An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum By Stephen Spender

   An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum   

By Stephen Spender

About the author

Sir Stephen Harold Spender was born on February 28, 1909, in London. He attended Oxford University and fought in the Spanish Civil War. In the 1920s and 1930s, he associated with other poets and socialists, such as W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Louis MacNeice, and C. Day-Lewis, and his early poetry was often inspired by social protest. During World War II Spender was a member of the National Fire Service (1941–44). After the war, he made several visits to the United States, teaching and lecturing at universities, and in 1965 he became the first non-American to serve as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (now the laureate consultant in poetry) a position he held for one year. In 1970 he was appointed the professor of English at University College, London; he became professor emeritus in 1977. He was knighted in 1983. Spender died on July 16, 1995.

Poem: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.

Like rootless weeds, the hair was torn around their pallor.

The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-

seeming boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir

Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,

His lesson from his desk. At the back of the dim class

One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,

Of squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this.

On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,

Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.

Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map

Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these

Children, these windows, not this world, are the world,

Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky,

Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, and the map a bad example

With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal–

For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes

From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children

Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel

With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

All of their time and space are foggy slums.

So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor,

This map becomes their window and these windows

That shut upon their lives like catacombs,

Break O break open ’till they break the town

And show the children green fields and make their world

Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues

Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open

History is theirs whose language is the sun.

Meanings of Difficult Words & Phrases

Gusty waves = stormy waves of the sea.

Weeds = wild plants.

pallor = pale and withered.

Gnarled = twisted.

Unnoted = unnoticed.

Dome = a large rounded roof, a ceiling that is shaped like half of a ball.

Cape = a point or extension of land jutting out into the water as a peninsula or as a projecting point.

Cramped = very narrow.

Slyly = secretly.

Slag = refuge, unwanted material, dross.

Blot = abolish, destroy.

Doom = death, ruin, very bad event or situation that can not be avoided.

Catacomb = an underground place where people are buried.

Azure = the blue color of the clear sky.

Theme

In this poem, Stephen Spender deals with the theme of social injustice and class inequalities. He presents the theme by talking of two different and incompatible worlds. The world of the rich and the civilized has nothing to do with the world of narrow lanes and cramped holes. The gap between these two worlds highlights social disparities and class inequalities.

Summary

Stephen Spender has presented a true picture of the life of the school children living in the slum of Tyrolese Valley of the Austrian Alpine Province. The children are in a very miserable condition due to their poverty and illiteracy. They are depressed. Their pale faces express sadness. They look lean, skinny and bonny. They are like rootless weeds that can’t resist anything for their existence. They are physically very weak and undernourished. Spender voices his concern for these children who live all their life in slums and have no opportunity to enjoy the real blessings of life. He makes a frantic appeal to the educated and affluent sections of the society to better a lot of the slum children through education. It will remove social injustice and class inequality.
Detailed Analysis of the Poem

Stanza – 1

The poem describes an elementary school classroom in a slum. These slum children look very pathetic. Their faces are pale and reflect sadness. They are ‘like rootless weeds’ as they lack proper nutrition. Moreover, they are unwanted plants that grow on their own without being cared for, totally neglected. The tall girl has a ‘weighed – down head’ as she is burdened with a load of poverty. In fact, she is so subdued and suppressed that her head had bowed down with the burden of her misfortunes. The ‘paper-thin’ – extremely thin boy has ‘rat’s eyes’ because the poor undernourished boy is deprived of all the basic amenities of life. He is timid like a rat and full of anxiety, he searches for food and security. This unfortunate boy suffers from malnutrition and his growth is also ‘stunted’ – not properly developed. He has also inherited from his father ‘twisted bones’ – bent and distorted bones. He has inherited poverty, disease, and despair from his parents. His body is also deformed because of the twisted bones which he has inherited. He appears to be as sick as his parents. There is a sweet tender looking student who sits at the back of the class. This boy is different from the others as ‘his eyes live’ in a dream – he is dreaming and probably thinking about a better future. He is lost in his own world, therefore, not sad like the others. This boy thinks of the ‘squirrel’s game’ (metaphor). He wants to enjoy and play freely like the squirrel in the garden outside. The squirrel climbs trees and hides in their holes. The boy also dreams to be free but he cannot as he must sit in the dull and dreary classroom. In the boy’s imagination ‘tree room’ – the hollow in a tree, is full of fun, curiosity, and mystery. This is in contrast to the gloomy classroom.

Stanza – 2

The classroom is not well maintained. The pale cream walls which were painted long ago with the help of donations, make the place look more miserable and sad. Probably there is a portrait of Shakespeare on the wall. This is ironic as it is put up in a place where there is no serious teaching. ‘Cloudless dawn’ and ‘civilized dome’ suggest the monotonous life in the slum. These slums are surrounded by the civilized city and the children cannot experience the beauty of the sky at dawn and are unaware of it. All around them are concrete structures of the cities. The life in the slum contrasts with the cloudless sky at dawn and concrete structures that override the cities. There is also a picture of a beautiful valley full of sweet fragrant flowers and these children of the slum will never be able to experience this beauty. They are deprived of this beauty as they are condemned to live in the slums amidst garbage. The ‘open-handed map’ in the classroom contrasts with their world. The world given to us by God is full of all the bounties whereas the world of these slum children is full of poverty and hunger. The world which they see is not the real world. Their world is confined to the narrow, dusty streets of the slum. The map in the classroom gives them hopes and aspirations and motivates them to explore the world but they will never be able to see that world. These children can get a glimpse of the outside world from the windows and it is far beyond their reach. They are far away from nature. These slum children have a bleak and foggy future in store for them. ‘Their future is painted with a fog’ – it is blurred by hopelessness. There is no hope for the slum children. Instead of the normally blue sky, they live under the ‘lead sky’ – dark and dull, polluted – shows there is no hope for them. The atmosphere hints at their monotonous life and the slum children remain confined throughout their lives confined to the filth and dirt of the narrow slum streets. They are away from the glory of the natural beauty of the rivers, mountains, stars, etc.

Stanza – 3

The children of the slum are fighting the battle of life unarmed. They are troubled by disease and despair. For them, Shakespeare is ‘wicked’ and ‘map’ a bad example’. The literary excellence of Shakespeare and the scenic beauty portrayed in the map cannot relieve them from their despair. For these slum children, literary excellence is a far-fetched thing and hence seems wicked. The map on the wall gives them false aspirations as it makes them aware of the beautiful world given by God. The world of these children is confined to the narrow streets of the slums. Therefore, the map is ‘a bad example’. They feel cheated in being deprived of the thrilling sensations of the sun, the ships, and the emotions of love. The ‘ship’, ‘sun’ and ‘love’ symbolize joy and happiness which these children are deprived of. Their only experience is that of hunger and poverty. To reach out to the world beyond, these children are sometimes tempted to adopt the wrong means even stealing to fulfill their dreams.

These slum children live in cramped holes, striving and struggling for survival in the small, dirty rooms from ‘fog to endless night’ – from foggy mornings till long endless nights, trying to meet both ends. The slum children live on ‘slag heaps’ – piles of waste material. Their world is full of dirt and garbage. These children are very weak and undernourished. They look like skeletons as their bones peep through their thin skin.

They wear ‘spectacles of steel with mended glass’ – discarded spectacles by the rich, mended (repaired) and worn. Their life is like ‘bottle bits on stones – shattered and broken like bits of a bottle on a stone. They are deprived of even the basic amenities of life. Their world is comprised of the foggy slums where they live nightmares. Slums are the reality for these children, their home, where they spend their life. The maps displayed in their classroom are no reality for them. They cannot locate their slum in that map. It is urgently required to give these slum inhabitants means and opportunities to lead a dignified and civilized life.

Stanza – 4

The elementary school in the slum exists for namesake. The infrastructure is poor with hardly any serious teaching. The school springs in activity only when a governor, a school inspector or a visitor comes on a round of the school. The administrative machinery of the school also gears up at that time. Then the map becomes their window from where they can see the world beyond their slums. Since they are confined to the slums, these sights and glimpses are shut upon them as they are deprived of all opportunities and means. Their lives are shut up in the cemeteries of these slums where they slither and slog to make both ends meet. The poet hopes that these children will break free from their morbid life, from the chains of the slums. He appeals to those in power to liberate these children from the miserable slums and enable them to breathe in the fresh, beautiful and healthy environment away from the foggy slums. They should be able to bask in the open green fields and let them run free on the golden sands. Their world should not be confined to the horrendous and gory slums. The poet visualizes freedom for these children. He wants a carefree life where they get economic and social justice, where they have the right to be happy. These slum children should be able to enjoy the fundamental right to education otherwise their lives will be miserable. They should be able to learn not from books alone but also from the world, the nature around them.

The poet ends on a note of positivity and wants opportunities to be available to these children. The people who strive for knowledge are the ones who create history. The ones who are let free are the ones who will create history. People who outshine others, who glow like the sun, who break free from the constraints of their restricted life are the ones who create history.

Important Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Describe the slum children mentioned in the poem?
Ans. The slum school children are ill-fed and undernourished.Their faces lack the spark of life. Their hair hang about their pale faces like rootless weeds. They look weak and tired. Some of these children have inherited their parent’s diseases. They lack vigor and vitality and show no interest in their lessons.

Q2. How does the poet describe the classroom walls?

Ans. The classroom walls have not been painted for years. They are off-white in color like sour cream. There is a portrait of Shakespeare and a map of the world hanging in the classroom. Besides, there are some pictures of some beautiful places. All these wall hangings look irrelevant and out of place in the dark and dismal surroundings.

Q3. Why does the poet Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps are meaningless? /Why does Spender call Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example?
Ans. The pictures, portraits, and maps present a sharp contrast to the reality of slum children’s lives. These children live in dark cramped places devoid of beauty and sunshine. Shakespeare can not inspire noble thoughts into the minds of these children who have no basic necessities of life. These pictures and maps exhibit a world of opportunities that is so far away that the slum children cannot even dream of reaching out to them. This is why these pictures and maps are meaningless and a bad example.

Q4. What does the poet want for the children of slums? How can their lives be made to change?
Ans. The poet wants these children to get a real and meaningful education that would open up a world of opportunities for them. He wishes that these children ought to be brought out of their dark and dingy world. He wishes these children to come out and play into green fields and golden sands.

Important Extracts

(a) Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones, reciting a father’s

Gnarled disease, His lessons from his desk. At the back of the dim class

One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,

Of Squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this.

Questions:

Q1. Who is the unlucky heir? Why is he called unlucky?
Ans. The thin slum boy is the unlucky heir. He is so-called because he has inherited poverty, despair, and disease from his parents.

Q2. Who sits back unnoted? Why?

Ans. A young boy sits at the back. This boy is different from the others as ‘his eyes live’ in a dream – he is dreaming and probably thinking about a better future. He is lost in his own world, therefore, not sad like the others. This boy thinks of the ‘squirrel’s game’. He wants to enjoy and play freely like the squirrel in the garden outside.

Q3. Pick two images each of despair and disease from these lines.
Ans. The images of despair are – ‘unlucky heir’, ‘dim class’, and that of diseases are – ‘twisted bones, gnarled disease’.



(b) Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
And yet, for these

Children, these windows, not this map, their world,

Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky

Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Questions:
Q1. Who are these children?
Ans. These are the slum children of Tyrol Valley.

Q2. What is their world like?

Ans. The school windows are their world because they cannot move beyond them.

Q3. What kind of future does the poet foresee for them?

Ans. The future of these children is quite dim. As we can’t see things in the fog, in the same way, the future of these children is looming under darkness. Their future is bleak.

Q4. Why does the poet say that the narrow street is sealed?

Ans. The narrow street is sealed as these provide no opportunity to make access to the outer world of wisdom.



(c) Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:

Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,

This map becomes their window and these windows

That shut upon their lives like catacombs,

Break O break open till they break the town

And show the children to green fields, and make their world

Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues

Run naked into books, the white and white green leaves open

History is theirs whose language is the son.

Questions:

Q1. Who can improve a lot of the poor slum children?

Ans. The rulers, the educationists, the teachers, and the general public can pool their efforts to give a better life to the poor slum children.

Q2. What kind of life do they live in?

Ans. They are shut up in their dim classrooms and small hovels like dead bodies in the grave.

Q3. What is the poet’s appeal to the upper-class people?
Ans. The poet urges them to bring some light into the lives of the slum children. They may be imparted education in a healthy atmosphere.

Q4. What should they break?
Ans. They should break all barriers and obstructions that hinder the school children’s growth.

Q5. What kind of a world does the poet imagine for these children?
Ans. The poet imagines a world where these children run around in the fields or on sea beaches in a carefree manner. They should also enjoy the freedom of knowledge and expression.

Q6. What does the word ‘sun’ symbolize?
Ans. ‘Sun’ symbolizes light and brightness which, comes from education. Proper education alone can improve the lives of these slum children.

Q7. What is the poet’s advice?
Ans. The poet suggests that the slum children should not only be educated properly but also removed from their dirty surroundings to sunny and green fields.

Q8. Explain: “History is theirs whose language is the sun.”

Ans. The language that has warmth and power of the sun only can mold and write history.

Q9. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?

Ans. The poet wants an improvement in the quality of the lives of the slum children. He feels that the government has a moral obligation to provide a meaningful education to these children and to break down the barriers that stand in the way of improving their lives.