O/L - ENGLISH LITERATURE - POETRY - ANALYSIS

O/L : English Literature : POETRY

An analysis to the poem "The Clown's Wife" by Johnson Agard .

(question+answer+instructions for plus marks)

Question : Johnson Agard's "The Clown's wife" poem represents the difference between the personal and professional lives of many people.Do you agree ? Justify your answer.

(First u should write an introduction about the poem,relating to the question)

"The Clowns Wife" is a poem written by the poet,Johnson Agard.The incident in this poem , brings a realistic description about a personal life,how he appears in public and how he deals with the reality of life.

The poet conveys this message by taking the character of the clown. Usually a clown is a popular person on the stage.He wears funny clothes and a big red nose and does funny things to make the audience laugh.There all the people believe that he has a very happy life.But in the poem the poet takes his private life  at home not as a clown but as a husband.There he is a different character with a different type of behavior.This idea is conveyd interestingly in the poem,and the life of the clown is looked through the eyes of his wife.

(Now ,one by one prove your ideas by getting examples from the poem,
But don't trynna prove your ideas after writing down the full poem,instead of that u should point out the most relevant lines of the poem.quote them.then prove.)

In the first two lines of the poem,the Clown's wife makes us suspicious about him by saying,

"About my husband,the clown,
What could I say? "

Then she describes his behaviors at the stage.When he performs on the stage he is a differnt character and he looks like a king on a throne.But at home he is a silent character and always mourns.

"On stage,he's a different person and he looks like a king on a throne.
But at home, you should hear him moan..."

At home, without his funny clothes and the red nose  he walks through the door,he seems to have ''The world on his shoulder...'' When he acts as a clown on the stage,he is very active and a very happy person.But at home,his reality is shown through his behaviours.

''The moment he walks through the door.

without that red nose and them funny clothes

he seems to have the world on his shoulder...''

In the third stanza,we can see a role reversal.At home clown's wife really wants  to make him happy.So she wears his red nose and funny clothes,she juggles with eggs,turns cartwheels,cracks jokes and also does her latest cards tricks to make him happy.

''I do my best to cheer him up,poor soul,

I juggle with eggs,I turn cartwheels,

I tell jokes,I do me latest card trick.''

Though she does such kinda funny things she does not see any change on his spouse's face.He does not care about her acting and seems to be a dumb character.He does not say anything about what he is bothering and suffering from.

This poem clearly indicates the dual personality of the clown.No one can argue that clown is the happiest man in the society.He laughs on the stage and makes others laugh, but this laughter does not originate from the bottom of his heart.It is just a created one because it should be an essential part of his professio.But in the real life,the clown bears so much sorrow and grief in his mind that he always suffers from it.

(After all u should write the conclusion,about the poem,relating to the question.because sometimes u'll get a chance to score more marks,if you write a good introduction and a conclusion,though u were unable to write the middle description that much well.)

By taking the character of the clown,the poet discusses the matter of appearance and reality.This is related to the life pattern of the people in the society.Due to many reasons people play dual roles in their personal and professional lives.

Therefore I agree that in this poem it appears that the poet wants to represents the differece between the personal and the professional lives of many people.

 Today I discussed about the poem,''The Clown's Wife".and let's meet asap with another poetry/drama/prose...

so,hope u guys,will gain some knowledge from the above analysis.

sorry,for the mistakes (if any)