Miracle on St Davids Day Gillian Clarke Used

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Used in Examination May 2017

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Objectives As we study this poem you will learn: • The story of the poem • About Gillian Clarke • That poems can pose questions as well as provide answers • More about the terms Metaphor: Tone: Subtext • How to explore the subtext of the poem to discover meaning. Homework Who is Gillian Clarke and what are her connections with Wales? 100 -150 words handwritten by Monday 11 September.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Objectives Homework Who is Gillian Clarke and what are her connections with Wales? 100 -150 words handwritten by Monday 11 September. Life Gillian Clarke was born in 1937 in Cardiff. Although her parents were Welsh speakers, she was brought up speaking only English and learnt to speak Welsh as an adult – partly as a form of rebellion. She graduated in English from Cardiff University. After university and giving birth, she worked as an English teacher. She moved to west Wales to farm and be a creative writing tutor, later founding Ty Newydd, a writers' centre. Her poetry is studied for exams in the UK and for Cambridge i. GCSE. She has published several book and received numerous awards, most notably the Queen’s Gold medal for Poetry in 2010. Welsh Connections. Born, raised, educated and works in Wales. Speaks Welsh and is the National Poet of Wales. Is the recipient of the Glyndŵr Award for an "Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales and is a member of the Gorsedd of Bards. 149 words.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. Vocab Valleys school: The coal mining area of South Wales is very mountainous and the bits between the mountains are known as ‘The Valleys’. Thrush. A large brown songbird.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The Story of the Poem Mini Task 1 What is the ‘story of the poem’? This is a first person narrative poem where the poet is describing her own experience of reading poetry in a mental institution. The ‘miracle’ occurs when one of the patients, who has not spoken for a very long time, suddenly starts to recite the poem The Daffodils from memory. The poems that Gillian Clarke was reading would seem to have awoken something in this man and allowed him to recover the power of speech.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The Point of the Poem Mini Task 2 What point is the poet trying to make in this poem?

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The Point of the Poem Mini Task 2 What point is the poet trying to make in this poem? The point of the poem is to challenge our perceptions about the worth of poetry and the status of the insane. At the start of the poem you may well ask what’s the point of reading poetry to a bunch of inmates who clearly can’t appreciate it (ex. the catatonic woman). But by the end you see that there is perhaps worth in everyone and who knows, even the catatonic woman might have enjoyed the poem in her own way.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Poetic Context Mini Task 3 What is the poem’s poetic context?

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Poetic Context Mini Task 3 What is the poem’s poetic context? William Wordsworth’s 1807 poem, Daffodils. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. William Wordsworth Vocab. Pensive: engaged in deep or serious thought. Context: William Wordsworth was walking around the hills and valleys of the Lake District on his own one spring day when he passed a lake and noticed a mass of yellow daffodils waving in the breeze. In this ‘host’ there were thousand upon thousand of the yellow flowers and in the light wind all these flowers seemed to be dancing along with the waves of the lake. Wordsworth’s loneliness was replaced by joy at the sight he beheld. At the time though, he didn't realize how profound this experience was. Now, whenever his mind is troubled by serious thoughts, he just thinks of the daffodils, and his ‘heart’ brims full of pleasure and joins those happy, dancing daffodils.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Welsh Context Mini Task 4 What is the Welsh context of the poem?

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Welsh Context Mini Task 4 What is the Welsh context of the poem? Welsh context: • St David is the patron saint of Wales. • 1 st March is his Saint David’s day. • The Daffodil is the national flower of Wales. • Gillian Clarke is the National Poet of Wales. • It is traditional in Wales, for children to learn poems by heart.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Structure Mini Task 5 How is the poem structured or composed? They flash upon that inward eye on a good day, they tell me later. Which is the bliss of solitude In a cage of first March sun a woman The Daffodils, William Wordsworth sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed A big mild man is tenderly led with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. to his chair. He has never spoken. It might be a country house, guests strolling, His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, I am reading poetry to the insane. to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. He is suddenly standing, silently, A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke Structure Mini Task 5 How is the poem structured or composed? on a good day, they tell me later. They flash upon that inward eye In a cage of first March sun a woman Which is the bliss of solitude sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. The Daffodils, William Wordsworth In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path to his chair. He has never spoken. among cedars and enormous oaks. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers He is suddenly standing, silently, as many buckets of coals as I need. huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens movement of spring water or the first bird entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. 1. The poem is composed of 7, 5 2. There are no rhyming lines so 3. Line length is fairly even and most line stanzas + a 3 line introduction it is written in Free Verse. lines are 9 -10 syllables. and final stanza.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 1 Mini Task 6 Why might the poet want to start her poem with this quote from Wordsworth’s Daffodils? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 1 Mini Task 6 Why might the poet want to start her poem with this quote from Wordsworth’s Daffodils? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic Apart from the reference to St. David’s Day and Welsh March daffodils, the quoted lines perhaps refer to the big, silent miner who has led a solitary, inward-looking life for so long. Although he ‘never speaks’ there is the suggestion here that his quiet internal life may be ‘blissful’ rather than tormented or unhappy. Quite clearly though, the poetry reading resonated with him and ‘flashed’ upon his ‘inward eye’, allowing him once again to speak.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 7 What is happening in this stanza? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 7 What is happening in this stanza? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic The poet is ‘setting the scene’ by describing what she sees outside the room she is reading poetry in. What she seems to be describing is a pleasant country house full of gardens and visitors. In reality though she is setting us up for the shock revelation at the start of Stanza 2.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 8 What devices is the poet using in the first 3 lines of Stanza 2? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 8 What devices is the poet using in the first 3 lines of Stanza 2? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic Vocab – Tread: to step or walk on, about, in, or along. 1. Personification: • Daffodils do not have mouths • The sun does not walk anywhere. 2. Imagery: • The afternoon being described as yellow with daffodils (and possibly the sun). • The sun shining through the trees of the hospital onto the paths. • The ‘enormous’ oaks.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 9 What is the key word in Line 4? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 9 What is the key word in Line 4? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic ‘might’… Because it is not a country house, it a mental institution and those strolling ‘guests’ are in fact patients and nurses.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 10 What is the effect of the imagery used in Line 5? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 2 Mini Task 10 What is the effect of the imagery used in Line 5? They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic There is a slight comic moment here as she uses imagery to describe the gardeners bent over, their backsides up in the air.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 11 What is the happening in this stanza? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 11 What is the happening in this stanza? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led The narrative of the poem now moves indoors to the room where the poet is reading poetry and we are shocked to discover she is reading to the ‘insane’. She then goes on to describe two of the patients she is reading to.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 12 What is shocking about the first line of Stanza 3? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 12 What is shocking about the first line of Stanza 3? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led The end of the first line shocks us as we had not been prepared for this in the opening stanza. This then leads to the first change of tone in the poem.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 13 What then happens to the tone in line 2 & 3 of Stanza 3? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 13 What then happens to the tone in line 2 & 3 of Stanza 3? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led Having change the tone and created a sense of tension in line 1, the old woman’s interruptions seem comic and help lighten the tone.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 14 What is the main device being used in lines 4 & 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 14 What is the main device being used in lines 4 & 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led Graphic imagery. The boy is vividly described as being ‘beautiful’, with ‘chestnut hair’ and listening to the poet with complete attention. Vocab. Graphic: giving a clear and effective picture; vivid.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 15 What is the effect of the imagery used in lines 4 & 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led Vocab. Graphic: giving a clear and effective picture; vivid.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 15 What is the effect of the imagery used in lines 4 & 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led It creates a very positive impression of the boy. Vocab. Graphic: giving a clear and effective picture; vivid.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 16 What is the effect of ‘A schizophrenic’ as used in lines 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 Mini Task 16 What is the effect of ‘A schizophrenic’ as used in lines 5? An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led Again we are shocked as we were not prepared for this description of the boy after the very positive impression created in the previous two lines. As with the end of the first line of Stanza 2, there is also a change in tone here.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 17 What is the happening in this stanza? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 17 What is the happening in this stanza? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. Enjambment at the end of Stanza 3 takes us on to Stanza 4 where we get some more descriptions of the ‘insane’ patients that the poet is reading to.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 18 What is the change in tone between Stanza 3 & 4? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 18 What is the change in tone between Stanza 3 & 4? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. We are shocked when we discover the boy is schizophrenic but feel less shocked when we discover he is having a ‘good day’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 19 What devices are being used in 2 -4 of this stanza? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 19 What devices are being used in 2 -4 of this stanza? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. 1. Imagery. The image of the sunlight/shadow ‘cage’ that surrounds the catatonic woman as well as the clothes she is wearing. 2. Repetition. The repetition of ‘not’ places an emphasis on the woman’s disability by reinforcing what she can’t do. 3. Metaphor 1. There is no ‘cage’ surrounding the woman, but the shadows from the frame of the window (or the bars on the window if it is a secure institution!) make it look like the woman is trapped in a ‘cage’. 4. Metaphor 2. The ‘cage’ can also bee seen as a metaphor for the prison the woman’s ‘absent’ mind is trapped in.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 20 What are the key words in line 5? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 20 What are the key words in line 5? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. Big, mild & tenderly. • Big carries with it a potential threat, this man is ‘insane’ after all. • Mild ‘dilutes’ the implied threat in ‘big’ so we feel less threatened by this ‘big’ insane man. • The fact that he is being treated ‘tenderly further softens the potential threat in ‘big’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 21 What is significant about the last line of this stanza? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks, He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 4 Mini Task 21 What is significant about the last line of this stanza? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The man is introduced in a gentle, tender way and, in the same way as the end of Stanza 1 does not prepare us for the shock at the start of Stanza 2, the end of this stanza does not prepare us for what comes next.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 22 What is the happening in this stanza? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 22 What is the happening in this stanza? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The poet devotes this stanza to describing the ‘big mild’ man. This establishes his character, allowing us once again to be shocked when he does eventually speak.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 23 What device is being used at the end of line 1? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 23 What device is being used at the end of line 1? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. Hyperbole. • That the man has never spoken is hyperbole because he must have been able to speak when he was a child at the very least. • We know this must be the case as he later recites the Daffodils which he learnt in school. • What the poet means here then, is the man has probably not spoken since he came into the mental institution.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 24 What impression of the man is conveyed by the imagery used in lines 1 -3? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 24 What impression of the man is conveyed by the imagery used in lines 1 -3? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. He is suffering from a sever mental disorder such as: 1. Aphasia, which is a term used to describe the loss of language or the ability to communicate. This can be a sign of catatonia, a state in which one is unresponsive but otherwise awake. 2. Catatonia can be a sign of schizophrenia or other conditions involving psychosis. 3. He was a labouring man, a manual worker. Because of the later reference to ‘Valleys school’ the assumption often is the man was a miner, but this is not a certainty. 4. His rocking does indicate some mental disorder. This could be stress, autism or possibly even schizophrenia. http: //www. pasadenavilla. com/2015/07/21/is-rocking-back-and-forth-a-sign-of-mental-illness

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 -5 Mini Task 25 What medical conditions are being illustrated in these stanzas? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 3 -5 Mini Task 25 What medical conditions are being illustrated in these stanzas? I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Catatonia, Catalepsy & Aphasia. Vocab. Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality. Psychosis: a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality. Catatonia: abnormality of movement and behaviour arising from a disturbed mental state (typically schizophrenia). It may involve repetitive or purposeless overactivity, or catalepsy and resistance to passive movement. Catalepsy: a medical condition characterized by a trance or seizure with a loss of sensation and consciousness accompanied by rigidity of the body. Aphasia: an inability to comprehend and formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. This damage is typically caused by a cerebral vascular accident (stroke), or head trauma.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 26 From the medical conditions outlined what can have possibly happened to the ‘Big Man’? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 26 From the medical conditions outlined what can have possibly happened to the ‘Big Man’? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. 1. An accident at work that resulted in a head trauma. (Perhaps a mining accident? ) or 2. A ’domestic’ accident such as a car crash. or 3. A psychosis resulting in a catatonic state. or 4. A stroke.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 27 What are the devices the poet is using in lines 4 & 5? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 27 What are the devices the poet is using in lines 4 & 5? on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. 1. Imagery: The patients the poet is reading to and the ’big man’ rocking. 2. Oxymoron on ‘presences, absences’. You can’t be simultaneously present and absent! So though for example, the ‘big man’ and the catatonic woman are physically in the room, mentally they are somewhere else, locked in their own ‘insane’ worlds. 3. Pun on dumb: dumb as in stupid and dumb as in lost the ability to speak. Vocab. Pun: a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 28 Why does the poet use repetition, alliteration and imagery in these lines? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 5 Mini Task 28 Why does the poet use repetition, alliteration and imagery in these lines? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. To emphasize how psychotic or disturbed and possibly dangerous the man is. The rocking and the description of the silent, ‘huge’ man establishes some tension which is enhanced through the concern demonstrated by the nurses in Stanza 7.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 29 What is the happening in this stanza? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 29 What is the happening in this stanza? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. The poet creates an abrupt and dramatic threat at the start of this stanza when she describes the man ‘suddenly standing’. His ‘huge’, looming presence makes the poet feel afraid. This is the third major change of tone in the poem.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 30 What device is being used in line 1? Why is it so effective? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 30 What device is being used in line 1? Why is it so effective? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. 1. Alliteration. 2. The alliteration in the first line adds drama and tension to the stanza.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 31 What device is being used in line 1? Why is it so effective? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. 1. Alliteration. 2. The alliteration in the first line adds drama and tension to the stanza.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 31 What is the poet trying to describe in the simile she uses in lines 2 -6? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 31 What is the poet trying to describe in the simile she uses in lines 2 -6? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. How slowly and hesitantly the ‘big man’ rediscovers his voice and starts to recite the Daffodils.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 31 What happens to the simile on line 5? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 31 What happens to the simile on line 5? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. It becomes a metaphor if you read ‘darkness’ as meaning the ability to speak. Thus the ’big man’s’ voice slowly emerges from silence or out of the ‘darkness’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 32 What is the importance of line 5? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 6 Mini Task 32 What is the importance of line 5? to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. It is the ‘miracle’, it is completely unexpected and is the climax of the poem.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 33 What is happening in this stanza? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 33 What is happening in this stanza? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. The nurses are completely shocked that after all these years, the ‘big man’ has finally spoken. There is still a sense of danger though at the start of this stanza as the nurses are ‘frozen’ and ‘alert’, obviously unsure about what is going to happen next. After line two the focus of the stanza moves outside where the uncountable ‘host’ of daffodils, seem to be paying silent tribute to the ‘miracle’ that has takien place inside the hospital.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 34 What are the key words in lines 1 & 2? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 34 What are the key words in lines 1 & 2? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. Frozen, alert & listen.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 35 Why are these words in lines 1 & 2 so important? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 35 Why are these words in lines 1 & 2 so important? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. 1. ‘frozen’ and ‘alert’ add tension to the stanza as they convey a sense of danger because the nurses obviously don’t know what the ‘big man’ will do next. Remember he is psychotic, was rocking prior to speaking and who knows, may even have had a history of violence in the past. 2. All the patients, even the catatonic ones, seem to suddenly become alert and start listening to their silent fellow patient unexpectedly speaking.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 36 Why is the end of line 2 so surprising? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 36 Why is the end of line 2 so surprising? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. 1. After being silent for so many years the ‘big man’ starts to talk. 2. He perfectly remembers a poem he learnt many, many years ago.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 37 What is the effect of the simile on line 3? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. Context: Artificial flowers were originally made out of wax. It was a craft craze started in the Victorian era and you can still by wax flowers today, but most are now plastic. Being made of wax the flowers are rigid and do not move easily as natural flowers would in a breeze.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 37 What is the effect of the simile on line 3? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The poet would seem to be suggesting that even nature seems to be standing still in shock and/or admiration of the ‘miracle’. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. Context: Artificial flowers were originally made out of wax. It was a craft craze started in the Victorian era and you can still by wax flowers today, but most are now plastic. Being made of wax the flowers are rigid and do not move easily as natural flowers would in a breeze.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 38 What is the allusion on lines 3 -5? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. Vocab. Allusion: a passing or casual reference to another work of literature either directly or by implication.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 38 What is the allusion on lines 3 -5? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. Wordsworth’s poem in which he says he saw 10, 000 daffodils ‘dancing’. Here thought, the daffodils are ‘still as wax’. Vocab. Allusion: a passing or casual reference to another work of literature either directly or by implication.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 38 What is the effect of the repetition of ‘still’. ? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 7 Mini Task 38 What is the effect of the repetition of ‘still’. ? He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. It emphasises the sense that the whole world seems to have stopped to share the ‘miracle’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 39 What is happening in this stanza? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. Vocab. Rote: from memory, without thought of the meaning. Context Valleys: The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales. Commonly referred to locally as The Valleys.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 39 What is happening in this stanza? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. The poem jumps back in time to when the ‘big man’ was a boy at school and learning The Daffodils. Another part of the ‘miracle’ is perhaps that a poem learnt 40 years ago is still remembered perfectly, especially as the man is now mentally disabled in some way. The poem was written in the 1970’s so The Daffodils had been learnt by the ‘big man’ in the 1930’s. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. Vocab. Rote: from memory, without thought of the meaning.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 40 What is ’wrong’ with line 3? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 40 What is ’wrong’ with line 3? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. It is a reversal of words. ‘dumbness of misery’ should read ‘misery of dumbness’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 41 Why does the poet make this reversal on line 3? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 41 Why does the poet make this reversal on line 3? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. It places the emphasis on the ‘big man’s’ inability to speak, his ‘dumbness’. Ironically the ‘big man’ does not seem to be miserable at all and words such as ‘mild’, ‘gently’ and ‘tenderly’ are used when we first meet him.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 42 What is the tone on lines 4 -5? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 8 Mini Task 42 What is the tone on lines 4 -5? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. After the ‘dumbness of misery’ the final two lines of this stanza feel triumphant as the ‘big man’ has overcome his Aphasia and rediscovered the ‘music of speech’.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 9 Mini Task 43 What is happening in the final stanza? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 9 Mini Task 43 What is happening in the final stanza? The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. The narrative moves forward in time to the present, to the silence of a perfect moment, the flower’s moment. Then a thrush sings, breaking the silence and breaking the ‘moment’ and everyone breaks into applause.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 9 Mini Task 44 Explain the metaphor in the final line of the poem. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke The poem in detail - Stanza 9 Mini Task 44 Explain the metaphor in the final line of the poem. The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. The daffodils are not on fire! At the start of the poem the daffodils are yellow but their colour gets stronger in the final stanza, reflecting perhaps their enthusiastic support for the strength that is returning to the big, silent, man

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke i. GCSE Exam Practice They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude The Daffodils, William Wordsworth An afternoon yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils. The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks. It might be a country house, guests strolling, the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs. I am reading poetry to the insane. An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coals as I need. A beautiful chestnut-haired boy listens entirely absorbed. A schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later. In a cage of first March sun a woman sits not listening, not seeing, not feeling. In her neat clothes the woman is absent. A big mild man is tenderly led The nurses are frozen, alert; the patients seem to listen. He is hoarse but word-perfect. Outside the daffodils are still as wax, a thousand, ten thousand, their syllables unspoken, their creams and yellows still. to his chair. He has never spoken. His labourer's hands on his knees, he rocks gently to the rhythms of the poems. I read to their presences, absences, to the big, dumb labouring man as he rocks. He is suddenly standing, silently, huge and mild, but I feel afraid. Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness, the labourer's voice recites The Daffodils'. Forty years ago, in a Valleys school, the class recited poetry by rote. Since the dumbness of misery fell he has remembered there was a music of speech and that once he had something to say. When he's done, before the applause, we observe the flowers' silence. A thrush sings and the daffodils are aflame. 1. Explore the ways that Gillian Clarke creates a memorable and effective poem in Miracle on St. David’s Day. or 2. Explore how Gillian Clarke conveys her feelings about the ‘big, silent man’ in this poem.

Miracle on St David's Day – Gillian Clarke