Mrs Midas: Activities

Stanza 1 Atmosphere

Write down three

phrase that create a
‘normal domestic’
atmosphere.

How is personification
used, and to what
effect?

‘Blanching’ is a cookery
term. How and why is it
used here?

What is the effect of

the simile in the
penultimate line of the
stanza?

Stanzas 2 and 3 Visual Imagery

Look closely at these stanzas. Make two lists of dark and light imagery:

Imagery (Dark) Imagery (Light)

  How does Duffy’s use of imagery contribute to your first impressions of Midas in
stanzas 2 and 3?

Stanza 3 Sentence structure

In what ways can you contrast the sentences in stanza 3 with those that came before?

Enjambment

Lineation

Punctuation

Sentence Types

 The fourth line of this stanza is an allusion to the description of Cleopatra from
Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. In what way is this appropriate?
Stanza 4 Descriptions
Duffy uses descriptive language in interesting ways in this stanza. Make analysis comments
on the following lines:

… spitting out the teeth of the

rich.

Toyed with his spoon, then

mine, then with the knives, the
forks.

… a fragrant, bone-dry white

from Italy…

… the glass, goblet, golden

chalice…

Stanzas 5 and 6 Tone Change

The poem so far pivots around the line ‘It was then that I started to scream.’

1. Can you explain this line?

2. What precautions dose she take before she listens to his story?

3. Can you find examples of colloquialisms in both stanzas? What is the effect of these?

4. What are the negative aspects of gold, as listed in these stanzas?

5. Can you find anything positive in these two stanzas?

Stanza 7 Analysis and Interpretation
What effects does the narrator create through the following lines?

Separate beds.

Near petrified

…turning the spare room into the

tomb of Tutankhamun.

Unwrapping each other, rapidly,

like presents, fast food.

I feared his honeyed embrace.

 How does Duffy manage to make the situation in this stanza both funny and serious?
Stanza 8 Comprehension
Find references to the following:

A saying that reflects the sound of metal

A saying that normally suggests

generosity

A reference to the original myth

An echo of stanza 7’s ‘honeyed embrace’

A metaphorical form of gold.

Stanzas 9 - 11 Tone

How does Duffy manage the end of the poem? Can you find and comment on any changes
in tone or shifts in attitude?

 So he had to move out.

This line contrasts with the end of stanza 8, where the images were vivid and even painful
(dream milk burned… streaming sun) The tone suddenly becomes detached, resigned, and
practical.