The Magic of the Night

Analyse the impact of visual techniques on the creation of atmosphere and mood.  

As a class view the reading of the poem available on Youtube if you are a digital subscriber 

After reading the poem, ask students to look closely at the illustration for 30 seconds, and when the time is up they are to cover the illustration or close the book. Give students 3 minutes to write down everything that stood out to them in the illustrations. When the time is up engage students in a class discussion. Ask students: 

• Which feature of the illustration left the biggest impression on you? Why? 
• Did everybody say the same thing? Why or why not?  
• What kind of mood or feeling is created by the illustration? (suggested answer: A sense of calm, it has a magical feeling).  
• Which elements help create the feeling or mood? (suggested answer: The colour blue is calm, the girl’s face is tranquil, the stars are bright, the sea is smooth and glassy). 
• What would be different if they sky was black, rather than the calm blue? 

View Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Nightungroup. Project this image onto the board, and if devices are available, allow students to look more closely at this painting using their own device (colour photocopies of the painting would also work).  

Work in pairs to complete the following activities: 

• Describe the mood or feeling of ‘The Starry Night’ 
• Is this mood or feeling the same, or different to the illustration for the poem ‘The Magic of the Night?’ 
• Describe the visual features of the painting – considering colour, layout, style, salience, reading path. 
• Are any of these visual features also apparent in the illustration for the poem ‘The Magic of the Night?’ 

As a class, discuss what the pairs have uncovered in their comparisons of the paintings.  

Then read the poem again and ask students to identify which stanzas of the poem work with the painting ‘The Starry Night’ and which stanzas do not. Discuss why.  

Suggested response: 

• Stanza 1 does not work with the painting, because the setting in the poem is coastal and the setting in the painting is rural.  
• Stanza 2 does work with the painting as the stars are a key feature in both poem and painting.  
• Stanza 3 does work with the painting because it is a more generalized reflection about sleep, dreams and nighttime.  

Ask students to return to their pairs, and using the same structure rewrite Stanza 1 of the poem so that it fits with the scene shown in Vincent Van Gogh’s painting ‘The Starry Night.’ Challenge students to use the AABB rhyming pattern. 

This task can be scaffolded like so: 

If I could___________________________________________________ 

From the________________________ , and then _______________  

____________________________________________________________ 

I’d be very well acquainted with the magic of the night. 

A sample stanza: 

If I could reach and touch the silky beams of light cast by the stars 

From the steeple in the town, and then stretch my fingers far 

To the rows of orange trees glowing in the moonlight 

I’d be very well acquainted with the magic of the night.