Mrs Midas

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.

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 lightbulb. On.
I thought to myself, Is he putting fairy lights in the tree?

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 a shaking hand,
a fragrant, bone-dry white from Italy, then watched
as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.

It was then that I started to scream. He sank to his knees.

After we’d 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.

Separate beds. in fact, I put a chair against my door,

near petrified. He was below, turning the spare room
into 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 live

with a heart of gold? That night, I dreamt I bore
his child, its perfect ore limbs, its little tongue
like a precious latch, its amber eyes
holding their pupils like flies. My dream milk
burned in my breasts. I woke to the streaming sun.

So he had to move out. We’d a caravan

in the wilds, in a glade of its own. I drove him up
under the cover of dark. He sat in the back.
And then I came home, the woman who married the fool
who 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 trout

on 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 Pan
from the woods. Listen. That was the last straw.

What gets me now is not the idiocy or greed

but lack of thought for me. Pure selfishness. I sold
the 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

Commentary

Mrs Midas is a poem written from the viewpoint of the wife of the mythological King Midas,
from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. King Midas was granted a wish by the god Dionysus whereby
everything he touched would turn to gold. With comical undertones, a wide range of emotions is
expressed through the persona of Mrs Midas as she speaks out against her husband’s foolish
actions and gradually separates herself from him. She leaves him to waste away in isolation
while she laments the loss of their physical relationship and the chance to have a baby together to
fulfil their dreams.

Stanza 1

· “It was late September”.

 o The poem begins in 'late September' a time during the transition of summer to fall. The
setting of an autumn landscape brings to mind the colours yellow and orange,
foreshadowing Mr. Midas’s ability to turn everything he touches into gold.

o It is also illustrates a period in which something comes to an end. In the Midas household
this period gestures towards the end of their relationship but there is a contrast between
the natural processes of autumn and the unnatural events surrounding Midas.

· “I'd just poured a glass of wine, begun [/] to unwind, while the vegetables cooked.”

o The description of Mrs Midas at home is replete with mundane domestic imagery. Duffy
creates a degree of comfort and satisfaction in these lines from the use of enjambment
and half rhymes such as “wine” and “unwind”. The former is utilised in a manner as to
convey the idea that there exists a continuum in the speaker’s life as the lack of a pause
at the end of the line ensures the reader’s continuous reading, whilst the latter suggests
that there exists a whimsical fortitude in such humble mannerisms as the rhyming of the
words “wine” and “unwind” suggests that the speaker is at ease with her surroundings.

· “So I opened one [window],”

o Before this line, Duffy incorporated enjambment to indicate a degree of continuum and
thus the use of caesura indicates that something is amiss as the pause forces the reader
to acknowledge the situation at hand.

· “He was standing under the pear tree snapping a twig.”

o The action of “snapping a twig” holds connotations of violence and foreshadows the
troubles the Midases will face.

Stanza 2

· “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.”

o The Midases grow a particular variety of pear, the 'Fondante d'Automne', French for 'melting
autumn'. Duffy deliberately delays the moment of realisation for Mrs Midas for both comic
effect, as when the pear sits in Mr. Midas' palm 'like a light bulb', but also to evoke pathos
for her as when she asks herself 'Is he putting fairy lights in the tree?'

· “I thought to myself, Is he putting fairy lights in the tree?”

o (see above)

Stanza 3

· “You know the mind; I thought of [/] the Field of the Cloth of Gold and of Miss Macready.”

o Midas' return to the house is depicted in a string of short, simple sentences. The use of
direct address is conversational; this form of colloquialism suggests that the speaker
already bears an extent of exasperation towards her husband.

o This also suggests that her husband has indulged in such acts before, creating a darkly
comic relief, thereby indicating the selfishness and the Kafkaesque nature that some men
encompass.
 · “He sat in that chair like a king on a burnished throne. [/] The look on his face was strange, wild,
vain.”

o The adjective “Burnished”, meaning glossy, is a polysyllabic word and thus juxtaposes the
other words within the sentence. This dissimilarity suggests how the speaker views her
husband’s powers as out of place within the household.

Stanza 4

· “I served up the meal. For starters, corn on the cob. [/] Within seconds he was spitting out the
teeth of the rich.”

o The choice of corn on the cob is anachronistic but visually fitting, as its natural golden hue
becomes the gold 'teeth of the rich' which Midas must spit out. The act of spitting out gold
possibly suggests that the man already regrets his gift.

· “He toyed with his spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks.”

o Rather than eating, Midas toys with the cutlery, introducing an important theme in this
poem, the gap between ambition and need; Midas desires riches but needs to eat, his
ambition will cause him to starve.

· “He asked where was the wine. I poured with shaking hand,”

o Midas' question “where was the wine” reveals his expectations of the meal and of his wife.
Mrs Midas pours the wine “with a shaking hand” reflecting her mounting fear. The use of
assonance in the words: “where”, “was” and “wine” creates an internal rhyming within the
line, suggesting a degree of excitement as the alliteration of vowel sounding words
increases the speed at which one reads the text, thereby reflecting the enthusiasm the
husband feels towards his power.

· “as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.”

o The moment of realisation is captured in the transformation of the 'glass' to 'goblet' to

'golden chalice' and the harsh consonance of the 'g' sound, reflects the impact of the
transformation as dictation of each word is different from the next. The term 'chalice' has
religious connotations due to its use in the Last Supper; furthermore the word chalice may
be a reference to the expression 'a poisoned chalice' from Shakespear’s Macbeth, the
quotation is a representation of an opportunity which seems promising but is found to be
have hidden disadvantages. Both interpretations are relevant as the Midases are eating
their last meal together and Midas will soon realise that his miraculous gift will carry a
hidden price.

Stanza 5

· “I made him sit [/] on the other side of the room and keep his hands to himself.”

o The abundance of monosyllabic words in the line increase the speed at which the reader
reads, suggesting how blunt the woman is towards her husband.

· “The toilet I didn't mind.”

o The random placement of a toilet in the prose may suggest that the wife does see some
quality in certain aspects of his powers.
Stanza 6

· “Look, we all have wishes; granted. [/] But who has wishes granted? Him.”

o The use of word play in the lines 'we all have wishes; granted. But who has wishes
granted?' and a monosyllabic minor sentence which answers her rhetorical question 'Him'
conveys her disgust with her husband; his wife acknowledges that everyone has the right
to have wishes, granted but to have wishes granted seems to offend her.

o However, it is Midas' wish for gold that is outrageous; she asks another rhetorical question
and answers 'it feeds no one and slakes no thirst.' The imagery here is juxtaposed with
that in the description of their love life in the following stanza, thus highlighting what they
have lost.

· “Do you know about gold? [/] It feeds no one; aurum, soft, untarnishable; slakes [/] no thirst.”

o (see above)

Stanza 7

· “Separate beds. In fact, I put a chair against my door, [/] near petrified. He was below, turning the
spare room [/] into the tomb of Tutankhamun.”

o Firstly, the couple must sleep in 'separate beds', and then it transpires, on separate floors,
'he was below', indicating the widening gulf between them. Although there is still humour
in the use of the internal rhyme: “turning the spare room into the tomb of Tutankhamun”,
the imagery now carries connotations of death.

o Also the use of assonance in the alliteration of the “too” sound in the words: “into”, “tomb”
and “Tutankhamun” may be an allegory towards the distaste and monotony in which the
speaker feels has been brought upon by her husband. Also, it may suggest the
excessiveness of her husband’s power as the “too” sound may be a reference to the term
“too much.”

· “But now I feared his honeyed embrace, [/] the kiss that would turn my lips to a work of art.”

o Though Mrs. Midas understands the value of gold, she also understands the fact that any
form of intimate contact with her husband would result in her downfall.

Stanza 8

· “And who, when it comes to the crunch, can live [/] with a heart of gold?”

o The 'heart of gold', though used as a proverbial expression to denote virtue and charity,
cannot actually sustain life.

· “I dreamt I bore [/] his child, its perfect ore limbs, its little tongue [/] like a precious latch, its amber
eyes [/] holding their pupils like flies. My dream-milk [/] burned in my breasts.”

o Perhaps the most poignant image in this poem is that of the dream child, which, with its
'perfect ore limbs' is a representation of physical beauty, 'precious' to its mother but its
'amber eyes holding their pupils like flies' are a symbol of lifelessness.
 o The speaker's longing for a child is encapsulated in the line: 'my dream-milk burned in my
breasts', and it is perhaps this image of thwarted maternal love that reveals the true cost
of Midas' greed.

Stanza 9

· “I drove him up [/] under cover of dark. He sat in the back. [/] And then I came home, the women
who married the fool [/] who wished for gold.”

o Mrs Midas' embarrassment at her husband's behaviour is shown by the fact that she drives
him away 'under cover of dark' and parks the car 'a good way off'. She also describes
herself using the third person as 'the woman who married the fool who wished for gold',
reflecting the derision and mockery of gossip mongers.

Stanza 10

· “You knew you were getting close. Golden trout [/] on the grass. One day, a hare hung from a
larch, [/] a beautiful lemon mistake.”

o The use of catachresis “lemon mistake”, possibly a phrase derived from the cockney slang
“lemon tart” (meaning “smart”) suggests creating a degree of sarcasm as the use of the
word “lemon”, as opposed to any synonym for smart. This (the lemon) both references the
hue of gold and also suggests how asinine the situation has been for both characters.

· “He was thin, [/] delirious; hearing, he said, the music of Pan [/] from the woods. Listen. That was
the last straw.”

o Despite the separation, she visits her husband, tracing his presence in the woods through
'golden trout' and 'a beautiful lemon mistake’; these images are the legacy he leaves
behind him rather than the perfect child she longed for. Unable to abandon his appetite or
his thirst, Midas is driven 'delirious' and hears the 'music of Pan'; the fact that Pan is
brought into the context of the poem, implies that the man has finally seen the errors of his
ways. However, as Mrs. Midas claims that “That was the last straw” suggests that the
speaker no longer cares for her husband as he abandons his addiction for another.

Stanza 11

· “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.”

o The lexical field of this line is related to the man’s body parts, the use of such words
denotes the loss of sexual activity in her life.

o The use of caesura within the line decreases the pace at which the reader reads, alluding to
the woman’s contemplation of throwing out her husband.

The poem comprises eleven six-line unrhymed stanzas. It reads almost like prose with plenty of
run-on lines and not much evidence of rhythm in the diction. However, there is plenty of rhythm
in the ideas, as concepts build on each other and relationships between concepts become clear to
the reader. It is a poem that works well when read aloud, because the reader can add pauses that
emphasise the links, and a number of these only become clear on a second or third reading when
the words are read on the page.

The poem opens with a scene of domestic order and normality. The narrator begins with the date
(“late September”) and a description of the evening meal being cooked. Words such as “unwind”
and “relaxed” serve to set the tone. Because the room is getting steamy, she opens a window and
then sees her husband in the garden, “standing under the pear tree snapping a twig”.

The references to touching are noticeable but are presented subtly in this stanza. She has poured
a glass of wine but noticed the steam on “the other’s glass” which she wipes “like a brow”, thus
also conveying the loving relationship enjoyed by the couple. Likewise the “steamy breath” from
the stove is “gently blanching the windows”.

The second stanza describes what she sees through the window. The second line is particularly
effective and has a bearing on what follows: “the dark of the ground seems to drink the light
from the sky”. At this stage the reader does not know what is about to happen, but the concept of
a life-force being drained and replaced by something evil is well expressed here. Immediately
after this line the first odd thing happens: “that twig in his hand was gold”, and from this point on
the poem descends into strangeness.

The narrator seeks to find a rational explanation for what she is seeing. At first she throws in an
irrelevant reference to the ordinary by stating the variety of pear that her husband is plucking
from the tree “we grew Fondante d’Automne” and then wonders if the strange appearance of the
pear in his hand “it sat in his palm like a lightbulb. On.” is because he is “putting fairy lights in
the tree”.

However, rational explanations are not going to suffice when further odd things happen, as
described in the following stanzas. Midas becomes king-like when he sits in his chair that is now
“a burnished throne” and his expression is “strange, wild, vain”. Thoughts of fairy lights change
to something much grander and more remote, namely “the Field of the Cloth of Gold and of Miss
Macready”. The first reference is to the event in 1520 when King Henry VIII of England met
King Francis I of France with no expense spared. Miss Macready can be taken to be the history
teacher from whom Mrs Midas would have gleaned that particular piece of knowledge.

Weirdness and absurdity arrive in close order. Under such circumstances, would the average
housewife continue to serve dinner? Mrs Midas does, with the result that the corn on the cob
turns into “the teeth of the rich” when spat out by her husband, and the wineglass is transformed
when he picks it up to drink (“glass, goblet, golden chalice”). As the chatty Mrs Midas tells the
tale, she cannot resist the irrelevant mention of the wine as “a fragrant, bone-dry white from
Italy”.

Comedy and horror are cleverly intertwined. Mrs Midas describes how she made Midas tell his
story, and the precautions she took to ensure that he kept “his hands to himself” although “the
toilet I didn’t mind”. Presumably the thought of sitting on a golden throne was one that appealed
to her!

The wordplay at this stage is extremely good: “Look, we all have wishes; granted. / But who has
wishes granted?” And, apart for the golden toilet mentioned above, there is a bright side in that,
as she said to her husband, “you’ll be able to give up smoking for good”.

However, there is a noticeable change of mood in the second half of the poem as a note of
tenderness enters. The realization that the couple must now lead separate lives is the ultimate
horror for a woman who has clearly loved her husband. They had been, as she says, “passionate
then, / in those halcyon days; unwrapping each other, rapidly, / like presents”.

In the eighth stanza she dreams that she bears Midas’s golden child with its “perfect ore limbs”
and “amber eyes”. She wakes to “the streaming sun”, which is the only golden shower that is
acceptable and conducive to life because “who, when it comes to the crunch, can live / with a
heart of gold?”

She tells how Midas had to move out and live in a caravan in the woods, leaving her as “the
woman who married the fool / who wished for gold”. She visits him from time to time, following
his golden footsteps and other evidence of his folly. He tells her that he can hear “the music of
Pan / from the woods”. Sounds are not corruptible into gold, but this, for his wife, is “the last
straw”.

The final stanza brings the whole matter home and gives the story its universal meaning. Mrs
Midas explains that what really hurts is “not the idiocy or greed / but lack of thought for me”.
She still loves her husband although they can never be together. She thinks about him frequently
and, as is typical with people who are forced apart for whatever reason, things she sees can
suddenly remind her of him and what she has lost (“once a bowl of apples stopped me dead”).

The final line is one that could be spoken by millions of women who have lost their life partner:
“I miss most, even now, his hands, his warm hands on my skin, his touch” (the last word of the
poem being the most significant). Of course, the situation described in the poem is “fantastic” in
the true sense of that word, but the sentiment is real enough. Relationships are often ruined
through idiocy or greed, and there have been millions of Midases who thought that being rich
would bring them contentment. Ironically, it is Mrs Midas who is now rich (“I sold / the contents
of the house”) but neither she nor her husband have gained anything worthwhile from being so.
“Mrs Midas” is an excellent poem that manages to combine wit and humour with a strong and
important message. Mrs Midas comes across as being warm and sympathetic and the possessor
of a true “heart of gold”. In all the poems of this collection Carol Ann Duffy put a considerable
amount of herself. When the reader or hearer experiences this poem they know that this is how
the poet would feel were she to be put in the mythical situation she describes. Likewise, the
reader can appreciate that this is a real situation for far too many people in the world today, and
the response is a genuine one that is expressed, at the end, with tenderness and compassion