Poet-Stephen Spender

Theme

The poem paints gory picture of slum children and their school, both victims of government
apathy.
The poem is a scathing criticism of the utter neglect of the these children's need for education
and all-round growth.
Spender decries the social injustice and class inequality prevailing in the society and calls for a
holistic education for the poorest of the poor slum children.
This is possible only when the haves realise their duty towards the have-nots, relieve the latter
of their misery and provide them opportunities to lead dignified lives as human beings.

Message

Stephen Spender makes a frantic appeal to the educated and affluent sections of the society to
better the lot of slum children whose only hope is education.
These children must be provided opportunities to experience the beauty and joy of life and
learning.
The poet rues the grim fact that humanity at large and governments in particular adopt a
unfeeling, unsympathetic attitude to these children.
The poem is a bitter criticism of the state of education in state schools in slums.

Stephen's Style and Imagery

The poem is written in a simple and lucid style which is dominated by the use of similes,
metaphors and imagery.
Spender's use of rhyme is remarkable as in the poem, he has done away with the regular rhyme
in order to convey the effect of social disorder, confusion and chaos, characterised by poverty,
unemployment and hardship of the hungry multitude whose lot has around his feelings of
sympathy, disgust and anger.
The poem is also an excellent example of the poet's use of imagery and symbols. His use of
imagery is notable as the symbols are neither numerous nor recurrent.For example:
1.gusty waves
2.rootless weeds
3.paper-seeming boy
4.twisted bones
5.sour cream walls
6.Shakespeare's Head
7. Tyrolese Valley
8. Openhanded map
9. Ships & sun
10. Cramped holes
11. Bottle bits on stones
12. Gold sands

Literary devices

1. Simile
in a simile, a comparison between two distinctly different things is indicated by the word 'like' or
'as'. Example

a) like rootless weeds:-the expression has been used by Stephen Spender to describe the
untidy and unkempt hair of the slum children. The use of the term 'rootless weeds'suggests that
the children lacked proper nutrition.

b) like bottle bits on stones

this simile graphically describes the shattered glass of the spectacles that some children have
two wear. If not shattered the glasses are heavily scratched and chipped.
Another interpretation can be that the slum children sitting on the slag heap look like the bits
and pieces of glass shattered against a stone. Likewise, their hopes, aspirations, ambitions and
lives also lie shattered and neglected.
The slum children are deprived of even the basic amenities. Their life is shattered and broken
like bits of bottle on a stone.

c)Like catacombs
the slum children dwell in dark and dingy rooms which resemble subterranean cemeteries called
catacombs. The windows of these rooms look like the lids of catacombs.

d) slum as big as doom

slums where life is worse than death. It is like living in the hell.

2.Metaphor

In the metaphor, the standard or a literal meaning of a word denoting a thing, quality or action is
applied to another in the form of the statement of identity instead of comparison. The words
"like" and "as" are not used. The poet does not say that one object is like another. He says it is
another. Examples
a) rat's eyes
the metaphor is suggestive of boy's timidity and anxiety. He is reclusive and timid like a rat and
searches for food and security.
b) father's gnarled disease
the boy's father is suffering from rheumatism or a debilitating disease that has left his body
crooked. The quality of the boy's life has been severely affected by the father's handicap.
Another explanation can be that the boy's thin body is no better than the crooked disease
stricken body of his father.
c) squirrel's game
a squirrel enjoys playing freely in the outside garden. It hops across the lawn and climbs up
trees and hides in their holes. The boy also wants to play like the squirrel but cannot. He must
sit in the dull and dreary classroom.
Just as a squirrel plays in its treehouse, likewise the eyes of the dreamer Frisk and frolic with
hopes for the future.
d) tree room
the hiding place of the squirrel-a hollow in a tree, which in the boy's imagination is full of fun,
curiosity and mystery. It is such a contrast to the gloomy classroom.
e) futures painted with a fog
just as fog blurs the one's view in winters, the slum children's future is blurred by hopelessness
and lack of empathy.
f) lead sky
sky is normally bright and blue. Lead sky suggests dark and dull sky just as the base metal is. In
other words, there is no hope for the slum children.
g) spectacles of steel.
On the face of it, the expression seems to suggest that some slum children are wearing
spectacles made of steel and having shattered, chipped or scratched glass.
However, another explanation can be that the weak and skeletal bodies of the slum children
look like wiry frame work of steel just like that of a pair of spectacles.
The term also suggests the rigid, inhuman and indifferent attitude of the government officials
who failed to notice the plight of the slum children. They are myopic in their outlook as if the
glasses they are wearing are shattered or heavy scratched.

Question answers

First stanza

1. Where children are referred to here? What is peculiar about their faces?
-Children of the slums are referred to here.
-Their pale faces are deprived of the cheerfulness and enthusiasm which marked the childhood
days. They seem to be exhausted.

2. What does the expression 'Far far from gusty waves' signify?
-Instead of enjoying their childhood in the lap of nature, roaming freely in the open grounds or
beaches, their childhood is confined to the dark and dingy walls of the slums.

3. How is the tall girl affected by her poverty or explain 'weighed down head'?
The tall girl is so subdued and suppressed by the load of poverty and the trials and tribulations
of life that her body and her head have been bowed down with the burden of misfortunes.
4. What is the comparison drawn with rats eyes?
The poet compares the eyes of the boy to those of the rat because the poor, undernourished
child is deprived of the basic amenities of life. His eyes are inquisitive and timid like the eyes of
the rat. He's always on the lookout for food and security.

Second stanza

5. Who is being referred to in these lines? Why is he stunted?

i) a thin slum boy
ii) malnourishment

6. Why is he referred to as unlucky heir?

He is the unfortunate heir to his parents poverty, disease and despair. His body is deformed and
his bones are twisted.

7. Who sits at the back of the class, unnoticed? How is he different?

i) a sweet, tender looking pupil
ii) because his eyes are gleaming with the dreams of his future

8. Explain "his eyes live in a dream".

-Among the worn out slum children there is the one unsung hero who still dreams of a bright
future.
-His eyes are lost in the world of his dreams and are not sad like the others.

Third stanza

9. Explain 'on sour cream walls, donations".

The expression suggests the poor and ill equipped environment of the slum school. The sour
cream walls of the school, which were probably painted with the help of donations, further add
to the pale and sad ambience of the poem.

10. What does Shakespeare's head suggest?

The expression is ironically used. In an elementary classroom in a slum, where the value of
education is minimal, reference to Shakespeare, or good literature may raise hopes and
aspirations which will never be fulfilled. Also, probably there is a portrait of Shakespeare
hanging on a wall.

11. Why has the poet used images of 'cloudless dawn' and 'civilised dome'?
These images highlight the monotonous and dull life in an urban slum. The elementary school in
the slum is so squeezed and suppressed under the so-called civilised high buildings that the
children are unaware of the beauty of the sky at dawn. They are overridden by the concrete
structures of the cities.
12 explain 'belled, flowery,tyrolese valley".
The expression refers to natural beauty which the slum children are deprived of. The slum
children pass much of their life raking in garbage and slag and never get to enjoy the beauty of
mountains and flowery valleys.

13. What does the reference to the map imply?

Map of the world in the classroom is symbolic of hopes and aspirations, for a look at it motivates
the children to explore the world beyond, the world which has been awarded to us by God. But
the world for these children comprises the filthy slum. Their hopes for a better world may just
never be fulfilled.

Fourth stanza

14. What comprises the world for these children?

The world for these children is confined within the walls of their slum. They may get glimpses of
the beautiful world outside from the windows of these walls, but shall never be able to own this
world.

15. What future do these children have in store for themselves?

The future for these children is bleak and foggy. They may nurture hopes and aspirations for a
better future, but achieving these hopes is a vision, a dream for them.

16. Where do these children spend their lives?

-In the narrow streets of the slums where dirt and filth reigns supreme.

17. What bounties are these children deprived of?

-They never get an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty of the rivers, the snow-caped
mountains and the stars.

Fifth Stanza

18.Why is Shakespeare referred to as wicked?

He is an epitome of high literary excellence but in the slum schools where hardly any learning
takes place and where children are troubled by disease and despair, literary training is a far cry.

19. How is an map a bad example?

A look at the map of the world needs makes one aware of the beautiful world provided to us by
God. But the world for these children is confined to the narrow streets of the slums. Map for
them is a bad example because it rouses in them hopes and aspirations which may never be
fulfilled.

20. What do ships, sun and love symbolise?

The expressions are symbolic of the joy and brightness of life which these children are deprived
of. In order to reach out to the world beyond, these children are sometimes tempted to adopt
wrong methods to get their dreams fulfilled.

21. Where do their lives slyly turn?

The lives of the slum children cleverly turn and twist in their cramped holes.
The slum children spend their entire lives striving and struggling for their sustenance in small,
dirty rooms where life seems to slither and slog.

22. Explain "from fog to endless night".

From foggy mornings till late at night these children make desperate attempts to live their life,
sustaining it despite all odds.

Six stanza

23.What does 'slag heap' refer to ?

It refers to a large pile of waste material that remains after metal has been removed from rock.
This dirt and garbage is the world for the slum children who spend their life raking in these slag
heaps.

24.'Skins peeped through by bones'. Explain.

The expression refers to the weak and exhausted looks of the slum children. These children,
being undernourished look more like skeletons, their bones literally peeping out of their thin skin
cover.

25.What comprises the world for these children?

Foggy slums.

26.Why does the poet see slums 'as big as doom'?

The foggy filthy slums which comprise the world for the children are living nightmares. Life there
is worse than death. These slums are stalking the world just like death stalks its victims anytime
anywhere.

Seven stanza

27. What is the ambience of the school in a slum?

-Ill equipped, poor infrastructure
-no real teaching or learning is usually possible.

28. What does the reference to the Gov, Inspector and visitor imply?
-The elementary schools in the slums exist merely for the namesake.
-They are poor in infrastructure with hardly any teaching.
-The schools spring into life only when a governor, an inspector or a visitor comes to visit the
school.

29. How does the map become the window?

The map is symbolic of the world beyond. But the slum children are never able to become a part
of this beautiful world and have their hopes and aspirations fulfilled.
The openhanded map in their classroom only shows them glimpses of the world.

30. What does the word 'Windows' symbolise?

The word is symbolic of the world beyond the slums. The slum children look expectantly at the
beautiful world beyond the confines of the slum, but these sights and glimpses are shut upon
them as they are deprived of opportunities and means.

31. Explain 'shut upon their lives like catacombs'.

The slum children are denied the bounties of the world beyond their slums. Their lives ar shut
up in the cemeteries of these slums where they slither and slog to make both ends meet.

Eight stanza

32. What hope does the poet see?

-The poet hopes that these children would one day break free from the chains of the slums.
They will rise above all atrocities and economic injustice and will create a beautiful world from
themselves.

33. What kind of a world has the poet visualised for these children?
A world where these children will be free to bask in the freedom of the green fields and frolic
around on the sea beaches in a carefree manner. They would not be troubled by the injustice of
life.

34. What does green fields and gold sands symbolise?

-The expressions are symbolic of a carefree and happy life.
-It refers to a world where social and economic justice does not prevail and everyone enjoys the
right to live a happy life.

35. Explain "let their tongues run naked into books".

Children should be educated so that they can break themselves free from the confines of the
slums.

36. What does the word 'Sun' in the last line suggest?
-sun is symbolic of the grace and light of God.
-here it refers to the light of education.
-The poet strongly feels that it is the educated alone who can transform the world.
Short answer questions

37. What do you think is the colour of sour cream? Why do you think the poet has used this
expression to describe the classroom walls?
-sour cream is yellowish in colour.
-the poet has used this expression to describe the dull and pale walls of the classroom.
-It expresses the sickening and repulsive atmosphere of the classroom as well as the
hopelessness that engulfs the students' lives.

38.The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of 'shakespeare','buildings with
domes','world maps' and 'beautiful valleys'. How do these contrast with the world of these
children?
-'Shakespeare' stands for the study of classical literature,'buildings with domes' symbolise
power and wealth while world maps represent the world outside the classroom and beautiful
valleys represent the beauty of nature.
-They are in sharp contrast with the dull and dreary atmosphere of the slum school.

39.What does the poet want for children of the slums? How can there lives be made to change?
-The poet wants that the slum children should be rid of their dull and dreary rut of school.
-They should be provided opportunities to experience the joys and beauty of the world outside.
-They should experience life in the lap of nature, discover its joys and accumulate its wealth of
knowledge.

40. What picture of the slum children does the poet draw?
-weighed down by burden of life
-deprived of God's bounties
-live in inhuman surroundings
-lifeless faces with unkempt hair scattered on them
-their faces are withered by the atrocities of life and wear a gloomy look.

41. What is it that the slum children receive as their inheritance?

Disease, despair ,poverty, deformed bodies.

42. What images does the poet use to describe the hopelessness of the boy?
i)paper-seeming-he seems like paper for he is very thin due to lack of nourishment.
ii)rats eyes-His eyes inquisitively and timidly are searching for food and identity.

43.How does the poet see the children as victims of social injustice?
-They are deprived of the bounties of the world and basic necessities of life.
-impoverished and undernourished.
-They cannot hope for a better future.
-They spend their lives confined within the dark holes of their slums.

44.How does the young and sweet boy sitting unnoticed in the class differ from most of other
slum children?
-He foresees a bright future for himself unlike other slum children.

45.In what we are the slum children unsung fighters?

-Slum children are a deprived lot.
-The are underprivileged as they are denied basic amenities
-despite living in deprivation these children fight the battle of life courageously.
-They have to make desperate attempts to live on against all odds.

46. What modern imagery has been used in the poem?

The images of 'cloudless dawn' and 'civilised dome' have been used here to create an aura of
the modern civilised world.

47. Why does the poet make reference to Shakespeare and openhanded map?
-Through the use of these expressions the poet questions the value of education in the slum
schools.
-The expressions are ironical for good literature and maps of the world raise the hopes and
aspirations of these children which may never be fulfilled.
-Education alone can pull these children out of the darkness of the slums, but when education
itself is a farce in the slum schools, what hopes can these children cherish for a bright future.

48. The world for the slum children is a dark hole. Explain.
--The map of the world which hangs in their classroom is a mockery for the slum children for the
world for them comprises the dark hole of the slums.
-Life for them remains confined within the four walls of the slums.
-They may catch glimpses of the vastness of the outside world but they may never become a
part of this vastness and its beauty.

49. How does the poet visualise the present status of the slum children?
-The future of the slum children at present seems dark
-they live a dark, narrow and unfulfilled life among the dirt and squalor of their narrow streets
sealed by the smog of a leaden sky.
-They are deprived of the bounties of nature and basic necessities as they live in hopelessness
and despair.

50. How does the poet bring to light the brutalities of slum life?
-The children live in inhuman and unhygienic condition and their childhood gets wasted.
-Even their dreams are distant and they lead a narrow and unfulfilled life suffering the ingominy
of poverty and illiteracy.
51.What images and symbols has the poet used to describe the pathetic condition of the slum
children?
-The poet has used the image of a 'wasteland' to describe the deplorable condition of the slum
children.
-Their lives are barren like the wasteland, cramped and crushed under a leaden sky.
-Deprived of the lush green beauty of nature, they spend their lives in slums surrounded by the
so-called civilised world.
-The images and symbols of a cloudless dawn and 'belled,flowery,tyrolese valley' reflect the
loneliness and barrenness of this wasteland where there is no hope for the future.

52.Who or what brings about activity in this otherwise inactive atmosphere?

The visit of a governor,inspector or a visitor.

53.How is all their time and space a foggy slum?

-The slum children waste their childhood on heaps of slag and garbage
-they rake in the garbage hunting for the thrown away bits of food and articles to satisfy their
needs.
-they are undernourished and weak.
-Their skin peeps through their bones and they use mended glasses,making them look
shattered and torn like the bits of bottle on a stone.
-Their entire life is spent in dearth and impoverishment and the innocence of their childhood is
clouded by the pain and suffering of slum life.

54.Where does the poet see hope and relief?

-the poet gives a call to break these slum children free from the social disparities and injustice.
-there can be some hope of a brighter future for these children only when gap between haves
and have-nots is reduced.
-it is in education that the poet sees hope for these children.

55.History is theirs whose language is the sun.Explain

-One can make a mark in history if only one outshines others.One has to outshine and glow like
the sun.People who have the courage and conviction to break free from the constraints of life
are the ones who create history.