The poet highlights the theme of social inequality and the plight of slum children in this poem.

He laments that these children are deprived of the joys of childhood (far from the gusty waves). Their hair is unkempt around their pale faces (which reflect their state of neglect and malnutrition). They are unwanted and uncared for in the society like weeds (use of a simile). He goes on to describe some of the students in the classroom of the elementary school in a slum. He talks of a tall girl who looks ill, exhausted and burdened with responsibilities, a very thin boy who has hungry eyes (use of a metaphor-rat’s eyes), an unfortunate boy who has inherited a disease of twisted bones from his father and as a result is not able to move around normally and sits on his desk only, a sweet child sitting unnoticed on the last seat; always distracted and disinterested in studies.

In the second stanza, the poet mocks the irrelevant an uninspiring décor of the class. The faded walls (sour cream) are a reflection of the apathy and indifference of the administration towards these poor children. The walls are decorated with donation certificates (symbolizing money/power), Shakespeare’s portrait (a symbol of higher education/learning), a painting of skyscrapers present in all cities (symbolizing development/progress), a beautiful painting of Tyrolese Valley (a symbol of beauty and aestheticity) and a map depicting the world (a symbol of wider horizons). Through this description the poet is trying to highlight the fact that the classroom has been decorated thoughtlessly and insensitively with things and elements that these children cannot relate with like education, progress, beauty and opportunities as they are missing in their world of poverty and malnutrition. The poet drives home his point with a powerful statement that the world of these slum children is limited and visible to them through their windows and that their future is very uncertain (painted with fog). Their life is like a narrow street (fewer opportunities) sealed with a lead sky (hopelessness). The slum children live static lives lacking the fluidity of rivers, wider horizons of capes and light of education.

Stephen Spender goes on to explain the irrelevance of the paintings and portrait in the next stanza. He conveys that Shakespeare is meaningless in the class as his portrait is a mere picture of an unsmiling, wicked man for the children who are unaware of his genius. The map is useless for them as they cannot locate their slum in it. The paintings depicting beauty and progress tempt them to take to crime as they know that they can never achieve them through legitimate means. As a result they end up spending their entire life in their dirty, dingy hutments (cramped holes) and life is no longer certain but filled with despair (from fog to endless…). In their slum, these children, according to the poet, suffer from malnutrition; their bones are visible through their skins, they have weak eyes and due to lack of means they wear coarse spectacles (bottle bits on stone). Their lives are consumed by these slums, which is a blot on their lives and responsible for their doomed state.

In the last stanza, the poet suggests measures to change the scenario. He says that these young lives will not progress and will remain buried in these slums (shut upon their lives…), in other words, the state of these slum children will not improve unless the governor (the government), the inspector (the administration) and the visitors (the non state actors like the citizens and civil rights bodies) intervene to provide these children opportunities to integrate them in the society. He urges the readers to break the barriers in the society to bring in equality so that these children also get opportunities to grow (show them to…), to give them access to the sky-blue waves rising over the golden sands (wider horizons), to allow these children to quench their thirst for knowledge. He wants these children to be allowed conditions to blossom (white and green..). The poet is of the belief that if these children are given the weapon /strength of education, they can also create history.

Theme of the poem: Social injustice and class inequalities

Figures of speech:

Q.1- Why does the poet use the image of despair and disease in the first stanza of the poem?

A.1- The poet uses these images to stress upon the pathetic and miserable lives of the slum children. He wants to draw the attention of the readers towards the hunger and disease rampant in their world and the indifference of the world towards them. Expressions like ‘paper-seeming’, ‘rat’s eyes’, ‘gnarled disease’s etc point at the hungry and malnourished children, while ‘rootless weeds’ reflects the indifference of the society.

Q.2- What message does Stephen Spender give through this poem? What solution does he offer?

A.2- The poet gives the message to bring about a social revolution to remove social injustice and class inequalities from our society. He presents before us the miserable lives that the slum children are forced to lead and stresses upon the need to bridge the gap between the worlds of haves and have not’s. He suggests a solution to correct the present scenario; he talks of breaking barriers between classes, suggests that slum children should also be provided opportunities to blossom.

Instruction: Read the summary/ explanation carefully to be able to answer any question.