In Paris With You and Quickdraw

Compare the ways Fenton and Duffy present a speaker’s attitudes towards another person in ‘In Paris with You’ and ‘Quickdraw’.

The speaker in ‘In Paris With You’ implies that he has recently experienced the painful ending of at least one romantic relationship, "Don't talk to me of love. I've had an earful...". On the one hand his attitude to love is cynical and dismissive. However, there are also hints that he may not be as vehemently opposed to beginning a new romantic attachment as he initially claims. The speaker in ‘Quickdraw’ is also experiencing conflict in a romantic relationship, "You've wounded me." Unlike, ‘In Paris With You’, though, this speaker is far from giving up on love; instead, she seeks to cling on desperately, despite the emotional wounds she receives.

At times, the tone of ‘In Paris With You’ is light-hearted and playful, mocking his own responses to the end of a relationship: "I get tearful when I've downed a drink or two". By contrast it is also bitter and disillusioned: "I'm angry...And resentful". It could be argued that the speaker is seeking to mask his vulnerability behind a nonchalant exterior. The tone of ‘Quickdraw’ is less jovial: " And this is love, high noon, calamity,". However, it is still quite playful with language, through the central metaphor of the Wild West.

Fenton mostly undermines romantic imagery in ‘In Paris With You'. For example, the title of the poem leads us to expect that it will be full of romantic cliches, since Paris is a classic destination for lovers. Whilst he does refer to the well-known tourist attractions, he swiftly rejects them, and along with them the hackneyed associations they carry: "Do you mind if we do not go to the Louvre,/If we say sod off to sodding Notre Dame,". The use of italics for the word 'not' conveys the world-weary tone and the profane repetition of 'sod'/'sodding' adds rebellious humour. This is furthered by the inclusion of flippant language such as "maroonded", "bamboozled" and "sleazy" as a forced rhyme for "Élysées". In addition, Fenton puns on the expression 'walking wounded', which he changes to "talking wounded", to ridicule the way in which those recently dumped have a tendency to endlessly analyse why things went wrong. However, the speaker’s desire for the person he is with can be seen when he uses innuendo: "I'm in Paris with...all points south." It could be argued that he does this to cover up the more romantic reference to her "eyes", which are frequently seen to be the 'windows to the soul' as this might give the impression that he feels more for her than mere physical attraction, and he is seeking to protect himself from the pain of love.

The hints of love as a battle zone in Fenton's poem ("wounded", "hostage") can be compared to Duffy’s key descriptive device in ‘Quickdraw’, which is the extended metaphor which compares a romantic relationship to a gunfight in the Wild West. It is amusing to visualise the "mobile and landline phones/like guns" but this also introduces the truth that words can become weapons to hurt those we love, emphasised by the hard alliteration of the 't' sounds in "the trigger of my tongue". Like Fenton, Duffy uses cliches, such as the idea of "the old Last Chance saloon", originally the final place to purchase alcohol before entering a Prohibition area, but now used to refer to people (frequently women) who feel, or are made to feel, that they have very few more opportunities to find a long-term partner. Much of the Wild West iconography in this poem portrays the speaker as the vulnerable partner in the relationship, such as the metaphor that her words are "wide of the mark" whereas "You choose your spot, then blast me". At the end of the poem when both phones are texted at once (the second one hidden, like a gun often was, in the boot!) the speaker says, "I reel/Down on my knees". These create the impression that the relationship is an unequal one, just as the speaker in 'In Paris with You' has apparently always been the one to be hurt.

Rhyme and rhythm are employed by Fenton to create a light-hearted tone, for example in the short, mostly monosyllabic lines: "I admit I'm on the rebound/And I don't care where are we bound" which help to give this stanza the air of a limerick. They make light of the speaker's emotional state, emphasising the fun he now desires in this current liaison. By contrast, Duffy structures ‘Quickdraw’ as free verse, but uses enjambment and caesurae to create a disjointed effect, echoing the lack of connection in the relationship and the frequent, unexpected verbal assaults.

Both poems use repetition, but to achieve very different effects. Fenton's poem has two refrains: "Don't talk to me of love" and "I'm in Paris with you". The second of these actually leads us to question how far the speaker really rejects love, or whether this, and his humour, are actually defence mechanisms. 'Quickdraw' ends with the repetition of "take this", representing the impact of successive bullets interspersed with ellipses to evoke the time that passes in between each shot. However, it is interesting to note that these "silver bullets" are not in fact harsh words but kisses, perhaps intended to soften the blow of the farewell message, or possibly an apology and attempt at reconciliation. Either way, Duffy reiterates the destructive power of love at the end of her poem.

Although both poems have humorous elements, and it is evident that we are not intended to take them entirely seriously, we are also meant to understand that love can hurt and cause people to behave in new ways, sometimes defensive, sometimes degrading.