The final law that Elizabeth comes to represent is ‘Childbirth’, safety, and support to all those the ‘lie on the birthing beds’. Duffy presents the pain of childbirth, ‘screamed scarlet’ using the symbolism of deep red to reflect pain, and also the symbol of blood, inherent in childbirth.
‘Flowers’ are often used as a stereotypical symbol of fertility and the delicate nature of women. Yet, by connecting with ‘sore’, placing this adjective before ‘flowers’, Duffy removes this archetypical notion of how women should portray themselves, tainting ‘flowers’ with an aching pain ‘sore’. This speaks to the female experience, childbirth is incredibly painful, and the delicate ‘flower’ symbol of women is ridiculous, Duffy transforms the image into something more realistic through the use of this oxymoron.
The final line of the poem, ‘Long Queen. All her possessions for a moment of time’ illustrates the power of Elizabeth I and her devotion to women. Duffy isolates ‘Long Queen’ between two caesuras, demonstrating that the Queen can stand powerfully on her own, she needs no help from others. Following this, Duffy suggests that she would give up everything, all her ‘possessions’ for ‘a moment of time’, putting her rule, a symbol of woman power, before her own happiness.