Allusion to Shakespeare’s
play, ‘A Midsummer Nights
Dream’
Midsummer Night
By Em and Tess
The poem talks of a meeting place of the two lovers,
that was unique and special-the river-mentioned
in the first stanza, and in the poem ‘river’,. It is
described as if the lovers aren’t there anymore,
and it’s just a memory.
CAROL ANN DUFFY SAYS: Everything is magically
transformed by the memory of passionate,
romantic love: the heron's grey feathers are "a
silver gown"; a rose opens and blooms at
midnight. "Shakespeare's shooting star" refers to
the passing of time as well as the greatness of his
love poetry and to his own affinity with
Midsummer Night.
1st Stanza
• Personification; “River dressed in turquoise”inanimate objects are almost brought to life-by
their love?
• Sensual words at the end of lines; ‘me’, ‘you’,
‘held’, ‘smell’-only two people-time seems to
slow down; ‘fossils’. Only have each other, or the
memory of how it used to be.
• There is an absence of people in the poem –
suggested by the word “Not” and the beginning
of almost each stanza.
2nd Stanza
• Reference to Elegy; “not there to lie on the grass of
our graves’-also shows death of their love-the place
where they were ‘alive’.
• ‘Shakespeare’s shooting star’-refers to passing of
time - the death of their love as a result of their
‘idealised’ view of each other. (links to Gatsby and
Tess)
• “when a strange bird sang..above our heads’- birds
singing could mean freedom/happiness?-word
strange changes the meaning?
3rd Stanza
• Begins with the end of the second stanza- “but elsewhere,
far.” – the word ‘but’ is a signpost word and could
symbolise a change in tone.
• “Not there for the magic hour when time becomes love” –
when in a relationship an hour seems like no time at all and
throughout this collection there is a constant battle
between time and love and at this moment love seems to
win.
• “young ghosts”- this could symbolise the memories of the
love affair when it was ‘young’ and in the ‘honeymoon
phase’
• Images are elaborated through the memories of love
and passion – “the heron’s rages were a silver gown”
Stanza 4
• This stanza has some ambiguous imagery –
“found again by ourselves, you, me, mirrored
in water.”
• Her relationship is coming to an end, the two
people attempt to find their identities/souls
again - “to find our souls” – implying that
when they are together their souls have
merged.