke,” “cigarette”
- Lines 15-16: “lists / lovely”
- Line 16: “learning,” “lessons”
- Line 17: “life,” “gambling,” “gold,” “burns”
- Line 18: “page,” “book,” “precious”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “dealing,” “leaves”
- Line 3: “away, ace”
- Line 6: “my eyes”
- Line 7: “three,” “back,” “thirteen,” “sat”
- Line 9: “stumbled,” “blushed”
- Line 10: “love”
- Line 11: “heard,” “bird”
- Line 12: “scribble itself,” “air,” “there”
- Line 14: “Keats. Teaching”
- Line 16: “lovely,” “tongue”
- Line 18: “page,” “waiting”
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Sibilance
Where sibilance appears in the poem:- Line 7: “sat,” “desk”
- Line 8: “swinging,” “Yeats”
- Line 9: “except,” “stumbled”
- Line 11: “scratched,” “desk”
- Line 12: “outside scribble itself”
- Line 13: “Miss,” “smoke,” “cigarette”
- Line 14: “itself,” “Keats”
- Line 15: “endless,” “spells,” “lists”
- Line 16: “lessons,” “just,” “said”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “leaves / drifting”
- Lines 8-9: “Yeats / to”
- Lines 9-10: “blushed / as”
- Lines 10-11: “tree / in”
- Lines 11-12: “bird / in”
- Lines 13-14: “cigarette / braided”
- Lines 14-15: “Teaching / is”
- Lines 15-16: “lists / lovely”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 2: “dealing, turning,” “, folding,” “, their”
- Line 3: “lawn, floating,” “away, ace”
- Line 4: “breeze. You”
- Line 5: “hour – home,” “time, last”
- Line 6: “afternoon – I,” “eyes. English,” “, of”
- Line 7: “back, and,” “thirteen. You”
- Line 8: “legs, reading”
- Line 9: “girls, except”
- Line 11: “hands, heard”
- Line 12: “air. We”
- Line 13: “present, Miss,” “, or”
- Line 14: “Keats. Teaching”
- Line 15: “love; the,” “heart, spells,” “, the”
- Line 16: “tongue, the,” “lessons, just”
- Line 17: “life. Under,” “trees, the”
- Line 18: “book, precious,” “, waiting”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Line 8: “reading a poem by Yeats”
- Line 14: “lines from Keats”
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“Death of a Teacher” 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.
- Shuffling
- Dealing
- Folding
- Ace High
- Yeats
- Oak
- Braided
- Keats
- Spells
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(Location in poem: Line 2: “shuffling and dealing, turning, folding, their leaves”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Death of a Teacher”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Death of a Teacher” Speaker
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“Death of a Teacher” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Death of a Teacher”
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More “Death of a Teacher” Resources
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External Resources
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Duffy's Biography — For more information about Carol Ann Duffy, check out this brief overview of her life and work.
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The Poker Turn — A brief explanation of what it means to "turn" in poker (a term the speaker uses in the poem's first stanza).
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John Keats — A look at the life of John Keats—another famous poet that the speaker mentions in "Death of a Teacher."
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Duffy on Poetry and Education — An interesting read on Carol Ann Duffy's attempt to get young people interested in poetry, including some background information about her own literary education.
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William Butler Yeats — A short biography of William Butler Yeats, whom the speaker mentions in "Death of a Teacher."
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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