‘The cat knows I am a genius, and has hidden itself.’ The cat has an instinct of something evil is going to occur. The speaker believes that his pet can see the goodness of him as a prevailing man. However, the cat hiding creates a pessimistic atmosphere and can be seen as an omen. To the reader, it can be seen as the man is fierce and as a result the cat is hiding because it does not want to be harmed. ‘I pour the goldfish down the bog.’ This is the second animal he has harmed throughout the poem. He feels relaxed and receives pleasure when seeing animals suffer. ‘I see that it is good’. He believes he is right but to other people he is only wicked, hopeless man. He has not got a job therefore, he is very poor ‘…signing on’. This portrays he is not capable of communicating with the work. ‘They don’t appreciate my autograph.’ As he is signing on, he understands that no one wants anything to do with him. This also shows that he thinks people want his autograph because he is famous but he is not.
The speaker wants to be heard and visible to the outside world but they are not taking any notice as a result, he kills everything that is observable to him ‘nothing left to kill.’ He knows that it belongs to him therefore he wants to destroy it. He has attacked everything. Duffy is creating an image of a man who is mentally ill. ‘The pavement glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.’ The ‘glitter’ in this phrase indicates how blood shines. This is another omen Duffy has used. The phrase also gives an uneasy, rough feeling towards the reader. This is because the poem is coming to life. The reader would not want this to happen to them selves because it releases a negative vibe. This means that the man is out to kill you. Throughout the poem, Duffy has used a few poetic devices to describe the surrounding. She has used these devices to create tension and panic leading an effect on the reader. This adds to the common place shock of what he says.
In conclusion to the first poem, the mood the writer creates is negative because it talks about murder and death. This poem had no rhyming words and it was written as a diary. She has written the poem in that style because she wants it to be more effective while the reader is reading the phrase ‘The pavement glitter suddenly. I touch your arm’ the most effective words in that phrase are: ‘...I…’ because is directly refers to the speaker, and ‘…your…’ because this word brings the poem to life by including the reader. The dramatic points of the poem were when the poet revealed that the man was a murderer and what his intensions were. I personally feel that the speaker is insane and is an attention seeker. He wants to be in the middle of everything. I think that he is very dangerous. I personally feel that the man is self deluded.
The second poem has numerous differences and only a few similarities. The poem ‘Miracle on St.David’s Day’ has eight verses altogether and each of them have five lines except for the last verse, which has three lines. Clarke wrote a sudden change of structure to show a miracle occurring. She has used a different structure to show this. It was written about St. David’s Day which every year is on the first of March. The key colour of the poem is yellow. This indicated by the words; ‘sun ’, ‘daffodils’ and the colour ‘yellow’ itself. When the colour yellow is being referred to, the reader directly gets the vibe that it is warm, bright and a positive atmosphere. Clarke has used this colour so that the reader can visualise the day, and he reveals the atmosphere of the poem.
In this poem, the poet speaks for herself as she writes a diary to express the miracle she saw. This is shown by the word ‘I’. ‘I am reading poetry to the insane.’ She is reading poetry to mentally ill people who may not absorb what she has to say. ‘An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coal as I need.’ A woman visualizes that she has a bucket of coal and constantly stops Clarke while she is speaking. ‘…entirely absorbed.’ This means that the boy in the audience is listening to the poet and is paying full attention towards her. This indicates that respect and concentration was still present in the hospital. ‘…cage…’ this word shows that the woman is lost in her own world and is not aware of what is going on outside. She is sitting there but she is an ‘outsider’ in her own mind. ‘…absent…’, this word also portrays that although she is visible, she is a daydreamer. She cannot feel, see or hear. She is trapped in her own world.
‘A big mild man is tenderly led to his chair’ in this phrase, contrast is shown. Clarke has used this because he wanted to portray a man that has unusual qualities which do not match. An almost gentle, big man cannot make his way to his chair even though he is rough and big. The man is bulky and has big hands which attracted Clarke. She uses alliteration to describe how the man reacts and stands, ‘He is suddenly standing silently’. This reveals that the man has been unspoken for an extended period of time.
‘…breaking darkness, the labourer’s voice recites “The Daffodils.”’ He remembers a poem from years back which he learnt in school. He repeats and remembers every word of the poem as he learnt it. The rhythm has recalled his memory. The nurses are shocked to see the man talk after so many years and the patients are now paying all their attention towards the man.
Clarke has used a poetic device to describe the daffodils ‘still as wax,’ this is believed to be indicating a magical moment that is occurring, that even the daffodils are examining it. I think it is effective how Clarke personifies the daffodils because it portrays the flowers as wax workers. Everyone is astonished and lost for words. This poem also deals with repetition.’ He ‘rocks’ has been included in this poem twice however both of the times they have a completely different meaning. The first quote: ‘…on his knees, he rocks’ is indicating that the man is very fond of the poem and has found a beat to it. He likes the rhythm therefore he is memorizing it. ‘…dum labouring man as he rocks.’ This represents him being hard and himself rocking on his chair as he listens to the poem.
In conclusion to this poem, it has no rhyme or rhythm. It has no particular beat. The mood is positive due to the miracle that has happened. The dramatic point is when the man begins to speak after a long period of time. At the end of the poem, we are told slowly why the man was not able to speak for many years. I personally feel that is poem is very superior. I think that is poem has used many poetic devices which where used in favour of the key colour, ‘…yellow…’.
There are many differences and similarities between the poems. The first difference is the effect of the atmosphere. In ‘Education for Leisure,’ it is dull and boring, ‘…boredom stirring,’ while in the other poem it has an ecstatic surrounding. This is shown by the phrase: ‘The sun treads the path…’ this gives a strong effect of happiness that Clarke has created towards the hospital and its patient.
In the first poem, the speaker wants to be heard by destruction ‘…enough of being ignored’. He is completely evil and wants to have power. On the other hand, the patient in the other poem is big and rough however he is too fragile to destroy. ‘…labourer’s hand…’ he is calm and does not have an issue with what destiny has done with his life. The two poems have a few similarities. Both of them do not rhyme because they are being portrayed as diaries.
In ‘Education for leisure’ the man wants to be heard, whereas in ‘Miracle on St David’s day’ the patient wants to be invisible so he is unnoticed. The title ‘Education for leisure’ also means ‘education for freedom or free time’ this could suggest what the man does in his spare time which would refer to slaughtering. ‘Miracle on St David’s day’ is portraying the sensational event that happened on St David’s day. Clarke has used this title to give a magical effect which catches the reader’s eye.
The key colours are very important for both of the poems. The main key colour in the poem ‘Education for Leisure’ is …grey…’ this can be referred back to the poem because the poem is about a killer that has a minor life, and is mentally ill. The streets in poem are also grey. In the poem ‘Miracle on St. David’s Day’, the key colour is ‘…yellow…’.This represents the daffodils, and the weather.
In ‘Education for Leisure’, the man is an outsider because he is a loner but he does not want to be one. He wants to be heard but people are not taking any notice of him. In ‘Miracle on St. David’s Day’ the man is an outsider because he cannot talk or communicate to the outside world. He wants to be ignored and left alone.
In my opinion, I prefer ‘Miracle on St David’s day’ rather than ‘Education for Leisure.’ This is because the poet has used more poetic devices such as; repetition, metaphors, similes, personification and alliterations to reveal the mood and atmosphere. I also like this poem due to the effect caused while I was reading it. It gives a gentle touch of happiness and inspiration. The key colour is ‘yellow’, this gives a glimpse of delight. While I was reading it, I did not know what was happening until I read past the middle. It gave suspense while I was reading it. The consequence at the end of the poem gives a gentle effect and it makes the reader realise what has been going on. I do not prefer ‘Education for leisure’ because while I was reading it, the poem did not create suspense due to the fact that it described exactly what was happening.