Point of View

The speaker is Henry Bechtold. He is speaking from a third person point of view. The speaker thoughts and feelings from the poems show that he is a pessimistic person. This can be seen from the last stanza where it state that after this entire incident the children will return into the darkness where they will not see the light.

Situation

There are children that are facing the suffering of war yet they could not see a ray of hope as they are not able to fight back against their enemies. The lives of the children were all controlled by the war and they could not escape; only death awaits them.

Language/Diction

1. Rhyme

“Light”, “fight”

“Flee”, “free”

“Soul”, “hole”

It is used emphasize on the despair and restriction that the children faced in the war. “Flee” and “free” show that the children’s freedom and rights has been taken away and they could not escape from clutches of the “masters”.

2.Rhetorical questions

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

It is used to create a greater impact on the situation of the children where the lives of children were controlled by the people and there is no way of escaping. No matter how hard we tried we show them a ray of hope, they will always fall back into the darkness.

3. Personification

“Down some endless thirsty hole.”

This is to give the hole a more human like feature. The hole probably means the wound that the children will get when they are injured. The word “endless” and “thirsty” is used to emphasize on the blood that flows out from the wound profusely, giving readers a much more dramatic feel of the incident.

Personal response

This poem managed to put me in the real war scene whereby the the children were all helpless from the war, they were restricted by their masters and there is no way of escaping from their clutches. This poem truly depicted the situation of the war back then where children were often used for the other's benefits like sending them out as spies, using them as human shields or in propaganda. The unfairness and suffering the children during that time had to endure was really tough and we should learn from them.