Poetry Analysis Examples

An analysis and comparison of The child who walks backwards and A poem for Darcy

The poems The child who walks backwards by Lorna Crozier and A poem for Darcy by Steven Herrick explore the issue of child abuse. The poets give very similar treatment to the theme and both poems have the same tone. In all else, the poems are different. Crozier makes use of language techniques throughout whereas Herrick's poem is unadorned, which creates its own impact. Both poems are devastating in the social comment that they convey.

The subject matter of the poems is similar; both poems deal with the serious problem of child abuse. In The child who walks backwards it is suggested that the young boy is physically abused by his mother who makes excuses for his 'accidents'. A poem for Darcy tells of 'the poorest kid in school', neglected by his aunt with whom he lives. His clothes are dirty and he is malnourished and is also rejected by the children and teachers at school. Both poems deal with subject of child abuse.

The themes of the two poems is child abuse in the community and that nothing seems to be done about it. Both children are treated poorly by their primary carer. Darcy suffers neglect at the hands of his aunt, who spends the money he earns selling papers on feeding the menagerie of animals she cares for. He is also dirty, wearing the same clothes to school every day and for this attracts negative attention from his class mates and teachers. In Crozier's poem, the boy is physically abused and injured to the degree that he needs medical attention. In both poems the persona is an outsider, showing that although the problem is recognized, nothing is done about it. The theme is child abuse and the failure of the community to respond to it effectively.

The form of both poems is in free verse which give the poems a sense of the ordinary, which could be suggestive of the idea that child abuse is commonplace. There is no set pattern, rhythm or rhyme. A poem for Darcy is almost conversational in style which makes it very personal and easy to understand and relate to. The persona is a child the same age as Darcy, observing the obvious neglect and cruel isolation of this victim, who speaks directly to the reader in every day language. In this simple, direct form the poet is able to communicate the horror of the neglect. Likewise, The child who walks backwards makes use of a conversational style to convey the message. The use of free form suggests the poets are saying that these tragedies take place regularly amidst our daily lives.

The mood in each of the poems is a melancholy detachment. This is enhanced by the conversational style of the poems. In both, the persona is relating quite horrific information but does it almost objectively. The sadness comes from the facts that are revealed and the picture of loneliness that is painted. Both poems convey a mood of sadness and detachment.
The poems use different poetic techniques to add realism and emotion. In The child who walks backwards, the simile {plummet like a wounded bird' used to describe the boy effectively depicts the helplessness of the child. The alliteration {cupboard corners' is hard and unfriendly. Onomatopoeia is used to starting effect. The words {cracks' and smacks' highlight the cruelty and abuse suffered by the boy. A poem for Darcy does not use in the same way but does make use of the symbolism of the window out of which Darcy stared all day long. The window is a symbol of escape for Darcy. It takes him away from the cruelty of his life and let him imagine the thing he was best at. When he shared this secret with the persona he revealed the kindness and generosity of his nature despite the hardship of his reality. While Crozier uses language techniques to emphasise the cruelty of the abused boy, Herrick uses the simple symbol of a window. Each technique adds realism and emotion to the poem.

Both poets make a serious social comment in their respective poems. In their poems they highlight the issue of child abuse and neglect and show how little support appears to be given to those in need or distress. The neighbour in The child who walks backwards knows the boy is not clumsy or uncoordinated because she has seen him climb her maple tree with the
{sureness of a cat' and yet despite each bruise, burn, cut and break that she sees on the boy,

she still does nothing about her strong suspicions and allows the mother to go on pretending. Darcy's teachers not only ignore the other children's taunts and bullying, but themselves shy away from this sad boy, not knowing how to approach this sensitive issue which adds to Darcy's isolation and neglect. Steven Herrick asks, {{Is there a Darcy at your school?" This shows we may all know someone who is abused, neglected or ignored and makes us question our own actions. Herrick's and Crozier both tackle the serious issue of child neglect and abuse and society's inadequacy at addressing it.

Each of the poems explore the theme of child abuse through similar subject matter and use of tone. Crozier makes use of simile, alliteration and onomatopoeia to paint a vivid picture of the fragility of the abused child and the cruelty of his plight, while Herrick uses the symbol of the window to show Darcy's loneliness. Both poems comment on a society that allows children to continue to be abused through lack of action from those who should act.
286 The Power of Poetry

An analysis of 'The child who walks backwards' and 'A poem for Darcy'
The poems The child who walks backwards' by Lorna Crozier, and 'A poem for Darcy' by Steven Herrick explore the issue of child neglect. In each poem, the neglected boys are seen through the eyes of onlookers, a next-door neighbour and a classmate. The conversational tone of the poems and the realistic images highlight the stark reality of child abuse in society.
The subject matter of the poems is similar; both poems deal with the serious problem of child neglect. In 'The child who walks backwards' it is suggested that the young boy is physically abused by his mother who makes excuses for his 'accidents'.
'A poem for Darcy' tells of 'the poorest kid in school', neglected by his aunt with whom he lives. His clothes are dirty and he is malnourished and is also rejected by the children and teachers at school.
The themes of the two poems are quite similar. The message is that it is a sad reality that there are poor and abused children in our society. The poems also highlight that nothing seems to be done about this terrible problem. In Crozier's poem, the neighbour doesn't act on her suspicions of abuse and in 'A poem for Darcy', even though the teachers and the community know Darcy is neglected, nothing seems to be done about it.
Both poems are free verse in form. There is no set pattern, rhythm or rhyme. 'A poem for Darcy' by Steven Herrick is almost conversational in its style. The child who walks backwards' also has a fluency of speech. It is as if you can hear the people in the poem speaking to you. This helps to make the poems more realistic.
There is a mood of detachment in both poems and this is enhanced by the conversational tone. There is a sense of sadness in Crozier's poem as if the child had experienced a time when there was no abuse and he played freely with the other children. Steven Herrick's poem has a mood of forgiveness and understand ing, particularly towards the end of the poem when the poet connects with Darcy and understands his reasons for detachment.
The poems use different poetic techniques to add realism and emotion. In 'The child who wal ks backwards', the simile 'plummet like a wounded bird' used to describe the boy effectively depicts the helplessness of the child. The alliteration in
'cupboard corners' is hard and unfriendly. Onomatopoeia is used to startling effect.
The words 'cracks' and 'smacks' highlight the cruelty and abuse suffered by the boy. 'A poem for Darcy' uses little imagery, adding to the realism of the poem. The window is used as symbol of escape and this secret is shared between Darcy and the persona. This shows the human side of Darcy, his kindness and sad ness despite his hardship.
'The child who walks backwards' and 'A poem for Darcy' both make a serious social comment. They highlight the issue of child abuse and neglect and show how little support appears to be given to those in need or distress. Steven Herrick asks, 'Is there a Darcy at your school?' This shows how we might all know someone who is abused, neglected or ignored and makes us question our own actions.
Chapter 7 Analysing poetry 285

A poem for Darcy

ms there a Darcy at your school?

Darc y Leveridge was the poorest kid i n school.
· He walked to school w ithout shoes and wore the same clothes most days, kids call ed him Smel l y Dmcy.
Darcy was the last boy picked for soccer games and basketbal l and even tug - a-war games.
No- one wanted to be near Darcy. He li ved w ith his Aunt in a shack by t he creek wit h l ots of dogs, and cats, and chi ckens, and geese.
Darcy was the suburb's paperboy. He sai d he could throw each paper ont o the verandah of every house in the suburb.
And he could too.
I always got the paper for Dad, right at the doorstep.
Darcy was an expert at paper-throwing.
The money he earnt he gave t o his Aunt i e and I think s he spent it feeding the cats and dogs and ever ything but feeding Darcy who was al so the sk inniest k id in sc hool. Darcy sat up the back in Year 6 and never answered one question ri ght all year.
He stared out the window, thmwing papers in his head probably. He failed every exam.
The teachers stopped ask ing Darcy questions. They left him to his window.
I never tal ked to Darcy.

One day I got punched by a Yem 7 g ir l.
I was so hurt and surprised I ran out of the sc hoolyard and al l the way home to a lunch of embarrassment alone on the back stair s.

When I f1nall y returned t o sc hool ever ybody in class call ed me
'scaredy-cat' or
'chicken' or
'weak l ing, weak l ing'. Ever yone except Darc y.

Afte t- sc hool, on the way home, Darcy told me to i gnore them and do what he did when peopl e call ed him
'smelly' or ' poot-boy Darcy'.
He told me to l ook out the w indow and think of t he one thing you're good at, paper-thmwing or kicking a ball or wr iting a st ory and to do that one thing in your head over and ove t- until you did it perfect.

That's what Darc y sai d, and that's w hat I did.

Steven Herrick

284 The Power of Poetry

The following two poems are similar in terms of their subject matter and themes. Read the poems carefully remembering the six steps of analysis on pages 274-275. Then look at the analysis that critiques both poems on page 286.

The child who walks backwards

My next-door neighbour tell s me her child runs into things. Cupboard corners and doorknobs have pounded their shapes into his face. She says he is bothered by dreams, rises in sleep from his bed to steal through t he halls and plummet like a wounded bird down the flight of stairs.

This c hi ld who cl i mbed my maple with the sureness of a cat trips in his room, cracks his skull on the bedpost, smacks his cheeks on the floor. When I ask him about the burns on the back of his knee, his mother tells me he wal ks backwards into fireplace grates or sits and stares at flames while sparks burn stars in his skin.

Other children write their names on the casts that hold his small bones.
His mother tells me he runs into things, walks backwards, breaks his leg while she lies sleeping.

Lorna Crozier
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