Well known men represented through the forgotten

'Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed ...'
(from Shakespeare's will)



First line is taken from Shakespeare’s will.
Although it seems odd, in the poem it says the “best” bed was for their guests and the “second best” bed was theirs. After everything we’re shown about their relationship; this is his last romantic gesture.<br>

The bed we loved in was a spinning world
of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas
where we would dive for pearls. My lover's words
were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses Their love/her happiness made her dizzy Places Shakespeare wrote about. Magical places of stories. They’re cut off in their own world. Pearls – precious/valuable,
Like their love. Calling him her lover demonstrates importance of physical side of their relationship. Metaphor. She was seduced by his language/words.<br>

on these lips; my body now a softer rhymeto his, now echo, assonance; his toucha verb dancing in the centre of a noun.Some nights, I dreamed he'd written me, the bed Extends the language metaphor. Compares their having sex to something poetic. It is only through his eyes and imagination that she feels fully alive. Shows how in tune they are with each other; they echo.<br>

a page beneath his writer's hands. Romanceand drama played by touch, by scent, by taste.In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on,dribbling their prose. My living laughing love - The bed compared to a blank piece of paper with what happens up to his imagination. Bed represents their relationship. Sensory imagery Their relationship dull in comparison. Upbeat alliteration compared to the dull ‘D’ and ‘P’ sound of dozed, dribbling and prose. Longer pieces of writing boring in comparison to poetry. The dash separates the description from the reality that he is dead.<br>

I hold him in the casket of my widow's head
as he held me upon that next best bed. Rhyming couplet. Somewhere to keep valuables and protect them. In the same way that she felt with her husband in their bed. Their love is now only in her head; a memory.<br>

Mrs Midas - written from the viewpoint of the wife of the mythological King Midas.

King Midas was granted a wish by the god Dionysus whereby everything he touched would turn to gold.

A wide range of emotions is expressed through the persona of Mrs Midas as she separates herself from her husband and his selfish actions.
She leaves him and reflects the loss of their physical relationship and the chance to have a baby with her husband.<br>

Themes Greed – damaging effects on the relationship and the isolation it causes.

Consequences of actions – pay the price for not thinking the wish through.

Relationships.<br>

Form and structure.

Form: dramatic monologue
11 stanzas
Irregular line length reflecting the chaos of the situation.
Stanza 1 -6 deals with discovering Midas’ power and the panic it causes.
Stanzas 7 -11 deal with the implications on their relationship/future.
Last line – regret at loss of physical contact.<br>

Now the garden was long and the visibility poor, the way
the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky,
but that twig in his hand was gold. And then he plucked
a pear from a branch - we grew Fondante d'Automne -
and it sat in his palm like a light bulb. On.
I thought to myself, Is he putting fairy lights in the tree? Puts it down to not being able to see properly. Simile.
Shows the shape and brightness coming from it. Short sentence shows her sudden shock and disbelief. Imagery is light and humorous in comparison with what has happened. It was late September. I'd just poured a glass of wine, begun
to unwind, while the vegetables cooked. The kitchen
filled with the smell of itself, relaxed, its steamy breath
gently blanching the windows. So I opened one,
then with my fingers wiped the other's glass like a brow.
He was standing under the pear tree snapping a twig. Typical domestic scene. Personification.<br>

He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed.
He drew the blinds. You know the mind; I thought of
the Field of the Cloth of Gold and of Miss Macready.
He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne.
The look on his face was strange, wild, vain. I said,
What in the name of God is going on? He started to laugh.

I served up the meal. For starters, corn on the cob.
Within seconds he was spitting out the teeth of the rich.
He toyed with his spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks.
He asked where was the wine. I poured with shaking hand,
a fragrant, bone-dry white from Italy, then watched
as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank. Makes her remember a school history lesson. Meeting between Kings of England and France where they covered their temporary palaces with golden cloth. Shows extravagance. Doesn’t recognise the look on his face. His greed has given him tremendous power. Shows negative effects of his greed. He can not enjoy the simple things in life. Emphasising gold teeth usually found in the rich. List of household things turned to gold; how many things he touches. Her anxiety revealed. Watching the glass change. Alliteration of harsh sound emphasises harshness of the reality.<br>

It was then that I started to scream. He sank to his knees.
After we had both calmed down, I finished the wine
on my own, hearing him out. I made him sit
on the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself.
I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone.
The toilet I didn't mind. I couldn't believe my ears:

how he'd had a wish. Look, we all have wishes; granted.
But who has wishes granted? Him. Do you know about gold?
It feeds no one; aurum, soft, untarnishable; slakes
no thirst. He tried to light a cigarette; I gazed, entranced,
as the blue flame played on its luteous stem. At least,
I said, you'll be able to give up smoking for good. Realisation Humorous. His new ‘power’ means he won’t be able to touch his wife. Humorous Deliberate pause, pun. All have wishes but her fool of a husband is the one whose wish comes true. Lack of real value in gold. Humorous - contrasts with the harsh truth.<br>

Separate beds. In fact, I put a chair against my door,near petrified. He was below, turning the spare roominto the tomb of Tutankhamun. You see, we were passionate then,in those halcyon days; unwrapping each other, rapidly,like presents, fast food. But now I feared his honeyed embrace,the kiss that would turn my lips to a work of art.And who, when it comes to the crunch, can livewith a heart of gold? That night, I dreamt I borehis child, its perfect ore limbs, its little tonguelike a precious latch, its amber eyesholding their pupils like flies. My dream-milkburned in my breasts. I woke to the streaming sun. Summarises the effect in one harsh sentence. Relationship dead. Fear of husband and what he can do. Focuses on what they have lost to emphasise effect. Usually positive but means this metaphor literally. His touch would kill her. Disturbing image Knows her dream of having a baby can never happen.<br>

So he had to move out. We'd a caravanin the wilds, in a glade of its own. I drove him upunder cover of dark. He sat in the back.And then I came home, the women who married the foolwho wished for gold. At first I visited, odd times,parking the car a good way off, then walking.You knew you were getting close. Golden trouton the grass. One day, a hare hung from a larch,a beautiful lemon mistake. And then his footprints,glistening next to the river's path. He was thin,delirious; hearing, he said, the music of Panfrom the woods. Listen. That was the last straw.What gets me now is not the idiocy or greedbut lack of thought for me. Pure selfishness. I soldthe contents of the house and came down here.I think of him in certain lights, dawn, late afternoon,and once a bowl of apples stopped me dead. I miss most,even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch. Relationship destroyed. Causes isolation for both of them. Sorrowful description which makes us pity him. Ironic that a gift focussed on wealth left him so poor in other ways. She is left with anger as she thinks of the man he was. Mourns their relationship. Repetition emphasises that this is the one thing she can’t have.<br>