Mid term break
‘Mid-Term Break’ is a first person account of the experience of facing death for the first time. This death is especially tragic, as the dead boy was only four years old. The ‘I’ in the poem, the speaker, is still very young himself, having just started secondary school. As he confronts death for the first time he sees how it affects those he loves.
The boredom of waiting appears in the counting of bells but ‘knelling; suggests a funeral bell, rather than a bell for lessons. The author places a lot of emphasism on time, this indicates the sense of heavy foreboding he felt, also the bewilderment and surrealism of the situation.
The father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught by his child’s death, while the mother is too angry to cry, “coughed out angry tearless sighs”. There is also a sense in the poem that the boy has been forced to grow up by what has happened. When he comes to the house we read: “…I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand…” In the next stanza he tells us, “Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest away at school”. As the eldest in the family, he is treated as an adult by neighbours and seen as a comfort to the family. The loss that the adults feel is shown very clearly whereas the author himself shows no signs of the loss he has suffered. This is shown in the embarrassment he feels at the old men standing to shake his hand, and also when in the bedroom he sees the corpse but does not associate it with his brother. He does not realise until the very end that he will never again see or play with his brother. This is due to his age; because he is so young he has no concept of death.
In the last two stanzas the boy goes to the room where his brother’s body is laid out. This is the encounter that the entire poem has been moving towards. Note the personal pronouns ‘him’, ‘his’, ‘he’ – as opposed to the ‘corpse’. There is an almost peaceful feeling in the poet’s description of the room containing the small corpse, “snowdrops and candles”, we are told, soothe the bedside scene. The calm mood is beautifully shown in the transferred epithet. His brother is paler than he remembers, and the only sign of his fatal injury is the “poppy bruise” on his left temple. The young boy sees his brother for the last time and faces death for the first, ‘No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year.’
The flowers are a symbol in the poem, but also in reality for the family. The bruise is seen as not really part of the boy – he is ‘wearing’ it, as if it could come off. As we know snowdrops flower at the beginning of the year and are white, so from this we get both the innocence and season. Poppies are commonly used to portray the violent, tragic death of a young person.
When the author refers to the bedroom he is very impersonal which suggests two things; firstly that he and his brother shared a room, and also that the reality of the situation has not sunk in yet.
The last line of the poem is most poignant and skilful – the size of the coffin is the measure of the child’s life. We barely notice that Heaney has twice referred to a ‘box’, almost like a childish name for a coffin.
The title is successful in showing the irony of the poem, at first glance you think the poem will be about a normal school break but before the end of the first line you know this is not the case, and right away your curiosity is aroused. The author implies a tragic death to a close family member and captures your intrigue by keeping the identity and age of the victim till the end. Its not until the last line that you learn the age of the child. This is the point when there is a sharp intake of breath from the reader as they feel as if they have just been slapped in the face. This effect is caused by the clever use of the rhyming couplet at the end, giving the poem a very hard hitting dramatic ending. With horror, we realise the boy in the poem has been given time off from boarding school because his younger brother has been killed in an accident.
--------------------------
Miracle On St David’s Day
Miracle on St David's Day is an enchanting, and ultimately optimistic poem relating to the theme of identity by Gillian Clarke. The poem tells the story of a man in a mental institution, who exceeds the expectation of both the nurses and his fellow patients when he regains the ability to talk.
In the first stanza Gillian Clarke uses a metaphor to describe the happy scene at the hospital. It is a sunny afternoon and as it is the beginning of spring, there are many daffodils surrounding the hospital. The scene is "open mouthed with daffodils". This conjures an image of daffodils with their trumpets open wide, laughing in the sunlight, and it successfully personifies the flowers. Gillian Clarke introduces the importance of nature right at the beginning of the poem. This stanza is aimed at portraying how the environment at the hospital is very unlike how one would imagine it to be.
I also notice that in Clarke's poem the daffodils seem to represent the people at the home. At the start of the poem the daffodils are "open mouthed" showing the way that the patients don't react to the poetry, as this is the face that people use when they are bored and not listening. Their open mouths show how unreceptive the patients are; once again removing any sense of normality as Gillian Clarke alienates them from ordinary sane people. When the miracle of the man speaking occurs the flowers are silent and still, showing that far from the boredom and lack of interest displayed before, everyone is amazed. We can deduct that the daffodils are not merely flowers, by the use of lines such as, "their syllables unspoken", as obviously, flowers can speak no syllables.
Gillian Clarke describes the country house in what seems to be an idyllic setting, "The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks, it might be a country house, guests strolling” Her use of the word ‘might’ alerts the reader that this idyllic setting may be an illusion and not what it first seems.
In the next stanza, Gillian Clarke introduces the harsh reality of the situation, by saying "I am reading poetry to the insane". As this sentence is so insensitive and such a contrast to the last stanza, the poet effectively captures the reader's attention. It disturbs the so far, flowing affect to the poem. What’s more shocking is that the mental hospital is not a commonplace for people to be reading poetry.
The poet then goes on to explain about her encounters with some of the other patients. I think she expertly uses enjambment when she describes the "schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later." Schizophrenia is the fragmentation of the mind and means that the person has a twin personality, so she separates the sentence onto two lines. I think that "on a good day" means that if the boy was having a bad day, he would not be listening "entirely absorbed" as he is now. Gillian Clarke states that although this schizophrenic boy is in a mental hospital, he is still beautiful. His says this so that the readers do not just assume that everyone in the hospital is less attractive to ordinary people. She also clarifies that the people in the hospital can be young or old.
When we meet the woman sitting in a cage of first March sun, Gillian Clarke uses deliberate repetition of the word ‘not’ when she describes the woman's actions. The woman sits "not listening, not seeing, not feeling". The woman appears caged inside herself; as a result she is not hearing the words and appears vacant. This repetition causes one to imagine how limiting her life must be because she is absent to the world and gives reason for one to sympathise with her.
The first March sun is described as a cage as it is saying that for these people who have no freedom, even their enjoyment of the sun is trapping them, and they have no choice but to be out absorbed in it.
Gillian Clarke causes the readers to take pity on the "big mild man", because she explains that although the man is big on the exterior, he is mild on the interior.
The reader feels for this man because he has to be led to his chair, whereas any ordinary man would be independent. I also find it interesting that Gillian Clarke uses an oxymoron to survey how the patients appear trapped inside themselves. Gillian Clarke reads to their "presences, absences". Again, on the exterior, the patients seem present, but on the interior, their minds are absent. They are oblivious to Gillian Clarke reading poems to them.
I think it is inventive how Gillian Clarke uses sibilance in the fifth stanza, to alert the reader by means of different sounds and rhythms. I feel that the language she uses, gives an air of expectance and anticipation. As the two previous stanzas continue on from each other - enjambment - this stanza a change. I also like the way that Gillian Clarke conjures an image of this large man taking his first steps just as a newborn lamb does in the first few days of spring, because he is "breaking" free of his dumbness or "darkness". This is the beginning of his new life with speech.
I think it is effective, how Gillian Clarke personifies the daffodils in the sixth stanza, "the daffodils are still as wax", because she portrays the flowers as waxworks, so they are motionless and tranquil, as if listening to the man reciting the poem about them. It is as if time has stopped, and all the nature outside the window is reflecting on the "miracle" that is taking place inside. The hyperbole that she uses, "a thousand, ten thousand" is an excerpt from the poem. Gillian Clarke successfully employs this hyperbole to exaggerate the number of daffodils who stop to observe to the man breaking free of his limited life. I think it works well, because Gillian Clarke intended to stress that as this is such an important event, that lots of creatures would stop to listen to it.
I think that the seventh stanza is the most heartbreaking stanza, especially "Since the dumbness of misery fell"; because that implies that the man was once a happy child and only stopped talking and became miserable when something tore his life apart. This is the point in the poem where we realise the power of speech and nature, which Gillian Clarke believes very strongly in. I find "that once he had something to say", very moving, because it was only at that point that I could believe that the man really had not spoken for such a long time and now he had been released with the strength of a poem.
I think "the daffodils are flame" is a very effective way to finish the poem because it is rounding off with the daffodils where it first started. As the main theme of the poem is the power of nature, I feel that it is an excellent way to finish. "Flame," means that the daffodils appear to become brighter, even when they are not, to symbolise the end of the "miracle" workings.
--------------
Not my best side
In ‘not my best side’ the poet challenges orthodox images of the characters in the legend Of St George and the dragon only to replace them with another equally stereotypical set. She has successfully manipulated them into modern day caricatures.
Through traditional stereotypical views and legends, Uccello has portrayed the fire-breathing dragon as grotesque and beastly. The poem contrasts any stereotypical view the reader may have taken and reveals that the dragon is no more innocent than the other characters. In the first stanza, the reader is confronted by a dress conscientious victim of fashion; this is hardly a fire-breathing monster. The dragon criticises all but himself, from the painter Uccello who, "didn't give me a chance to pose properly" to the, "horse with a deformed neck". Fanthorpe has given such a beast a pitiful personality that the painter is described as a, "poor chap.” The phrases used by the dragon portray how the poem is the inverse of the painting itself.
The dragon is very critical of the painting, he does not approve of the style. He is very self-obsessed; he 'was sorry for the bad publicity'. He sees himself as an important character in the poem e.g. 'taking me seriously', but he feels that he is not being treated with the respect that he deserves. The dragon is slightly pompous, he wants only the best actor to play George, to match his own great qualities, e.g. 'Why, I said to myself should my conqueror be so contentiously beardless …’ He is also critical of the actress who plays the damsel, e.g. 'Why should my victim be so unattractive as to be inedible'.
The voice created by this character is very cheerful, not evil and threatening like in the traditional story. This voice is created by word choice, such as 'Poor chap', 'Literally on a string'; these phrases are not associated with evil characters, but more with high-spirited people. There are no threatening or intimidating phrases or words in this monologue. He also asks questions to himself, such as 'Why, I said to myself should my conqueror be so ostentatiously beardless…’ This makes the tone less formal, and shows the talkativeness of his character. The dragon uses quite complex sentence structure; he uses a lot of main clauses linked together with conjunctions and commas, which also adds to the chatty tone. The shortest sentence is the opening one, 'Not my best side, I'm afraid'
The dragon is obviously relatively well spoken, as he uses some complex words such as 'ostentatiously'. The tone created by this character is a combination of agreeable, friendly and pleasant tones. Therefore the stereotype created by U A Fanthorpe is of a quite well spoken, chatty, pompous actor. U A Fanthorpe creates new stereotypes, showing us that not all dragons are necessarily evil and vicious.
The damsel speaks in the second monologue, and once again is not the stereotypical princess from the traditional story. She is portrayed as more of a modern, feminist woman, who is not enthralled with the knight. Instead she is actually enchanted with the dragon, e.g. 'And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail.' She is also quite courageous as she does not mind the threat of the dragon; she even says that 'he made me feel he was all ready to eat me'. She didn't approve of the boy turning up; unlike in the traditional story where George rescued the princess, this damsel is much more independent. She is perhaps a stereotypical feminist doesn't need any male help. She appears to be a much more modern woman; she judges whether the boy is suitable to rescue her, and she decides he is not as 'he might have acne, blackheads, or even bad breathe for all I could tell.' This shows how modern society judges people more for their appearance opposed to their actions.
She is also a bit snobbish; the dragon wasn't good enough for her as 'the dragon got himself beaten by the boy'. She, like the dragon, also has a cheerful, chatty voice created by questions to herself, e.g. 'Still what could I do?', and chatty comments such as 'to be honest'. She uses quite a basic vocabulary; the longest word she uses is 'machinery', when she says this it shows another modern feature of society. She also uses the word 'boy', not knight as she presumably considers him too immature to be a knight. Her sentences are all quite simple but nevertheless quite long as she uses many conjunctions and commas to make one sentence out of many main and subordinate clauses, which makes her voice a lot less formal and more cheerful.
The third monologue is that of George, the knight. He is portrayed not as the heroic figure of St George, but of a modern, technologically minded, self-obsessed man. In the poem, George is very boastful, e.g. 'I have diplomas in Dragon management and Virgin Reclamation', showing the stereotype of a young male. The knight also has 'the latest model’ horse, and his spear is also 'custom built', which is also a stereotype of a young man who has to get the best car etc. U A Fanthorpe creates the stereotype of a man who is always trying to get the latest gadget. George tells the dragon that 'You can't do better than me at the moment' showing his snobbery and that he is self-centred. He is very offensive; e.g. 'So why be difficult?' which is basically telling the dragon that he has no chance of beating him. It may also show laziness, as he would rather the dragon give in than for him to fight him properly. He is conservatively minded, as he believes in 'the roles that society and myth have created for you'; this is probably the cause of his snobbery as he believes he is better than everyone else. He is prejudiced against the dragon, he sees him as his lower, e.g. 'What, in any case does it matter what you want? You're in my way.’
George is proud of the painting, which shows his 'latest model' and hi-tech equipment. He sees himself as a hero, considers himself brave and the rescuer of the damsel. His character creates an offensive, impolite and abrupt voice. He uses some quite advanced word vocabulary, such as 'prototype', 'obsolescence' as he feels these words make him more important. His questions e.g. 'So shy be difficult' help to create a superior, offensive tone. He uses quite long sentences, mostly compound opposed to complex, unlike the other characters he is not chatty but he simply describing and praising himself, using lists, statements and questions. Therefore George is portrayed as a stereotypical modern, young, conservatively minded, self-obsessed, snobbish man.
Therefore 'Not my Best Side' challenges the traditional stereotypes. U.A Fanthorpe makes the point that not all dragons are evil and vicious, not all women are dependant on men and not all men are brave and heroic. U.A Fanthorpe creates new stereotypes, e.g. a stereotypical actor, a stereotypical feminist woman and a stereotypical self-obsessed, hi-tech man. Her intention for this may be to comment on how the relationship between men and women today is a far cry from the day of St. George, nowadays there is more equality and freedom, but people of both sexes are more judgemental. U.A Fanthorpe also emphasises the point that you cannot escape 'the roles that sociology and myth have created for you'. She is looking at how people view themselves and each other. Often how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us are quite different.
------------------------------