Children in the Darkness Analysis

Analysis Point Evidence Explanation Point of View The poet is probably a soldier fighting in the war. It is "Who have not seen the light" and "From this life He states that the children "have not seen the light", evident in the poem that he felt sorry for the childrenthey cannot flee" which suggests that many children are still in hiding, in left helpless and even parentless by the war. the darkness, helpless and weak. He says that they cannot run away from the war and live a normal childhood, thus feeling sorry for them. Situation and These children are living in wartime, thus they have to "Who someone will teach to fight" Someone has to teach the children to fight and defend Setting be prepared to live independently and defend' themselves, because their childhood has been taken themselves. away prematurely because of the war. Language/ Repetition (stanza 1) "There are children in the Darkness" This provides emphasis on the plight of the poor Diction children in the war, causing us to sympathise with them. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 2) "flee" and "free" The rhyme creates the effect of a hopeless situation for Diction the children in the war; they cannot hope to escape war and are "prisoners" literally. Language/ Repetition (stanza 3) "could we" The repetition here suggests that there might be hope Diction and solutions for the children's plights and sorrows. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 4) "soul' and "hole" The stanza shows suffering and death, thus the Diction repetition emphasizes the children's problems and sufferings. Language/ Rhyme (stanza 5) "flight" and "light" The poem ends with a sad tone as the repetition in the Diction last stanza shows that there really might not be any hope left for the poor children living in the war. Personal Disturbed "children in the darkness" I personally feel disturbed after reading the poem as Response constant repetition and emphasis on "darkness" shows that war life was bleak and the children felt very hopeless as war claimed their childhood and there was little chance of survival through the war.