LA HBL 1

"Children in the Darkness" by Henry M Bechtold

Difficulty Rating: *

There are children in the darkness

Who have not seen the light

There are children in the darkness

Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be

To this door there is no key

From this life they can not flee

And these children are not free

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

Or will a war consume them

Their body and their soul

Will their life and blood be poured

Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness

From which there is no flight

Back into the darkness

Into which there shines no light

The first stanza states that the children are in the darkness, suggesting that the children have no hope and happiness, and they are ignorant of what they are going through. By stating that the children have not seen the light, I can infer that they have no idea of what they are doing, and in the last line of the first stanza, it states that someone will teach them to fight. This means that the children are suffering in a war that they did not want to fight, as in war, real soldiers are the ones who are willing to die for their country as they knew that they need to protect their country, but in this case, the children are being used by others in a war, but they have no idea that they are being used.

In the second stanza, it state "chalk and blackboards will not be" contrasting the idea of the reader on how children are taught. This suggests that the children are taught about fighting like soldiers, and not the normal way other children were taught. The next few lines have a very strong impact as the children will not be able to have freedom and will be trapped in this war for their lifetime.

The third stanza shows the poet's feelings towards the children and he compares children in wartime to children in peacetime.

The fourth stanza shows us how children in war will end up. By using consume, it suggests that the war will take away everything the children have, their body, their soul and their life. Also, in the last line, it states "endless thirsty hole", suggesting that the war will be unstoppable, and will keep on "consuming" children involved in the war.

The last stanza sums up the entire poem, and suggests that children in wartime will not be like normal children, and by stating "Into which there shines no light" it suggests and they will have no hope, no freedom and no dreams. Also, the use of darkness to represent wars suggests that the children will be trapped in this horrible war of pain and torture.