Pope Joan
Carol Ann Duffy * Track #27 On The World’s Wife
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Album The World’s Wife
- #1Little Red Cap
Carol Ann Duffy
- #2Thetis
Carol Ann Duffy
- #3Queen Herod
Carol Ann Duffy
- #4Mrs Midas
Carol Ann Duffy
- #5From Mrs Tiresias
Carol Ann Duffy
- #6Pilate’s Wife
Carol Ann Duffy
- #7Mrs Aesop
Carol Ann Duffy
- #8Mrs Darwin
Carol Ann Duffy
- #9Mrs Sisyphus
Carol Ann Duffy
- #10
Mrs FaustCarol Ann Duffy
- #11Delilah
Carol Ann Duffy
- #12Anne Hathaway
Carol Ann Duffy
- #13Queen Kong
Carol Ann Duffy
- #14Mrs Quasimodo
Carol Ann Duffy
- #15Medusa
Carol Ann Duffy
- #16The Devil’s Wife
Carol Ann Duffy
- #17Circe
Carol Ann Duffy
- #18Mrs. Lazarus
Carol Ann Duffy
- #19Pygmalion’s Bride
Carol Ann Duffy
- #20Mrs Rip Van Winkle
Carol Ann Duffy
- #21Mrs Icarus
Carol Ann Duffy
- #22Frau Freud
Carol Ann Duffy
- #23Salome
Carol Ann Duffy
- #24Eurydice
Carol Ann Duffy
- #25The Kray Sisters
Carol Ann Duffy
- #26Elvis’s Twin Sister
Carol Ann Duffy
- #27Pope Joan
Carol Ann Duffy
- #28Penelope
Carol Ann Duffy
- #29Mrs Beast
Carol Ann Duffy
- #30Demeter
Carol Ann Duffy
Pope Joan by Carol Ann Duffy
Performed by
Carol Ann DuffyAbout
The collection of poems by Carol Ann Duffy entitled ‘The World’s Wife’, was first published in 1999 and presents stories, myths, fairy tales and characters in Western culture from the point of view of women. Much of literature through the ages and even today is patriarchal, presenting the world from...
Pope Joan Annotated
After I learned to transubstantiate
unleavened bread
into the sacred host
and swung the burning frankincense
till blue -green snakes of smoke
coiled round the hem of my robe
and swayed through those fervent crowds
high up in a papal chair
blessing and blessing the air
nearer to heaven
than cardinals, archbishops, bishops, preists
being Vicar of Rome
having made the Vatican my home
like the best of men
in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti amen
but twice as virtuous as them
I came to believe
that I did not believe a word
so I tell you now
daughters or brides of the Lord
that the closest I felt
to the power of God
was the sense of a hand
lifting me, flinging me down
lifting me, flinging me down
as my baby pushed out
from between my legs
where I lay in the road
in my miracle
not a man or a pope at all
Pope Joan Q&A
Wich are the main three things of the poem that i could annalyze them in an oral
Work through the poem and trace the steps taken by Pope Joan.
1. She starts by immersing herself in the male world of the Catholic religious hierarchy; in effect, beating the men at their own game.
2. At the pivotal moment she decides she no longer wants this type of power, she no longer believes i...