“Salome” Introduction

• 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

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  • Quickdraw

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