‘Miracle on St David's Day’ Gillian Clarke

The quotation at the beginning of the poem is taken from William Wordsworth’s poem, ‘Daffodils’ (the same poem that is recited by the ‘huge’, ‘mild’ labourer). Before beginning to answer the questions on Gillian Clarke’s ‘Miracle on St David’s Day’, read or listen to the Wordsworth poem and think about its tone and mood. What feeling or emotions do you think Wordsworth wanted to communicate to the reader?

‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth

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.

IContinuous 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.

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‘Miracle on St David's Day’ Gillian Clarke

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1. What is a miracle? Why do you think Clarke refers to the incident in the poem as a

miracle? 2. Where is the poet situated and what is she doing?

3. What day is it and why is this significant? (You may need to do some research to help

you think about the significance). 4. Clarke refers to the afternoon as being ‘yellow and open-mouthed with daffodils’. Can

you identify the poetic technique being used here? What effect does it have? 5. Sum up the tone or mood of the first stanza. How does this change as we read the

first line of the second stanza? 6. What are the connotations of the word ‘insane’ and what might Clarke’s intentions be

in using this word? Can you think of a more ‘politically correct’ term? 7. What does the old woman offer the poet as she reads?

8. What is the chestnut-haired boy's condition? Clarke emphasises the boy’s youth and

beauty. Why do you think she does this?

9. Why do you think Clarke describes the woman in stanza 3 as sitting in a ‘cage of first March sun’? What else do we learn about this woman?

10. We are first introduced to the labourer in stanza 3. What do we learn about him in

stanzas 3 and 4? 11. What might Clarke mean by saying she reads to their ‘presences, absences’? 12. How does the man react to the poems at first? Why? 13. The poet uses used the word ‘big’ twice and ‘huge’ once to describe this man. Why

does she want to emphasise his size? 14. What is the effect of the simile, ‘Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of

the year in the breaking darkness’?

15. When the man starts reciting Wordsworth's poem, how does everyone around him react?

16. Why do you think the nurses are ‘frozen’?

17. When and where does the poet say the man must have learnt the poem? 18. What does ‘rote’ mean? 19. How does the poet give us the idea that everyone and everything is quiet as the man

speaks?

‘Miracle on St David's Day’ Gillian Clarke

20. What might she mean by the ‘dumbness of misery’? How is speech described in lines

34-35?

21. Why do you think the last stanza of the poem has only three lines? What happens in the last stanza?

22. Why will this be a moment in the poet’s life that she will never forget? Additional tasks: 1. Turn the poem into a series of five or six pictures, focusing on the key images of the

poem. (It may be helpful to begin with a list of key quotations and use these as the basis for your storyboard).

Sample questions (devised with the Edexcel syllabus in mind):

Identity Re-read the poem ‘Miracle on St David’s Day’. Compare how the strength of feeling is built up in this poem with AT LEAST ONE OTHER poem from Identity which also presents strong emotions.

Identity Re-read the poem ‘Miracle on St David’s Day’. Compare this poem with AT LEAST ONE OTHER poem from Identity which focuses on the memory of a specific event. You may wish to consider: • the setting of each poem • how the poet describes the memories • the poets’ viewpoints on the events described.

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