• Themes 
• Type and form
• Analysis
• Tone and mood
• Activity 3

An elementary school classroom in a slum by Stephen Spender

This poem was written by Stephen Spender (1909-1995). He was a modern English poet and writer.
Much of his writing is about human rights and social justice. He was politically left-wing and was a member of the Communist Party in Britain in the 1930s. He was actively involved in the anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist politics of that time.
Later in life he edited literary magazines and taught at many institutions. He became Professor of English at University College in London in the 1970s.

1. Themes

The two main themes are a protest against social inequality and againstpoor quality education.
The poet describes some children in a classroom in a very poor area. Most of them look unhealthy and unhappy. The pictures on the walls of the gloomy classroom show an interesting world outside the slum, but the children are trapped in a world of poverty and may never experience a better life unless something is done to change their future.
The poet calls upon the people responsible for education to free these children from their poverty and give them the opportunity to live a better life.

VOCAB: In the title of the poem, an 'elementary school' is a primary school (grade 1-7). A 'slum' is a very poor area of a city or town with few facilities or services.

An elementary school classroom in a slum by Stephen Spender

 Words to know:

2. Type and form

This poem is divided into four stanzas of eight lines each. It is written in an informal style with no words that rhyme at the ends of the lines, which is typical of modern poetry.
This is known as free verse.

3. Analysis

Note: Rhyming lines of poetry end in words that sound the same.
In stanza 1, the poet describes some of the children in the classroom. The opening lines of the poem are not complete sentences and have an unusual word order:

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor. (lines 1 and 2)

In ordinary English, the first two lines would be written: “These children’s faces are far, far from gusty waves and they look like rootless weeds. ” By changing the word order, the poet repeats “Far far” to start the poem. This emphasises the poet’s frustration about how far the children’s environment is from what it should be. His tone is angry. The words “gusty waves” (line 1) suggest wind and sea – a healthy, fresh and beautiful place, unlike the gloomy slum they are living in.
In a simile, the poet compares the children to “rootless weeds” (line 2). Weeds are small, unwanted plants. The word “rootless” gives us an even more powerful image of how weak the children are: plants cannot grow without roots to take in water and nutrients, and without roots, they do not even seem to belong in one place in the ground. The simile “like rootless weeds” suggests these children are thin, weak and underfed, but also that they do not have a place in the world. The children’s “pallor” (line 2) makes them look pale and sickly, while the metaphor “torn hair” (line 2) suggests that their hair is messy and they are not well cared for.
The poet goes on to describe some of the children in the class. One girl is tall for her class, but instead of standing tall and proud, she hangs her head (“weighed-down head” in line 3). This suggests she is thin and her head feels too heavy for her body, or that she feels depressed and is not concentrating on the lesson. A boy is “paper-seeming” (line 3 and 4). This metaphor suggests that he is as pale and thin as a piece of white paper. The poet uses hyperbole here to emphasise how thin the boy is.
The metaphor “rat’s eyes” (line 4) paints a picture of little eyes moving quickly around, like a rat’s – perhaps always looking for danger or a way to survive. Some rats have red eyes, so perhaps the boy has an eye disease, or has been crying. The image of this boy is of a thin, pale, frightened, unhealthy child.
A third boy suffers from a disease he has inherited from his father that has left him undeveloped (“stunted”) with “twisted bones” (line 5). To “recite” is to repeat something and learn it off by heart. The poet uses irony by saying the boy “recites” his “disease”, instead of his schoolwork. The poet could be suggesting that the child will repeat the disease by passing it on to his own children one day. The emphasis is on the repetition of disease and ill health.
We are also given the impression that the children are taught to learn things off by heart, without really understanding what they are learning about.
In the final three lines of this stanza, the poet introduces a contrast. The last child mentioned, sitting at the back of the dull, poorly-lit room, is different from the others and looks younger than they do. “Sweet and young” (line 7) suggests he is innocent and has not yet been as badly affected by slum life as the other children and still has dreams of something better. Instead of listening to the lesson, he is dreaming of playing in a different place, somewhere outside in nature (“tree room”). A squirrel is a little animal with bright eyes and a bushy tail that runs freely up and down trees. The child perhaps imagines playing as freely as a squirrel in a beautiful place.

Note:

• A simile is a direct comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'
• Hyperbole: An overstatement used for emphasis. Here, the boy is not really as thin as a piece of paper.
• A metaphor is a way of comparing two things without using the words 'like' or 'as'.

In the second stanza, the poet describes the classroom. The colour of the classroom walls is “sour cream” (line 9). The connotations of this are of cream that has gone bad, which suggests the walls are dull and not very clean.
The walls are decorated with what the poet calls “donations” (line 9) – which are gifts to the school, but these gifts may not improve the children’s lives. Ironically, these gifts suggest a world that the children may never be able to experience because of their poverty. The speaker uses a bitter tone when he tells us that these children have a life which is a contrast to these pictures. Their world is dirty, polluted, grey and without much freedom.
Note:

• Imagine some connotations of 'sour cream'. They may include 'rotten', 'horrible tatse' or ' old'.
• Irony:  A statement with an underlying meaning different from its surface meaning.

Look at what is on the walls and note the irony of these “donations”:

• A picture of Shakespeare: he represents the world of culture, of theatres and plays that, ironically, the children may never see. The phrase “cloudless at dawn” (line 10) suggests a new day, a new life, and contrasts with the grey skies of the slum outside the classroom “Civilised dome” (line 10) may refer to Shakespeare’s bald head in the shape of a dome. It could also refer to buildings with domes in cities that suggest other cultures and faraway places.
• A poster of the Tyrol: The Tyrolean mountains in Austria have beautiful valleys that are green and filled with wild flowers in summer. Cows graze and wear bells around their Many tourists travel there on holiday, but these children may never get a chance to do that.
• A map of the world: This seems “open-handed” (generous), as if it offers the children the whole, exciting world with its wonderful opportunities, but most of them may never leave the slum in which they live.

The poet’s tone is sad when he says, “these windows, not this world, are world” (line 13). “These windows” refer to the classroom windows that look out on the slum. They do not look out on “this world”, which is the wonderful world shown in the pictures and the map. Instead, the windows “are [their] world”; in other words, the children’s world is the slum that they see through the windows.
The speaker goes on to describe the slum outside the classroom and what it means for the lives of the children. The “narrow” street suggests that the area is built up and crowded. It is “sealed” (line 15) or closed in by the grey, cloudy, heavy (“lead”) sky. The words “lead”, which is a heavy grey metal, and “sealed” make it seem almost as if the children are trapped in a lead coffin. The alliteration of the “s” sound that links the words “street/sealed/ sky” adds to the trapped, closed-in feeling.
As he did at the start of the poem, the poet uses the repetition, “Far far ...” (line 16) to emphasise how the children are cut off from nature and the beautiful world beyond the slum. The metaphor “stars of words” (line 16) is interesting. The stars are beautiful and represent dreams, great ambitions and things that are bright and fine. “Stars of words”, therefore, make us think not only of a beautiful night sky, but also of the wonderful ways words can be used: words express wisdom and knowledge, they can inspire us, they can empower us. But perhaps these children have no experience of words used in this way.
Notice that in this stanza, the word “world” is repeated four times, each time with a slightly different meaning or connotation.

In this stanza, the poet uses an indignant tone. His anger about injustice increases when he thinks about the children’s future.
“Wicked” (line 17) seems a very strange word to use to describe a great and inspiring writer like Shakespeare, and how, we may wonder, can a map be “a bad example” (line 17) ? We are answered in the next line. Great art and literature, maps of the world, together with a life of travel and adventure (ships) in warm, sunny places belong to a life these children may never have – unless they turn to crime to escape from their poverty. The poet’s diction (his choice of words, such as “wicked/bad”) and the strong rhythm of these lines show how strongly he feels. The poet’s unhappiness is shown again in the next two lines when he describes what the future holds for these children. Their homes are “cramped holes” (line 19) and their lives are dull (“fog”) and without a bright future (“endless night”).
Lines 20 to 24 paint a tragic picture of the children’s future. If you have ever seen a place where coal is mined, you will have seen the slag heaps which are huge dumps of black waste from the coal mines. The children in the poem do not literally live on a slag heap (although their slum may be close to one) but this strong metaphor tells us that their lives are not pleasant, and are without joy or hope.
The poet uses personification in “wear skins peeped through by bones” (line 20) to emphasise how thin the children are. Their bones are “peeping” or looking through their skin. This is also an example of hyperbole as the bones would not actually be sticking out through the skin. The children who wear the broken glasses cannot even see properly – “With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones” (line 21). This simile may refer to the children’s future as well as their physical condition. Is the future they see ahead of them as broken as their glasses? They have nothing good to look forward to as “All their time and space are foggy slum” (line 23).
The last line of stanza 3 shows how angry the poet feels about the future to which these children are condemned. He speaks in a direct, angry andaccusing tone to us and all those people in authority. He says that we may as well condemn the children to endless unhappiness and paint the “map” of their future with a picture of a huge slum, “as big as doom” (line 24).
You met the word “doom” in the Shakespeare sonnet, when it meant 0the end of time/the world, the Day of Judgement. Here “doom” has the connotation of being condemned to suffering and death from which there is no escape. Notice the rhythm of this line, with five short, strong, heavy words following one another, almost like beats of a drum - “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom”.
Note:

• Read this line out loud and hear how it expresses the poet's anger. ' So blot their maps with slums as big as doom'.

In the last stanza, the poet introduces hope to a hopeless situation. He calls on those in authority to change these children’s lives and give them a better future. He calls on the school governor (many South African schools have governing bodies), teachers, school inspectors and visitors to take action. To express his excited tone about what he wants to happen, the poet has written this stanza as one long sentence that builds to a climax. However, to make it easier to discuss, it will be divided into two.

Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor,                     25
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open, till they break the town

Note: The poet does not mean the authorities must literally break the windows. He means they must  Uguratively help to open up the children's minds and lives.

The first word, “Unless” (line 25), offers the authorities an alternative to “blot[ting] their maps with slums as big as doom”. Instead, the “map” on the classroom wall should no longer be a “temptation” to steal, but become an offer of real opportunities for the children. It should be a “window” (line 26) to all the world has to offer. The authorities must, figuratively, break open the windows for the children and offer them a different future.
At present they are imprisoned as if they were in a grave (“catacomb”). The poet emphasises the need to free the children from this future by his urgent tone. He repeats “break o break” (line 28) and the excited exclamation “o”; he wants the children to be able to escape their dull and lifeless future and even the town itself.

And show the children to green fields and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues                                                                    30
Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

In the last four lines, the poet’s tone is a passionate plea for the authorities to give the children a different life and a better environment. He wants them to enjoy the green countryside and nature, to play freely and explore the sea and the beach (“run azure on gold sands”) – in other words, they need to experience an unlimited world. He wants them to discover the joy of reading books, which are a source of knowledge, delight and wisdom. He uses the metaphor “their tongues run naked” (line 30 and 31), which suggests drinking up the contents of books the way we drink water if we are thirsty.
The poet wants them to show the same enthusiasm for books and knowledge that are relevant and make sense to them. Here the poet makes it clear that it is only through a good education and a better environment that the children will have the opportunities that at present they do not have. He wants them to have access to “white” leaves (a leaf also means a page, so white leaves are the pages of books) and “green leaves” (nature, the wider world) so that they will have a different future.
The poem reaches its climax in the last line with a powerful metaphor: the new “history” of their lives should be written in the “language of the sun” (line 32). The sun is the source of life, warmth, brightness, energy. These are the qualities that should be part of these children’s lives.

4. Tone and mood 

In stanza 1, the tone is angry and frustrated because of the hardship the children face.
In stanza 2, the speaker uses a bitter and sad tone when he contrasts the pictures on the classroom wall with the hard realities the children face.
In stanza 3, the tone is indignant and accusing about the injustice the children face in the future.
In stanza 4, the tone is excited and urgent about the need to improve the children’s situation. The final tone is a passionate plea to do so.
The mood of a poem is how it makes the reader feel. How does this poem make you feel? For example, happy, sad, angry, or indifferent.

Summary 
An elementary school classroom in a slum by Stephen Spender

1. Theme
A prootest against social inequality and against poor quality education
2. Type and form

3. Tone and mood
Tone: Moves from angry, frustrated, bitter, sad, indignant and accusing; to excited, urgent and passionate.
Mood: How does this poem make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent? Always give reasons for your answer.

Activity 3 

Refer to the poem on page 19 and answer the questions below.

1. Complete the following sentences by using the words provided in the list Write down only the words next to the question number (1 - 3).

   good; primary; children; resources; high; poor

   The setting (background) of the poem is a (1) ... school in a (2) ... area. There are very few (3) ... in the classroom.                                                                        (3)
2. Using your own words, describe the children in the classroom
   State THREE points.                                                              (3)
   NOTE: in this question use your own words. Do not quote directly from the poem. For 3 marks, give 3 points.
3. Refer to lines 6-8.
   In your OWN words, say how this child is different from the rest of the children in his class.                              (1)
4. Refer to stanza
   How does the speaker feel about the “donations”? Give a reason for your answer.                                                                     (2)
   Note: When you are asked to give a reason, the reason must be based on the poem.
5. Refer to line 15 (“A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky”).
   5.1 Identify the figure of speech used (1)
   5.2 Explain why the poet has used this figure of (2)
6. Refer to stanza
   Is the following statement TRUE or FALSE? Quote TWO consecutive words to support your answer.
    The children’s homes are large and comfortable.                  (2)
7. Choose the correct answer to complete the following sentence: In stanza 4, the speaker’s tone shows that he is ...
   1. commenting critically.
   2. pleading passionately.
   3. complaining bitterly.
   4. demanding forcefully.                                                                                                (1)
8. Refer to stanza
   Name ONE experience the speaker wishes the children to have.                                                                                   (1)
9. In your view, how does the speaker (poet) feel about the children? Using your OWN words, give TWO reasons for your (3)  [19]
   Note: When asked for your view, the answer requires your emotional response and understanding of the poem. For 3 marks, make 1 point about the speaker,s feeling (1 mark) and then give 2 reasons (2 marks).