Elementary School Classroom in a Slum - Explanation by Sukhpreet Singh

Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Stanza 1

1. Human content in the class is being talked about in a vivid manner.
2. A tall girl with a weighed down head is a Metaphor, that suggests malnutrition and heavy burdens on destitute children even in tender age.
3. A boy with rat’s eyes is also a metaphor, suggesting unquenched hunger of slum children. It also suggests timidness of slum children.
4. There is a boy who has inherited gnarled disease (twisted bones) from his father as inheritance.
5. There is an unnoticed sweet boy who wishes to play outside instead of sitting in the dim class.

First stanza has presented a very grim picture of poverty and malnutrition. At the same time, dim class with scarce light suggests lack of knowledge and hope in these poor children.

Stanza 2

1. Furnishing of the class is being talked about in this stanza.
2. Walls are damp and poorly painted.
3. Donations are written on the walls and discarded material is hung on them.
4. Futility of World Map, Shakespeare’s portrait, scenery of Tyrlose valley showing cloudless dawn and civilised society, hung in the class, is being talked about by the poet.
5. Poet suggests that these things tempt these destitute students to steal.
6. These children can’t find their foggy world anywhere in the map.

Stanza 3

1. Shakespeare is referred wicked here as for these children, there is hardly anything that can be related to their life and existence. Shakespeare talks about royalty, palaces, nature and riches in his works; which for these children is something out of bounds.
2. Education provided to them is also meaningless as they can’t relate to it because of their plight.
3. Grotesque image of malnutrition is being presented here using the line - bones peep through their skins...
4. Their houses and belongings are compared with slag heap.
5. These children wear discarded glasses and other things.
6. Only fog could be seen all around them.

Stanza 4

1. Poet requests all the officials and youth to come forward and save these children from the atrocities of malnutrition and immiseration.
2. Poets suggests to take these children out of these catacombs (unending tunnels) and show them the actual brighter picture.
3. The need for Quality education in a good atmosphere of health and hygiene is being pressed upon in this stanza.
4. Only this way, these children can be brought out from the unending night and can be shown a cloudless dawn.

Poetic devices

1. Repetition - far far from gusty waves, far far from rivers, break o break
2. Simile - like rootless weeds, like bottle bits on stones, like catacombs, slums as big as doom
3. Metaphor - rat’s eyes, father’s gnarled disease, squirrels game, tree room, future’s painted with fog, lead sky, spectacles of steel
4. Alliteration - surely shakespeare, from fog, bottle bits, lives like, street sealed
5. Imagery - weighed down
6. Symbols - squirrels game, civilised dome, open handed map, map with slums as big as doom, slag heap, windows, ships and son tempting them to steel
7. Pun - sour cream, lead sky