Explore some of the ways different voices are presented in poetry

Duffy uses voices in their poetry in order to portray the experiences of those who have been kept in the dark and denied a voice of their own.

In Lizzie 6, Duffy uses the dialogue form of the poem, achieved with the use of parallel structure, starting with question and following with an an answer, to create structurally two different voices in the poem. Duffy conveys through this form power positions between two narrative voices. The voice of the second voice is a short, italicised line which structurally contrasts the three spoken by the abuser- perhaps to emphasise Lizzie’s marginalisation.

The voice of a perpetrator is made further explicit through the parallelism achieved with repetition of ‘I’ll give you’ in each stanza. The ambiguity of some statements -‘I will give you the moon’ echoes parents' chastisement of their children. However, there is a sinister overtones. This is ironic because the perpetrator’s persona wants to deprive the innocence of the child and not give anything in return. For example, I’’ give you love’ is used with an intention of abuse.