1. Think What do you feel when you walk down the street and see a homeless person? Do you give them money? Do you ignore them? Do you apologise and say that you have no change? Why?

2. Give A command/imperative

3. Read the poem

4. Stanza One Of all the public places, dear to make a scene, I've chosen here. The narrator is a homeless person – we are not given any details about the narrator The poem opens with a couplet ‘to make a scene’ is a pun – it can mean to create a disturbance but it also means to put on a show

5. Stanza Two Of all the doorways in the world to choose to sleep, I’ve chosen yours. I'm on the street, under the stars. ‘under the stars’ makes the situation seem romantic

6. Stanza Three For coppers I can dance or sing. For silver-swallow swords, eat fire. For gold-escape from locks and chains. In this stanza the narrator says all the things they are prepared to do for money The stanza is given a structure through the repetition of the same first word

7. Stanza Four It's not as if I'm holding out for frankincense or myrrh, just change. This stanza mentions the gifts that Jesus was given by the Wise Men The speaker doesn’t want these – he wants the ‘gold’ instead In Christian belief the son of God was also homeless when he was born The word ‘change’ is a pun – the speaker might want change (as in money) or change (as in a new start in life or a change in people’s attitudes towards him) Up to and including this section there is a ‘jaunty’ tone which is helped by a regular rhythm and occasional rhyme Frankincense = a sweet smelling resin from Arabia Myrrh = an aromatic gum extracted from plants

8. Stanza Five You give me tea. That's big of you. I'm on my knees. I beg of you. This final couplet changes the tone There are pauses midline (caesuras) – these full stops mean that these pauses are heavy and disrupt the rhythm of the poem The half-rhyme of ‘beg’ and ‘big’ create a sense of sadness or ‘pathos’

9. Think How do you feel about the homeless? Has this poem changed your opinion? If so, why? Does it make you feel annoyed? Sympathetic? Compassionate?

10. Why was this poem written? To highlight the plight of all homeless people To remind us of Jesus and the gifts that were given at his birth To suggest that something about our attitude to the homeless must change