1. Point of View
Evidence - "Children in the Darkness"
Elaboration - It is trying to say that the children is living in darkness and not exposed to light, making the point that the children live in a dangerous place and the have to hide from the light at all times in order to stay alive.
Evidence - "From this life they can not flee / And these children are not free"
Elaboration - It shows that the children could not choose their life and have no freedom at all.
Details - "Chalk and blackboards will not be / To this door there is no key"
Elaboration - It shows that the children were not given a chance to study. This can also be seen the next stanza.
Evidence - "Or will a war consume them / Their body and their soul" "Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole"
Elaboration - The author is trying to make a point here saying that the war is so cruel that it will take away many children lives. It is so cruel that it will will never stop as was is an 'endless thirsty hole' that will keep taking away lives.
2. Situation and Setting
Evidence - "Darkness"
Elaboration - The word 'darkness' gives the reader a feeling of 'afraid/scared' by the setting the surrounding dark. When it is completely dark, one tends to be afraid, afraid that what will happen the next moment. Afraid that they might die. And often they feel helpless. In this case, it is referred to the children that are struggling in the war. Children, often to be timid especially when they hear the gun sounds tend to feel helpless, as if they were living in a complete darkness.
Evidence - "From this life they can not flee / And these children are not free"
Elaboration - The situation here is that the children have no freedom, they have no right to say about their life, they have no ways to change their life. This makes the children living in the war, living in the darkness pitiful.
3. Language / Diction
Evidence - "Could We...Could We...Could We...Could We..."
Elaboration - The repetition of 'could we' in stanza 3 emphasize that the children have no chance to do the things they want, the things they should do as a children or they want to do as a children. For example, to study, to read. COULD they be given this chance? The answer is no. As a children at that times, their responsibility is to learn how to operate a gun in order to eliminate the opposing enemy, to keep themselves living.
Evidence - "Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light "
Elaboration - The word 'back' makes it sounds that the children belong to the war place originally, and they were fated to live in darkness, and they will not be given a chance, a chance that exposed to the light as 'there is no flight' that brings them to. And also, the word' light' and 'darkness' contrast each other, showing the importance, the difference between 'light' and dark'.
4. Personal response
After reading this poem, deep in my heart, I really sympathize the children in the war. They should not belong to the place in the first place. But the cruelty of this world, of the war, forces them to live in complete darkness. Force them to live in a place, which make them worry everyday. Force them to face the cruelty facts of the world at a very small age. It shouldn't be that way. I feel that they should not be involved in the war. I feel that they should be like us, happily, given a chance to study in schools and lead a better life. From this poem, I can at least feel how the children lives were, for example darkness. It also make me understand that how fortunate we are, and we should learn to cherish life more instead of complaining how bad is life.
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