The clocks slid back an hour
and stole light from my life
The poem begins by establishing the symbolic relationship between the act of changing the clocks and the sense of time as untrustworthy and unjust. These lines reference the yearly end of daylight savings time, in which the day is shortened by one hour. However, Duffy takes advantage of the metaphorical meaning of the word "light," meaning joy or happiness. In doing so, she describes not merely the loss of literal light as a result of the time changing, but also the loss of metaphorical light as a result of time passing. Meanwhile, the verb "stole" casts time as a conscious agent, deliberately causing the speaker misery.
And, of course, unmendable rain
fell to the bleak streets
The phrase "and, of course," creates an informal and conversational tone. This does not only create a feeling of intimacy with the speaker—it gives a sense of the easy intimacy between the speaker and the ex-partner she addresses. Despite the end of their relationship, that informality persists as a reminder of their time together. Though the two are now parted, they are irrevocably intertwined. This irrevocable quality is similar to the "unmendable" quality of the rain: throughout the poem, Duffy focuses on the irreversible nature of both emotional and physical processes.
But we will be dead, as we know,
beyond all light.
The repetition of the word "we" in these lines reaffirms the sense that, despite the speaker's heartbreak, she views herself and her ex-lover as fundamentally united. Both are lonely, and both must face the inevitability of time passing. However, their shared fate does not make the speaker feel less lonely. Instead, it intensifies her sense that time is an inescapable force. The short length of the line "beyond all light," with only four syllables (compared to the previous eight-syllable line) mimics the inescapable death described: it is abrupt and uncompromising.
