“Stealing” was written by the Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy, who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2019. The poem's speaker is a bored, isolated person who feels "sick of the world" and routinely steals things just for the thrill of it. The speaker says that the strangest thing they ever stole was a snowman, which they later kicked apart, and ends the poem by frustratedly declaring that whoever is listening to this story doesn't understand the speaker at all. “Stealing” was first published in Duffy’s 1987 collection titled Selling Manhattan.
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The Full Text of “Stealing”
The Full Text of “Stealing”
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“Stealing” Summary
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“Stealing” Themes
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Selfishness, Isolation, and Alienation
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-25
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Greed, Materialism, and Meaning in Modern Society
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-25
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Stealing”
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Lines 1-3
The most unusual ...
... the winter moon. -
Lines 3-5
I wanted him, ...
... with the head. -
Lines 6-7
Better off dead ...
... what you want. -
Lines 7-10
He weighed a ...
... morning. Life's tough. -
Lines 11-13
Sometimes I steal ...
... pinch a camera. -
Lines 14-15
I watch my ...
... . -
Lines 16-18
It took some ...
... him. Again. Again. -
Lines 18-20
My breath ripped ...
... of the world. -
Lines 21-24
Boredom. Mostly I'm ...
... flogged it, -
Lines 24-25
but the snowman ...
... saying, do you?
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“Stealing” Symbols
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The Snowman
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “snowman”
- Lines 2-3: “a tall, white mute / beneath the winter moon”
- Lines 3-5: “a mate / with a mind as cold as the slice of ice / within my own brain”
- Lines 7-9: “his torso, / frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill / piercing my gut.”
- Lines 17-18: “I took a run / and booted him. Again. Again.”
- Line 20: “lumps of snow”
- Line 24: “snowman”
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Mirrors and Doubling
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 3-5: “I wanted him, a mate / with a mind as cold as the slice of ice / within my own brain.”
- Lines 7-9: “He weighed a ton; his torso, / frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill / piercing my gut.”
- Line 13: “maybe pinch a camera.”
- Lines 15-15: “A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this — / Aah / .”
- Line 21: “Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.”
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The Guitar and Bust of Shakespeare
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 22-24: “I stole a guitar and thought I might / learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once, / flogged it”
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“Stealing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I,” “stole”
- Line 3: “I”
- Line 5: “I”
- Line 11: “I,” “steal,” “I”
- Line 13: “I'm”
- Line 14: “I”
- Line 17: “I”
- Line 18: “Again. Again.”
- Line 19: “I”
- Line 21: “Boredom,” “I'm,” “bored,” “I”
- Line 22: “I,” “stole,” “I”
- Line 23: “I”
- Line 25: “I'm”
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Colloquialism
Where colloquialism appears in the poem:- Line 3: “mate”
- Lines 6-7: “Better off dead than giving in, not taking / what you want.”
- Line 9: “gut”
- Line 10: “Life's tough.”
- Line 11: “joy-ride”
- Line 13: “pinch”
- Line 18: “booted”
- Line 19: “daft”
- Line 20: “sick of the world.”
- Line 21: “Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.”
- Line 23: “nicked”
- Line 24: “flogged”
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Line 2: “He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute”
- Lines 3-4: “a mate / with a mind”
- Line 5: “the head.”
- Lines 7-8: “He weighed a ton; his torso, / frozen stiff, hugged to my chest,”
- Lines 17-18: “he didn't look the same. I took a run / and booted him.”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 4-5: “the slice of ice / within my own brain.”
- Line 13: “I'm a mucky ghost”
- Lines 18-19: “My breath ripped out / in rags.”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “a tall, white mute / beneath the winter moon.”
- Line 4: “slice of ice”
- Lines 7-9: “He weighed a ton; his torso, / frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill / piercing my gut.”
- Line 14: “I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.”
- Line 20: “lumps of snow”
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Rhetorical Question
Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:- Line 1: “The most unusual thing I ever stole?”
- Line 25: “You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “mute / beneath”
- Lines 3-4: “mate / with”
- Lines 4-5: “ice / within”
- Lines 6-7: “taking / what”
- Lines 8-9: “chill / piercing”
- Lines 9-10: “knowing / that”
- Lines 11-12: “cars / to”
- Lines 17-18: “run / and”
- Lines 18-19: “out / in”
- Lines 19-20: “standing / alone”
- Lines 22-23: “might / learn”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 1: “stole? A ”
- Line 2: “Midnight. He,” “magnificent; a”
- Line 3: “moon. I,” “him, a”
- Line 5: “brain. I”
- Line 6: “in, not”
- Line 7: “want. He,” “ton; his”
- Line 8: “stiff, hugged,” “chest, a”
- Line 9: “gut. Part”
- Line 10: “morning. Life's”
- Line 11: “need. I”
- Line 12: “nowhere, break”
- Line 13: “ghost, leave,” “mess, maybe”
- Line 15: “bedroom. Mirrors. I”
- Lines 15-15: “this — / Aah”
- Line 16: “time. Reassembled”
- Line 17: “same. I”
- Line 18: “him. Again. Again. My”
- Line 19: “rags. It,” “now. Then”
- Line 20: “snow, sick”
- Line 21: “Boredom. Mostly”
- Line 22: “time, I”
- Line 23: “play. I”
- Line 24: “it, but”
- Line 25: “saying, do”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “stole,” “snowman”
- Line 2: “Midnight,” “magnificent,” “white,” “mute”
- Line 3: “winter,” “moon,” “wanted,” “mate”
- Line 4: “mind”
- Line 6: “taking”
- Line 7: “what,” “want,” “weighed,” “ton,” “torso”
- Line 8: “frozen,” “chest,” “fierce,” “chill”
- Line 10: “children”
- Line 11: “Sometimes,” “steal”
- Line 13: “mucky,” “mess,” “maybe”
- Line 18: “ripped”
- Line 19: “rags,” “standing”
- Line 20: “snow,” “sick”
- Line 24: “snowman,” “strangest”
- Line 25: “saying”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “stole,” “snowman”
- Line 2: “Midnight,” “magnificent,” “white,” “mute”
- Line 3: “winter,” “moon,” “wanted,” “mate”
- Line 4: “mind,” “slice,” “ice”
- Line 6: “taking”
- Line 7: “what,” “want,” “weighed,” “ton,” “torso”
- Line 8: “chest,” “fierce,” “chill”
- Line 9: “piercing,” “thrill”
- Line 10: “children”
- Line 11: “Sometimes,” “steal”
- Line 13: “mucky,” “ghost,” “mess,” “maybe ”
- Line 14: “twisting”
- Line 15: “stranger's,” “Mirrors,” “sigh,” “this”
- Line 18: “ripped”
- Line 19: “rags,” “standing”
- Line 20: “lumps,” “snow,” “sick”
- Line 23: “bust,” “Shakespeare,” “once”
- Line 24: “snowman,” “strangest”
- Line 25: “understand,” “saying”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 4: “slice,” “ice”
- Line 5: “head”
- Line 6: “dead”
- Line 8: “fierce,” “chill”
- Line 9: “piercing,” “thrill”
- Line 20: “alone among lumps”
- Line 23: “bust,” “once”
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“Stealing” 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.
- Mute
- Mate
- Ton
- Mucky
- Pinch
- Booted
- Daft
- Bust
- Nicked
- Flogged
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(Location in poem: Line 2: “a tall, white mute”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Stealing”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Stealing” Speaker
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“Stealing” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Stealing”
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More “Stealing” Resources
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External Resources
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Thatcherism and Crime in the UK — Read this article at The Guardian to learn more about Thatcherism in the UK, and how the policies of the Thatcher government led to a rise in crime around the country.
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Essay on “Stealing” and Margaret Thatcher’s UK — Read more about how “Stealing” explores the alienation, anger, and loss of meaning experienced under Thatcherism in this essay that examines the poem alongside Patrick Keiller’s 1994 film, London. (The poem is examined in the second half of the essay.)
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Carol Ann Duffy's Biography — Read more about Carol Ann Duffy’s life and work on this biographical page from the Poetry Foundation.
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Animated Video of “Stealing” — Watch an animated version of “Stealing,” and listen to the poem read aloud, in this student-made video.
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Selling Manhattan — Read more about Selling Manhattan, the 1987 collection in which Carol Ann Duffy first published “stealing,” at the website of the book’s publisher, Pan Macmillan.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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