Literature - G.C. E. (O/L) Poems on Life -The Clown's Wife

The Clown’s Wife
by
Johnson Agard 

Quick overview about the poet

Johnson Agard was born in British Guiana (now called Guyana) in the Caribbean, in 1949. He moved to the UK in late 1970 and is well known for powerful and fun performance of his work.

He went on to study English, French and Latin at A-level, writing his first poetry when he was in sixth-form, and left school in 1967. He taught the languages he had studied and worked in a local library. He was also a sub-editor and feature writer for the Guyana Sunday Chronicle, publishing two books while he was still in Guyana. His awards included the 1997 Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry, the Cholmondeley Award in 2004 and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012 He lives in Lewes, East Sussex

 We are going to discuss another poem. It is about a clown and we learn about the clown through  the voice of the clown's wife

Who is a clown?

A comic entertainer

 especially one in a circus, wearing a 

traditional costume and exaggerated make-up.

"a circus clown"

a clown is also called 

comedian , jester

What they do?

 How they look like?

Where you can find them?

Clowns are meant or supposed to entertain other  people

and

They always make other people happy

wear makeup, colourful wigs, exaggerated footwear,  and

 colourful clothing and exaggerated red lips and red nose 

which  amuse people 

We often find them in large circuses

 They perform many tricks which amuses people and make

 them forget their worries and pain

Are they themselves always happy ?

Don't they  feel sad?

 Don't they  feel worried?

Don't they feel  any pain?

Look at the following poem about a clown

This poem illustrates  a different  image of the clown  other than the

 usual  happy jovial  entertaining  one we see on stage in the same

way 

  

The poem  Clown's wife also  a poem which brings out  the

 pathetic situation  of a clown which makes us think about

 the reality of the public figures which we  see in

  a different light

 Let's read the poem "The Clown's Wife"

The Clown’s Wife

About my husband, the clown,

what could I say?

On stage, he’s a different person.

Up there he’s a king on a throne,

but at home you should hear him moan.

The moment he walks through that door 

without that red nose and them funny clothes, 

he seems to have the world on his shoulder.

I do me best to cheer him up, poor soul.

I juggle with eggs, I turn cartwheels, I tell jokes, 

I do me latest card trick,

I even have a borrow of his red nose.

But he doesn’t say exactly how he feels,

doesn’t say what’s bothering him inside.

Just sits there saying almost to himself:

‘O life, ah life,

what would I do without this clown of a wife?’

                                                                     

Here  in the poem we find clown's wife speaking about the clown

Let's begin with the structure of the poem 

The poem has 6 verses

 The first and last verses have only two lines

 The 2nd 3rd and 5th verses have three lines

  The fourth has four lines

Before further discussion tread the poem again and try  to answer the following questions

• Who talks about the clown?

• How does the clown look like when he is on the stage?

• How does the clown behave when he comes home?

• What does the wife do to cheer him up?

• Does the wife know what goes on inside the husband’s mind?

• What does the clown say to himself?Do you think that he is happy ? 

 Check whether you have found the answers for the above questions 

• It is the clown’s wife who talks about the clown her husband.
• He looks like a king on a throne. 
• He moans and behaves as if the whole world is on his shoulders.
• She borrows his red nose and wears it and do all types of tricks that he does on stage. She juggles with eggs turns cart wheels, tell jokes and do latest card tricks.
• No because he doesn’t say exactly how he feels and what's bothering him in side.
• He wonders what he would do without his wife.
• 
  

First of all pay attention to the following vocabulary item which may help you to understand the poem.

•  clown – joker/ entertainer

• Juggle - throwing up of balls or any other objects in the air and catching them

• Trick - a quick or artful way of getting a result

• borrow- take for temporary use

• moan - cry, wail

Some Points to Remember

• The poem “The Clown’s Wife”, which comes under the theme of life, is about the life of a clown.
•  The life of the clown is depicted through the eyes of his wife.
• The poem shows the difference between the appearance and reality.
•  He has a dual personality- his public life and private life.
•  People, the onlookers of the clown, may think that he lives very happily and always smiles as he performs on the stage but according to the poem it is not so.
• His happiness is a pretense. His wife says though he is a “king on a throne” he is moaning or crying when he is at home.
• But the world doesn’t know about how pathetic the life of the clown is at home.
•  The wife plays the role of the clown and tries to make him laugh by doing various tricks and jokes.
• But he cannot laugh as there is something inside him.
•  He doesn't say the reason for his grief. Instead he talks to himself and say:   ‘ O life, ah life, what would I do without this clown of a wife?’
• The image of the clown is sympathetic.
• The clowns have to put on a happy face before the audience to make them laugh. It is not easy to make others laugh specially while you yourself is suffering or grieving inside.
• Though he plays the role of an entertainer, as a human being he has many grievances which the others cannot see or understand. On the other hand he is unhappy may be because he gets a low salary for his work.
• Moreover, the wife of the clown is presented as caring and loving person in the poem. She tries her best to cheer him up at home. It seems that the wife is a solace to the unhappy life of the clown.
• The poet makes the reader aware of the pathetic side of the life of a clown and it can be applicable to lives of the people in general: what we see is always not the true picture.
• Appearance is not always the reality.

• So the poem deals with the difference between appearance and reality and also the hardships and sufferings of the poor.

 Now we need to  find the techniques used by the poet to bring out his message.

Techniques used

Figurative language

World on his shoulder

King on a throne

Use of colloquial language

  Colloquial language is the linguistic style used for casual   communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversation and other informal contexts

• and them funny clothes
• I do me best
• I do me latest card trick        

Irony

He gives laughter to the others on the stage but he himself is unhappy and his wife has to cheer him up at home.

He is the clown on stage but at home his wife become a clown herself to cheer him up. Wife plays the role of the clown

Contrast of appearance and reality

The clown appears to be very happy and jovial person before the audience but really he is a also a person who suffers from pain and hardship

         

Exclamations

           

“O life , ah life”

Irregular versification

The poem consists of 6 verses

1st verse – 2 lines 

         2nd verse – 3 lines 

3rd verse – 3 lines 

4th verse – 4 lines 

5th verse – 3 lines 

6th verse – 2 lines

Themes of the poem

         

The gap between the illusion and reality.

Appearance can be deceptive and misleading

Suffering of the poor

Difference between the public face and the private face

Now you may have a better understanding of the poem so try to answer the following questions 

• What can you say about the relationship between the clown and his wife?

• What can you say about the lifestyle/ social background of the   two characters? What evidence do you find in the poem to prove your point?

• Which aspects of life does the writer discusses in the poem? 

  What is the impact, the change of roles has on it?(Husband   becomes a clown on the stage /at home the wife acts out the role of the clown to cheer the husband) 

Let’s analyze the poem

Johnson Agard conveys the universal theme of appearance e and reality in the poem “the Clowns wife” by taking a clown as his subject. He elaborates the real life of an ordinary clown through the voice of the clown’s wife.

The behaviour of the clown at home which is very much opposite to his image and the behaviour on stage is narrated thorough the eyes of the wife revealing the difference between the personal and professional lives of  the clown  which may be the  same of many people  in the society. Clown is very popular character on stage. He is the cynosure at a circus and he amuses and entertains the audience in order to make them laugh. 

   He uses many things and does many things to get the attraction of the audience and make the audience entertained. He wears a large red nose, funny clothes and shoes, colorful wigs,   elaborated and exaggerated make up to make himself look funny. He also tells jokes and do many tricks like juggling eggs or bottles, turning cart wheels, and sometimes do silly things to amuse the people. All these things are associated with his professional life making people laugh is his job. 

      But his personal life is very much contrasting  to his professional life  since  at home  he is  another ordinary man  who is  troubled and  grieved by  hard work, poverty and  weariness. Ironically at home his wife has to perform in front of him to make him laugh. He himself is helpless and there is nobody other than his wife to make him happy or ease his burdens. Even though he appears very confident and jovial   in reality he is a moaner a victim of poverty and hard work.

  The wife’s voices about her husband and unravels realistic image of the clown, The person we see on stage is not the one the wife associates at home.

 On stage, he’s a different person.

 Up there he’s a king on a throne,

            On stage he is a different person. His role as a clown on stage and the fact that how powerfully and confidently he dominates and attracts the audience is brought out meteorically comparing the clown to a king on throne. A king who reigns over a kingdom is a very strong   dignified and powerful person. So the qualities of the king is attributed to the clown when she compares him to a king. He is jovial, poised and performs gracefully at ease. He is definitely full of fun and makes people laugh with all his tricks. But at home he behaves in a very contrasting  manner.                                                                                   but at home you should hear him moan.

 At home he is a miserable person. Who laments silently. This illustrates an image of person who grieves and suffers. The fact that he is a sad depressed man is  further emphasized  when she says,

 The moment he walks through that door

            without that red nose and them funny clothes,

he seems to have the world on his shoulder.

 Without his exaggerated clothes and makeup he seems to have the world on his shoulder. That means he is burdened by the responsibilities like any other ordinary person. This may be due to the poverty and the hardships that any ordinary person would undergo.

 It is very ironic that clown’s wife turns herself in to a clown and tries to entertain in order to cheer him up. She tells jokes, does latest card tricks, turns cartwheels and even borrows his red nose other than playing her natural role as a wife she becomes an entertainer to make her husband happy. We actually feel sorry for both the clown and the wife because they both undergo   pain and stress. 

I do me best to cheer him up, poor soul.

 I juggle with eggs, I turn cartwheels,

I tell jokes, I do me latest card trick,

 I even have a borrow of his red nose.

The poet creates very sympathetic image of the clown and it is further highlighted when she says he doesn’t exactly say how he feels. He finds it difficult to explain his feelings.

But he doesn’t say exactly how he feels,

doesn’t say what’s bothering him inside.

Just sits there saying almost to himself:

We feel sorry and tend to sympathize with him when we realize how hard it must be for him to act as a clown and look happy on stage in circuses when deep within himself is frustrated and suffering.at the same time the wife  doesn’t know  what bothers him. Even though he doesn’t this also bring out the love and regard she has for her husband. Communicate his true feelings we find his wife trying her best to make him cheerful.

Clown on stage is a very expressive person he appears very happy and jovial but at home he doesn’t express his true feelings and emotions. But the last lines,

        ‘O life, ah life,

what would I do without this clown of a wife?’

suggest how defendant he is over his wife . He would be very helpless person without his wife. Thus the poem very effectively brings out the contrast between the entertainer and an ordinary person. Which in turn brings out the difference between the appearance and reality.

Try following activities

•  Find similar life stories of people.
•  Discuss about situations in which you had to hide   your    true feelings and put up another face before other people.
•  Find some other workers who suffer like the clown does, while working for the other people.

 Let’s attempt some Context Questions

1.    “On stage, he’s a different person.

            Up there he’s a king on a throne,

            but at home you should hear him moan”

a.    Which text carries these lines? Who wrote them?

b.   Who is he? Who speaks these lines?

c.    How does this extract relate to the theme of the text? Briefly explain.

2.  “The moment he walks through that door

 without that red nose and them funny clothes,

he seems to have the world on his shoulder”

a.    From which literary text are these lines taken? Who wrote them?

b.   Who is he? Who speaks these lines?

c.    What is meant by ‘have the world on his shoulder’? How would you relate this extract to the theme of the poem?

3.  “I do me best to cheer him up, poor soul.

  I juggle with eggs, I turn cartwheels,” 

a.    Where do you find these lines? Who is the poet?

b.   Whose words are these? About whom he/she speaks?

c.    Why does the speaker mention as “poor soul”? Explain briefly.

4.  “But he doesn’t say exactly how he feels,”

a.    Name the work of the above lines. Who is the writer?

b.   Who is “he”?

c.    Why doesn’t the person say about his feelings?

5.  “I do me best to cheer him up, poor soul.

  I juggle with eggs, I turn cartwheels,”

a.    From where are these lines taken? Who wrote them?

b.   What do words “I” and “poor soul” refer to? Mention the poetic device find in the first line.

c.    What qualities of “I” are described?

6.  “I tell jokes, I do me latest card trick,

 I even have a borrow of his red nose.”

a.    Where do these lines appear? Who wrote them?

b.   What is the relationship between “I” and “he”?

c.    Why does this person do all these?

Try these Essay Type Questions as well 

7.   “The clown’s wife presents the disparity of personal and professional lives of a person”. Illustrate with reference to the poem.

8.  “The Clown’s Wife displays how a person’s reality is hidden behind the public image”. Illustrate with examples from the poem.

9.  “The poem The Clown’s wife shows only, love of the narrator towards the clown”. Do you agree? Illustrate this with examples from the poem.

10.  People cannot be judged by their appearance”. Do you agree? Prove your point of view with reference to the poem The clown’s wife.

11.  How do you explain the relationship between the clown and his wife in the poem The clown’s wife. Explain giving examples.

12.  “The authentic and accurate facts of clown’s life is brought out through the eyes of clown’s wife.” What’s your opinion on this statement?

13.    Do you think that the clown and his wife have a healthy relationship between each other? Justify your answer with reference to the poem, The clown’s wife.

 Some  more probable questions at the exam

        1. Jhonson Agard's "the Clowns Wife" represents  the difference      between the personal and professional lives  of many people  do you agree? Justify your answer.

       2. In the poem" The Clown's wife” the image created of the clown in the poem is a sympathetic one. How is this image created?

      3.  The poet deals with the difference between appearance  and  reality and the suffering of the poor through the poem "The Clown's Wife". Discuss.

  

Reference:
G.C.O/L Literature Teacher Instructional Manual 
Internet