Mrs Midas

Myth:
Midas was a king that had a wish granted that everything he touched would be turned to gold. In some versions of his story, he regrets this power because he turns his daughter into gold. Another reference to Midas in mythology is that he bet on Pan having better music compared to Apollo, so for his insolence Apollo gave him donkey's ears.

Structure:
The poem is made up of eleven stanza, all six lines long, with three examples of enjambment.

Closer Reading:
- "It was late September. I just poured some wine" - conversational, as if Mrs Midas is talking to a friend.
- Mrs Midas has a domestic setting, Mrs Midas starts out the poem in a kitchen. "The kitchen filled with the smell of itself". This could be used as a stereotype, for women always having to be in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the man.
- "its steamy breath/ gently blanched the windows" - personification of the kitchen. Blanching the windows means that Mrs Midas has an unclear view of what's going on outside, a reason for her confusion about what Mr Midas was doing "I thought it myself, Is he putting fairy lights in the tree?"
- "wiped the other's glass like a brow." - simile, shows maternal nature of women.
The first stanza is all about stating facts and setting the scene.
- "Now the garden was long and the visibility poor" - She is trying to qualify her confusion with a description of the night. "the way/ the dark of the ground seems to drink the light of the sky," - poetic, darkening gloom. The use of "now" at the beginning makes the tone conversational.
- "that twig in his hand was gold." - more justification. The darkness of the night made it clear that what Mrs Midas was seeing was the truth.
- "we grew Foundante d'Automne" - a type of golden pear. Mrs Midas suspects that it is not a normal coloured pear Mr Midas has is his hand.
- "it sat in his palm like a light bulb" - bright and golden. "On." stands alone for emphasis and clarity. It could also be a slight onomatopeia, as that 'on' sound is replicated when a light is turned on. The second stanza is all about justifying what she is seeing.
- "He came into the house. The doorknobs gleamed." - hinting to the reader of his newly found powers. Short sentences add emphasis and speed.
- "He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne" - A simile, referencing the original myth. The burnished throne is golden coloured like everything else around him. The throne shows superiority, a man more powerful than a woman.
- "The look on his face was strange, wild, vain." - a triplet. Midas is pleased with himself and his new power, and wants to show off.
- "What in the name of God is going on?" - there were multiple gods in the time of the Greeks; putting the myth in a modern context. Mrs Midas doesn't understand Midas's power.

Themes: