Half Past Two By U A Fanthorpe English Literature Essay

Childhood is a fantastic clip of life in which a kid transforms to an grownup ; nevertheless it is something that is invariably explored in literature. Childhood is a fun clip in which life is guiltless. Childhood is the most beautiful of all life ” s seasons. The poems “ Half-Past Two ” and “ Hide and Seek ” , present the position of a kid and his life and will be explored in deepness. The other three poems “ Piano ” , “ Poem at 30 nine ” and “ Once Upon a Time ” , province that an grownup is experiencing nostalgic, retrieving his childhood. Whereas the verse form “ Mother in a Refugee Camp ” is about a tragic life of a female parent who lost her kid.

The first verse form is by U.A.Fanthorpe, the author of “ Half-past two ” . The verse form is spoken from the overview of an older adult male projecting back on the minute in his childhood when he had a peculiar construct of clip. The author uses complex words to convey the kid ” s construct of clip before his instructor told him to remain “ till half-past two ” , and this gives the influence that the male child can non grok the “ linguistic communication ” of clip.

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In this verse form, the manner is really much that of a childA talking speaking to the writer and thought in his caput, “ he knew a batch of clip: he knew ” . The poemA begins with “ Once upon a ” which is an gap of old fairytalesA of which the bulk of them started by this manner. In the firstA stanza, as the kid is so immature he did “ something really incorrect ” but thenA carries on to state that he had forgotten what it was that he had doneA to merit his punishment.A

Composite words are used to represent how much divergent clip means to the male child and the apprehension of Numberss, “ onceupona ” and “ notimeforthatnowtime ” . When the author says “ He knew a batch of clip ” , she is demoing how the male child knew, different times: like “ Tvtime ” and “ notimeforthatnowtime ” but non, the clip, and this leads to him get awaying “ into the clock less land forever ” . The male child has split his twenty-four hours up into conservative classs to seek to grok clip and have been holding anticipated composite words clip like “ school day ” , afternoon tea ” .

Throughout the verse form, the poet uses uppercase letters to bespeak the significance of the instructor and the effects that she has on him. When the male child does “ Something Very Incorrect ” the author uses uppercase letters to stress the importance of the event and the wake on the small male child. This is so repeated in the 2nd stanza, and this reinforces the importance of the event. In the 3rd stanza, Fanthorpe writes in the brooding voice of an grownup but still uses a capital missive for “ Time ” to demo how much it meant to him when he was younger.

The author uses literary devices, to demo the immatureness of the male child at the clip, for illustration he personifies the clock to demo the male child does non understand the information given from it, “ He knew the clockface, the small eyes. And two legs for walking. But he couldn ” T click its linguistic communication ” . The last stanza of the verse form it tells us about that eventually, when he becomes grownup he realizes that clip was easy to learn..

The subjects explored in “ Half Past Two ” are childhood experiences, contemplation, isolation and forsaking. These subjects are besides explored in “ Hide and Seek ” .

“ Hide and Seek ” is a superb message hidden in the description of a childhood game. The verse form starts with the confident and bold challenge of a kid who has chosen a cagey topographic point to conceal and is certain no 1 will be able him, “ Name out. Name loud. I ” m ready ” , still in spite the fact that he could be uncomfortable or afraid ; he takes comfort in the fact that no 1 will be able to happen him.

Then he shows the feeling when showing, “ The floor is cold ” , which means he is petrified being in that toolshed, but it, is instantly over ridden by the idea that the kids who are seeking the male child will be seeking near the shrubs. The poet advises the male child that he must be careful non to sneeze when and if they come seeking for him in the tool shed as “ You mustn ” T sneezing when they come prowling in ” .

The searchers do come “ person lurchs, murmurs ” , awing at the fact that the idea of triumph has made the normally loud male childs quiet and subdued. Listening to the series of rapid bids which follow the male child freezes, holds his breathe and shuts his eyes near trusting that they won ” T find him. Sure plenty, the voices fade as they move off non believing the male child would make bold conceal in the tool shed, as it was likely considered off bounds to kids.

Even when the male childs move off from the shed, the male child does non come out, delighting in the fact that they will maintain searching and wondering where he was, all the piece wondering at his inventiveness. A long clip base on ballss since they had departed and the male child grows uncomfortable, cold, stiff and suffocated, “ your legs are stiff, the cold bites ” . He so eventually decides that it is clip to uncover that he has won. He comes out of his concealing topographic point and departs the shed, “ Here I am, come up and have up I ” ve caught you ” . But to his letdown he finds the garden empty and rather. All the kids have given up and gone place, “ The blackening garden tickers. Nothing splash. ”

A few literary devices high spot and add colour to the verse form: Alliteration is used in the 2nd line: “ odor like the seaboard ” . Besides in the terminal, a series of personified phrases: “ The blackening garden tickers. ” “ The shrubs hold their breathe ” describe the quite of the scene.

The verse form is non merely about a childhood game, but it is about life. The troubles which the male child faces after make up one’s minding to conceal in the shed are metaphorically used for the obstructors one has to cover with while walking down the route one chooses in life. But the male child ” s finding to win and win enables him to be strong plenty to get the better of all these troubles. Besides, the other male childs are the rivals which one has to cover with in life. They are described as “ prowling ” like as if they were marauding animate beings waiting to strike on their quarry when it is incognizant. Such are the jobs life throws one ” s manner, but if, like the small male child, one has a predetermined purpose in head, and it is non hard to draw through despite them.

This verse form is merely like “ half past two ” , where both poems shows the troubles and solitariness in childhood.

Now, the 3rd verse form “ Once Upon a Time ” , was written by Gabriel Okara, who is a Nigerian poet.

The rubric of the verse form, “ Once Upon A Time ” , has particular relevancy to the beginning of every faery narrative. It was likely chosen by poet, as the adult male in the verse form expresses his desire to travel, “ back in clip ” , and recover his child-like artlessness.

The verse form Tells of the conversation between what seems to be a male parent and boy, where the male parent wants to larn from his boy. The verse form “ Once Upon A Time ” starts by the male parent stating his boy how the people, or “ they or, “ used to laugh with their Black Marias ” which means they used to bask and care for their lives ; they had merriment.

He so moves on to state that now they merely, “ laugh with their dentitions, while their ice-block cold eyes hunt behind his shadow ” which tells us that that now writer negotiations about maturity and they now do non hold merriment. They laugh automatically and there is deficiency of communicating like they are dead. This creates really negative, bogus and false feelings and it is a really cold description. This affects the tone of the verse form that now becomes sinister and bitter.

The portrayal smiling is a symbolic act of something that is non felt, but done strictly for the interest of it. “ homeface, A officeface, streetface, hostface, A cocktailface, with all their conforming smilesA like a fixed portrayal smiling. ”

“ Goodbye ” is an look that means “ see you once more ” . Its significance has declined to “ Good-riddance ” which means “ wear ” t come once more or ne’er run into once more ” . The poet wants to explicate by this that everything is faked and is depressed of what he is done.

The talker tells his boy that he wants to relearn everything and be like him. The adult male distrusts even his mirror image, his contemplation “ for my laugh in the mirrorA shows merely my dentitions like a serpent ” s bare Fangs. At last it so shows the adult male demoing his sorrow as he says, “ I want to be what I used to be when I was like you ” , demoing that he wants to be honorable and true once more. He regrets maturity and wants to care for his childhood life with merriment and reality.A This poem links to both “ Hide and Seek ” and “ Half-Past Two ” ” as they both concentrate on childhood life.

The following verse form, “ Piano ” by D.H Lawrence is about a individual who feels nostalgic and repent his yesteryear as he listens to a adult female vocalizing. The verse form starts with the adult male hearing the soft vocalizing of a adult female. The adult male who was listening to the lady singing now thinks that it would be useless for her to go on on as he is already so affected by his memories that he is merely physically present, his head elsewhere, “ Betrays me back, till the bosom of me weeps to belong ” . Without any idea of his maturity, he bursts into cryings retrieving the blissful ignorance and artlessness of his infant old ages. He starts crying, therefore bridging the spread between his yesteryear and his present “ Of infantile yearss is upon me, my manhood is cast ” . In decision this verse form concentrates at the troubles of maturity compared to joyous life of childhood. This verse form is similar to the “ Poem at 39 ” .

The 5th verse form is “ verse form at 39 ” written by Alice Walker about a miss who feels nostalgic and remembers his male parent and his wonts. She remembers as he was good in maths and histories. She even can non bury his cooking manner, “ He cooked like a individual dancing in a yoga speculation and crave the juicy sharing of good nutrient ” . If his male parent was alive and at that place, he would hold admired her multi-tasking abilities as suited to a adult female, “ He would hold grown to look up to the adult female I ” ve become ” . The miss is sad, as his male parent is non about. He taught her to hold merriment with life, how to care of herself and about life. She shows a sense of gratitude for him ; he was an inspiration for her life. It tells us that she has become the adult female that her male parent wanted her to be. In the use of literary devices, Walker has rather a big sum of symbolism. The first 1 is “ fliping this and that into the pot ; flavoring none of my life the same manner twice ” like her male parent used to.

These two verse forms “ Once Upon a clip ” and “ Piano ” are based upon experiencing nostalgic and retrieving the yesteryear.

Finally, the last verse form Chinua Achebe ” s Mother in a Refugee Camp, paints a sad image of a female parent keeping her deceasing boy in her custodies for the last clip. It is about a female parent who is now hapless and lives in a refugee cantonment which is plagued, unwellness and illness, in the cantonment. The female parent loved his kid so much that she was non ready to accept that he was dead by “ the rust coloured hair left on his skull ” . Her life was distorted as she saw her immature kid dead as “ like seting flowers on a bantam grave ” . A ” former life – a small day-to-day act of no effect ” .A Achebe depicts a tragic sense by comparing that prior to how life is now the things she one time did were simply a modus operandi act which was no of import and had no effects but is now contrasted with the nowadays in which it is merely a tragic memory. The phrase “ day-to-day act ” suggests that before there was no fear – no effect but now the lone connexion she has to the “ formal life ” is a memory which evokes poignancy as we learn that before the adult female could take attention of her babe but all she could make now is to seek to keep on but in vain as her kid is deceasing. By adverting their “ formal life ” besides makes it seem like it was a wholly different life ago that strongly contrasts to how it is now hence intensifies the hideous image of how things of “ no effect ” now means the universe to the adult female.

In decision, I would state that these all six verse forms “ Hide and Seek ” , “ Half Past Two ” , “ Once upon a clip ” , “ Piano ” , “ Mother in a Refugee cantonment ” and “ Poem at 39 ” portion a subject of childhood and turning up and feelings of different authors towards it. “ Hide and Seek ” describes of a kid playing a game with his friends and holding merriment, and finally his friends leave him entirely. This verse form shows that the male child he is experiencing abandoned and lonely ; this is a portion of childhood. Similarly “ Once upon a clip ” Tells that the yesteryear is better than the present ; because there was love, earnestness and fidelity in the yesteryear which was childhood. Now that in the present, everything has changed, this is now adulthood life. Hence the poet wants to live over the yesteryear. In a different position, “ Half past two ” isA about a male child acquisition and understanding clip. It is about a male child fighting with clip in his childhood and now, in present when he is grown up, he is retrieving it. The verse form “ Piano ” and “ Poem at 39 ” , are in which the author feels nostalgic and wants to populate his yesteryear back, believing childhood was the most tuneful clip of life. Finally the last verse form “ Mother in a Refugee Camp ” is experiencing of a female parent after his kid died in a really immature age. It is a really tragic verse form about a female parent who is in the injury of her boy ” s decease.

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