How Do the Writers Present Aspects of Childhood in the Three Poems You Have Studied?

Within all of the three poems we have studied, UA Fanthorpe’s half past two, DH lawrence’s Piano and Stephen Spenders, there are aspects of childhood being described and conveyed. However each poem conveys them in a different manner, but there are some similarities as well.

Firstly I will talk about what each poem is about and what attitude and themes they possess compared to the other two.

In the poem half past two by UA fanthorpe a boy is given detention for an unspecified misdemeanour, and is later on forgotten by his teacher. The boy however has no concept of proper time, and therefore drifts off into a sort of daydream. This is hinted in stanza 7, which says

“Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on her desk,

Into the silent noise his hangnail made

Into the air outside the window into ever”

The attitude expressed by this poem is a light one and the theme of childlike ignorance, innocence and punishment is quite prominent. This is effectively shown as UA Fanthorpe relies on her experience as a teacher to describe the whole poem through the eyes of the boy, and not from an adult. Which helps give you hands on experience of what is happening in the poem.

The theme of childlike ignorance and innocence is further carried on due to quotes such as

“He was too scared of being wicked to remind her.” Which portray how scared children normal are when they get into some sort of trouble.

And

“he knew gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime, timtogohomenowtime and TVtime” This shows his childlike characteristics, as there are many comma’s putting forth a list like effect, and also he uses enjambment as an effective tool.

In Piano by DH Lawrence the theme is a little different to that of half past two. In piano a grown man (the speaker) is proud to be an adult; however he remembers his childhood and becomes very nostalgic. He then proceeds to struggle between his desire to become a child again or to remain a man. This is apparent in line 11 when the speaker says

“Of childish days upon me, my manhood is cast.” This line also shows his powerlessness.

The attitude expressed by this poem is a serious one; this is due to the poet

making us see the poem through the eyes of a grown man instead of a child as seen in UA fanthorpe’s Half past two. Therefore the language is more complex (e.g. No listing) and a clearer structure is seen, (I will deal more about structure later.)

The theme of nostalgia is probably the most prominent theme within this poem as the whole poem is about a man remembering his childhood fondly. As he remembers it as a secure cosy and a safe place to be, and quotes such as

“I weep like a child for the past” supports this. This is where he actually is overcome with so much emotion due to him wanting to be a child yet at the same time he knows that it is impossible. This is suitable to the theme as it is related to nostalgia. This part is also called a catharsis and this provides the reader with a big climax at the end of a poem.

And

“down in the flood of remembrance” where he suddenly remembers every part of childhood, and is leading up to a catharsis.

However there is also the theme of the bond between a mother and child. This is apparent in the first stanza where his mother brings him back to his childhood, by playing the piano.

In the last poem called My parents kept me from children who were rough. The poet (Stephen spender) is writing about a boy (most likely himself), who longs to be part of a group of boys who he would normally look down on as he is described as being upper class. This is apparent in the line

“I longed to forgive them, yet they never smiled.”

The word longed also bears some resemblance to Piano, since the child in my parents kept me longs to be part of a group which he can not ever be with due to his social status. While in Piano the man longs to be a child again, which obviously he can not do. However in Piano the longing is much deeper and much more evident due to the emotive language.

The theme here is also very different from the last two poems, as the main themes are about bullying and fear which often . This is seen quotes such as

“I feared the salt coarse pointing of these boys, who copied my lisp behind me on the road.”