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MY PARENTS
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Stephen Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist, and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965. (more)
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LITERAL MEANING
The persona speaks about how his parents kept him away (www.bulbsoup.com) from children who were rough. These children were very unkept and seemingly wild and the persona feared them because they bullied him. The persona wants to forgive them, but they never try to be friendly.
The persona speaks about how his parents kept him away (www.bulbsoup.com) from children who were rough. These children were very unkept and seemingly wild and the persona feared them because they bullied him. The persona wants to forgive them, but they never try to be friendly.
4. My parents kept me from children who were rough
1. Who threw words like stones and who wore torn clothes. Their thighs showed through rags. They ran in the street 2.And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams. 1.I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms. 3.I feared the salt course pointing of those boys Who copied my lisp behind me on the road. They were lithe, 1.they sprang out behind hedges Like dogs to bark out at my world. They threw mud While I looked the other way, 5.pretending to smile. 6.I longed to forgive them, but they never smiled. Poet: Stephen Spender |
LITERARY DEVICES
1. SIMILE
2. ALLITERATION
3. METAPHOR
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IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES
4.'My parents kept me from children who were rough'
This appears, at first, to be a disembodied phrase. This is because the content that follows speaks to the persona's fear of the boys. This first statement could be interpreted as a simple statement of fact. The persona's parents kept him from children who were rough, based on the treatment that he gets at their hands.
5. 'pretending to smile'
The persona pretends to smile in order to bear the bullying that he is enduring. It can be considered to be a sign of strength because he does not appear to give in to his fear by hiding it in a smile.
6. 'I longed to forgive them, but they never smiled'
This reveals that the persona has a good heart. He does not react in a bitter (www.bulbsoup.com) way to the treatment that he receives, but longs to forgive the boys. Unfortunately, the boys are not repentant because they never give the persona an opening, or an opportunity, to forgive them.
4.'My parents kept me from children who were rough'
This appears, at first, to be a disembodied phrase. This is because the content that follows speaks to the persona's fear of the boys. This first statement could be interpreted as a simple statement of fact. The persona's parents kept him from children who were rough, based on the treatment that he gets at their hands.
5. 'pretending to smile'
The persona pretends to smile in order to bear the bullying that he is enduring. It can be considered to be a sign of strength because he does not appear to give in to his fear by hiding it in a smile.
6. 'I longed to forgive them, but they never smiled'
This reveals that the persona has a good heart. He does not react in a bitter (www.bulbsoup.com) way to the treatment that he receives, but longs to forgive the boys. Unfortunately, the boys are not repentant because they never give the persona an opening, or an opportunity, to forgive them.
ATMOSPHERE
The mood of the poem is sad.
The tone of the poem is reflective.
The mood of the poem is sad.
The tone of the poem is reflective.
THEMATIC CATEGORIZATION: Loss of innocence.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Spender, S. 'My Parents' in A World of Poetry. Edited by Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmonds McDonald. Pearson Education Ltd, 2005.
Spender, S. 'My Parents' in A World of Poetry. Edited by Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmonds McDonald. Pearson Education Ltd, 2005.