POETRY: mrs midas Flashcards
(72 cards)
“I’d just”
informal contraction, relaxation, simple recollection, implies speaker is middle class
“Unwind”
calmness after a busy day
“Filled with the smell of itself” and “steamy breath”
personification of the kitchen suggests intimate relationship between women and the domestic realm.
“Blanching”
cooking term, helps to establish what is being done, another allusion to intimate relationship with kitchen.
“Wiped the other’s glass like a brow”
just as one would wipe the sweat of the brow, so too would the speaker wipe the condensation off the window
“Snapping a twig”
small, unthreatening action
“Long and the visibility poor”
blaming other factors and disbelieving what she sees, this takes her a long time to realise what is happening
“The dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky”
personification, bleak and sinister tone, the dark earth is like a thirsty mythological beast swallowing the daylight, contrasting the peacefulness and gentleness of the kitchen.
“But that twig in his hand was gold”
delayed assertion, suggests she is unwilling to accept the truth of what she is seeing
“Fondante d’automne”
parenthesis, need to hang onto the facts, associated with golden colours.
“Like a lightbulb”
conveys the shape of the pear illuminating the situation, contrast and the brightness emanating.
“On”
sense of stupefaction, can only produce one syllable
“Fairy lights”
suggests magic
“In the tree?”
question, fanciful + direct contrast to what becomes very serious. Her ignorance, his control.
“He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed.”
juxtaposition of the ordinary with extraordinary. “Gleamed” suggests domestic pride, highly polished
“Field of the Cloth of Gold”
1520 Henry vii of england and francis i of france had temporary palaces erected when they met, embellished a golden cloth
“He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne
just as a king maintains the highest rank + sits on a polished golden throne, Midas assumes the highest rank in the household and turns his chair to gold. “Burnished” suggests greed, polished.
“Strange, wild, vain”
3 monosyllables, range of expressions and emotions, he realises he has been given a tremendous power.
“What in the name of god is going on?” -
emphatic, interrogative question, exasperated wife and infuriating husband
“To laugh”
inappropriate reaction, delight
“I served up”
servicity and regal
“starters , corn on the cob”
ironic choice of food, greed as he can’t even eat
“Spitting out the teeth of the rich”
compares sweetcorn to ostentatious gold teeth, suggesting the negative, even deadly, effects of greed.
“Spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks” - structure suggests random casual actions confusion/interest
“Shaking” - shock, fear, sobering
“Bone-dry white” - white wine can also have a golden hue
“Glass, goblet, golden” - harsh ‘g,’ bitter resentment, foolishness
“Chalice” - exotic, traditional, ornate
“Spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks”
structure suggests random casual actions confusion/interest
