"Elvis's Twin Sister" first appeared in Carol Ann Duffy's 1999 poetry collection The World's Wife. The collection explores themes of gender, femininity, and sexism through poems written from the perspective of real and imagined women with relationships to famous historical figures. In this case, Duffy creates a fictional twin sister for Elvis Presley, one of the most iconic American musicians. She imagines this twin as a sister in another sense—a nun. Through this contrast between Presley's public-facing career and the poem's speaker's cloistered monasticism, Duffy asks how Presley's own life might have been different had he, with identical talents, personality traits, and class background, been born a woman.
While the real Elvis Presley did not have a twin sister, Duffy's imagined twin is drawn indirectly from reality: Presley's twin brother was stillborn, and the musician was brought up as an only child. The poem draws from reality in a number of other explicit ways. Duffy frequently quotes Presley's music and references characteristics associated with him, including his lopsided smile and dance moves. Moreover, she threads the poem with specifically Southern diction, reminding readers of her twin subjects' shared Southern background, and of the Black Southern music that inspired Presley's career.
The poem begins with two epigraphs—one from Presley's song "Are You Lonesome Tonight," and one a quotation from pop singer Madonna. It then comprises six five-line stanzas, or quatrains, written in free verse. It makes extensive use of enjambment to create a syncopated, surprising rhythm. Delving into themes of gender, family, art, religion, and loneliness, the poem takes an imaginative approach to describing a well-known persona.
