The Dolphins Summary

The Dolphins: About the poem

The Dolphins’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a dramatic
monologue written from the perspective of dolphins. It tries to
enumerate the emotions of a dolphin which was once free,
swimming around at its own will, but is now confined to an
aquarium or a water-park — a place where it does what its
owner or trainer tells it to do. Its master uses it to perform tricks
to amuse people in the circus.

The poem shows how dolphins and other animals are suffering
in the hands of men. It urges us to look at the world from their
perspective. It conveys the poet’s massage against human
cruelty towards animals. On a metaphoric level, the poetess
may also want to indicate the troubles of humans who think
they are caught in the confines of this world.

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The Dolphins: Form and language
The poem is simple and straight-forward. The language for
most part is plain. But the juxtaposition of simplicity
and ambiguity at some places makes an impression on the
reader. It is sometimes more suggestive than explicit. Lack of a
rhyme scheme and the use of enjambment mark the poem. The
poetess uses cliches with a twist. Further, she makes use of
repetition to highlight the weariness of the dolphins.

The poem is full of pathos. Confinement of dolphins evokes

emotions in the minds of readers.
The Dolphins: Line by Line Analysis
First Stanza
World is what you swim in, or dance, it is simple.

The poem starts with the dolphin speaking in second person,

addressing us, the humans. The dolphin goes on to explain its
own meaning of the ‘world’, its own expectations about what
the world should be like.

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Given that they reside in water-bodies, it explains that the
world should be a place where one is allowed to swim in or
dance. It is an expression identifiable with joy and happiness
without any restrictions. It is that simple for them.

We are in our element but we are not free.

From  now onward, the dolphin starts talking in first person

(plural). Understandably it is going to tell us its own story of
imprisonment.

They are in water in the aquarium doing what they do best (in
our element) but they are not free. The poetess plays with the
words ‘in our element’, a cliche used to explain what one likes
to do, to also mean water, a natural element. Water maybe all
around it. But the dolphin is now restricted to the pool and not
the expansive ocean it used to dance around in.

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Outside this world you cannot breathe for long.

Now, the words of the dolphin carry the tone of desolation. It

says that outside its aquatic world, it cannot breathe for long.
The other has my shape.

With this line, the poetess introduces an element of mystery.

Who does “other” point to? This essentially effects an initial
ambiguity. It may point to the person who is making the
dolphin perform tricks. He may know the pose (shape) the
dolphin should take to make the act most entertaining. And
the animal, without any say moulds itself into the shape.

Or it may point to another dolphin whose movement guides

the dolphin’s own movement. It’s like an orchestra where one
instrument plays in tandem with others to create a beautiful
art-piece.

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The other’s movement forms my thoughts.

Here, ‘other’ may point to the other dolphin whose movement

not just guides the dolphin’s movement, but also its thoughts.
It shows how others are controlling its life, its movements and
its thoughts.

And also mine.

Just the way the movement of the other dolphin moulds how it
acts, its actions decide the course for the other dolphin.

There is a man and there are hoops.

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Now, for the first time the dolphin mentions its tormentor.
There is a man who makes the dolphin jump through hoops
while it performs. ‘Hoops’ point to the cliche ‘jumping
through hoops’ but since the dolphins actually jump through
hoops on orders, the cliche is overrun.

There is a constant flowing guilt.

Once again readers find this ambiguous. What is the guilt?

Who is feeling the guilt? It’s most possibly the dolphin itself
as it can only know its own feelings, not others’. The sense of
guilt comes from its inability to always perform the way its
master wants. It may also feel guilty as it got caught up in the
net of the fisherman when it was careless.

Or it’s possibly the trainer, as some suggest, as he makes the

dolphins do things against their will. That’s an unlikely
explanation though, as it goes against the motive of the poem.

Second Stanza
We have found no truth in these waters,
no explanations tremble on our flesh.

The dolphins usually are very sentient beings. Even their skin
is very sensitive to changes around. They have a well-
developed sonar system. In spite of all these abilities, the
dolphin grieves and mentions it has found no ‘truth’ in these
waters. They don’t find this water good for living, as the
ocean is their natural living place. There is nothing so
pleasing that could stimulate its skin (flesh) — no explanation
which may help them make sense of this new world.

We were blessed and now we are not blessed.

The voice of dolphin resonates with a depressing tone. It says

they were blessed when they were freely roaming in the
ocean. But they are not anymore ‘blessed’ to be restricted in
the man-made confine.

After travelling such space for days we began to translate.

The line signifies how the dolphins are now trying to accept
their fate. The dolphins who were used to travelling around in
the open waters (space) for days have now started to
translate. Here, ‘translate’ points to the fact that the dolphin
has to change its mindset to live in this limited water now.

It was the same space. It is

the same space always and above it is the man.

The dolphins may be surrounded by water (same space). It is

the same space they have desired. It explains that what looks
essentially same is so different in reality. That is, swimming
in pool and in ocean are totally different experiences.

‘Above it is the man’ points to superiority of man. It is

figurative. How the man controls the dolphins. But, it is literal
when we notice that no matter what these dolphins do, the
man, their abductor would constantly watch from above.

Third Stanza
The third stanza reiterates the monotony and the problems of
the dolphins. But, then it gives voice to the collective of
dolphins with ‘we’. They seem to interact and start to feel for
each other. They wish to collectively deal with the situation
and try to adapt to it while depending on each other. It teaches
the nice lesson of compassion, togetherness, and friendship.
They find a way to help out each other while caught in this
tough world.

And now we are no longer blessed, for the world

will not deepen to dream in.

The dolphin says that they are now accepting the fact that they
are no longer with luck. The world (pool) is not going to
deepen into an ocean all of a sudden — a place where they
used to dream of their happy, free life.

The other knows and out of love reflects me for myself.

This line portrays a wonderful understanding of empathy

between these dolphins, something we readers must learn
from. The dolphin says that the other dolphin knows its
feelings. Despite being in the miserable situation itself, the
other dolphin reflects the dolphin for who it is. This is because
of the love for each other.

It teaches us, the readers the importance of mutual

understanding and the strength it gives us in times of
adversity.

We see our silver skin flash by like memory of somewhere

else.

The dolphin is too sad with this new life. Even when it sees a
silver skin flash by it simply reminds itself of free, huge ocean
(somewhere else). Here, ‘silver skin’ means dolphins
swimming around in the tank.
The simile paints a visual description of how dolphins are
aware of their existence in a collective, their shoal. Not just
that, it shows how astutely aware dolphins are of their bodily
knowledge.

There is a coloured ball we have to balance till the man has

disappeared.

The dolphin simply remembers that they need to balance a

coloured ball until their master goes away. This is like one
teaches a dog to fetch the ball thrown towards it.
It indicates how commanding and controlling humans are on
them.

Fourth Stanza
The moon has disappeared.

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The fourth stanza is an embodiment of utmost desolation,
confinement and control.
When in ocean, it used to follow or circle around the
reflection of moon. That moon is no more with them. It can no
more circle the moon.

We circle well-worn grooves of water on a single note.

Now all the dolphin can do is circle around the movements of

the water (grooves of water) which induces a sense of music,
which plays on a single note.
Duffy uses ‘grooves’ to find a similarity in the water bubbles
and the moon.
Music of loss forever from the other’s heart which turns my
own to stone.

It intensifies when the dolphin hears the ‘music of loss’ in its

companion’s voice (other’s heart). When it hears its
companions mourning the loss on continual basis, it feels the
loss of freedom and joy. This makes it saddened, turns its
heart to stone.

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There is a plastic toy. There is no hope.

A plastic toy is there in the tank possibly for the dolphins to

play with. This artificial toy cannot provide the joy of playing
around in the free ocean. But there is no hope — no hope to
go back to their home.

We sink to the limits of this pool until the whistle blows.

The dolphin says they sink to the limits or the boundaries of

the pool until the trainer blows his whistle, signalling them to
come up and perform the tricks.

The another connotation can relate to the fact that these

dolphins have given in to their fate and have sunk to their
lowest hope — the hope that someone would come and blow
the whistle with a good news for them.

There is a man and our mind knows we will die here.

Yet, they know for sure there is a man. And, that they will die
there. They cannot leave the place even if they want to. ‘Our
mind’ points to the collective of the dolphins and their
collective intelligence to understand what is going on around
them — a sense of belonging in an otherwise nonsense world.

Also, the repetition of ‘A man’ from the first stanza in this last
stanza emphasises the cycle of suffering the dolphins are
going through.

This poem may look like collection of simple words and

straight lines. But the emotions it entails and the ambiguity it
imposes, forces the readers to take a step back and reflect on
the essence of freedom. What essentially freedom means to
us? How can compassion and empathy save us? And how can
we save others while facing the same adversity? The poem
provides an answer to all these.

Theme
Exploitation and Abuse of Wildlife : The Dolphin’s
underlines the idea that man in his avarice or pride fails
to realize how animals are badly affected when they are
constrained or imprisoned. Animals suffer as much from
the loss of freedom as man. Confined in the limited
space of a water pool in a water park the speaker-
dolphin express its sense of loss of freedom vividly. We
are moved by the way it seems to ask what for it has
been removed from its natural habitat. We being to
share its feelings, though we can never exactly know the
anguish of an entrapped or encaged animal. The dolphin
in the poem, representing all dolphins in its position,
makes it clear that they long for freedom :
World is what you swim in, or dance, it is simple.
We are in our element but we are not free.
The dolphin, in a hopeless mood, mentions of man in
spite. It knows that dolphins like it have bleak future.
They are at man’s mercy. They will continue to move in
their limited space and entertain the human visitors, and
one day they will die:
There is a plastic toy. There is no hope. We sink
to the limits of this pool until the whistle blows.
There is a man and our mind knows we will die
here.
Man vs Nature : Another theme of ‘The Dolphins’ is the
contrast between man-made world and the world of
nature. The man-made world can only be artificial,
limited and joyless. On the other hand, the world of
nature is real, joyful and limitless. They live there
happily. When they are removed from their natural
habitats, they remain unhappy and yearn for their
freedom. This is how the captive dolphin expresses its
anguish in its new man-man world.
We are blessed and now are not blessed.
A dolphin is known to receive a lot of information
through its skin. It has a highly developed sonar. And yet
in the new man-made world it is unable to make any
sense of its existence. There is no explanation as to why
it is there. It does not find any truth in the new world.
The only thing the dolphins can understand is that once
they were blessed and the now they are not blessed.
The limited space in the pool which they have to travel
again and again and has become monotonous. The
expression ‘about it is the main’ reveals the superiority
and the culpability of humans in the abduction and
control of the dolphins.
Literary Devices used in the Poem
Metaphors : A metaphor is a sort of comparison. It
shows how one things is defined with another in respect
of some quality or characteristic. These metaphors
occur in the poem:
‘constant flowing guilt’ a metaphor for the water pumped
through the tank , or for the sensitivity on the part of the
dolphins who are ware of abuse.
‘no truth in these waters’ – a metaphor to show that the
confined pool lacks the interest of the open sea; it is
simply boring, the truth of which is being kept from the
dolphins.
Simile : In a simile one things is compared to another by
using either ‘like’ or ‘as………as’; as:
We see our silver skin flash by like memory of somewhere
else.
The memory of the dolphins having silvery skin is as
momentary as that of the open ocean of their days of
freedom.
Caesura : When there is a decisive pause in one single
line of the poem it is known as caesura. Caesura has
been used liberally by the poet in ‘The Dolphins’ to
convey the pathos of the situation effectively; as,
 The other has my shape. The other’s movement

forms my thoughts. And also mine. There is a man

 The moon has disappeared. We circle well-worn 

grooves
of water on a single note.
Assonance : It is the repetition of identical or similar
vowels in a sequence of nearby words; as:
 World is what you swim in, or dance, it is simple.             

(short ‘i’)
 to translate. It was the same space . It is                             
(long ‘a’)
Critical Appreciation
Poem of Contemporary Value : ‘The Dolphins’ is a poem
of protest against the abuse of wildlife. The concern for
the wildlife and the conservation of species are serious
issues of our times. ‘The Dolphin’ is one among the
many poems that draws our attention that we need to
change our mindset. We should not imprison animals in
zoos, parks and aquariums. The poet voices its concern
about the loss of freedom for animals like dolphins quite
effectively in ‘The Dolphins’. She gives her voice to one
of the captive dolphins in a water pool in a water park.
The plight of the dolphin in the limited space in the pool,
its sense of loss of freedom and its feelings of
desperation, ennui and hopelessness make the readers
aware of the human apathy towards and wildlife, and
about the need to take essential steps to prevent cruelty
towards animals.
Message : The poem does not aim at giving any direct
message to the readers . It only records the experience
of the dolphins in an artificial atmosphere where they are
forced to do some tricks for human entertainment under
the threating presence of their keeper. If there is any
message, it is for us to derive. We are exhorted implicitly
to do something against the needless confinement of
innocent creatures. Let us allow animals to enjoy their
freedom in their natural environs.
Title : The title of the poem ‘The Dolphins’ is quite
appropriate. The whole poem is about the dolphins 
entrapped in a pool of water park. It is written from the
perspective of a dolphin who becomes a spokesperson
for its kind in voicing its anguish over the loss of its
freedom. On the larger scale, her voice is the voice of all
such animals and birds entrapped by man for
entertainment purpose. Throughout the poem, the focus
in on the dolphin’s plight and the hopelessness of their
situation.
Typical Modern Poem : The poem, written in colloquial
style, seems to be simple. But a close reading of the
poem shows that some of its lines are quite ambiguous.
Like any modern poem, this poem is also open to many
interpretations.
For instance, the line – ‘There is a constant flowing guilt’
– is quite ambiguous. Who is guilty, the dolphins or the
humans? The dolphins have no reason to feel guilty,
while the humans have the reason to feel so, but
ironically they do not.
There is ambiguity in these lines, too.
The other has my shape. The other’s movement 
forms my thoughts. And also mine.
At first, it is not clear who or what is meant by ‘The
other’. We can only guess that the ‘other’ refers to
another dolphin in the pool.