The poet is trying to tell people that children are being used as soldiers and are taught to fight at a very young age. They are also sent to war and they might lose their lives. This can be seen from "Who someone will teach to fight" and "Or will a war consume them". He is upset about the fact that children are not able to learn the things children used to learn, that they were not given any chance for freedom. This can be seen from "And these children are not free" and "Could we give them half a chance". The poet is also trying to say that war is a dark and cruel place, saying that it is "dark" and there is no "light".
2. Situation and Setting
The situation in this poem is that children are being taught how to fight at a very early age and they are also deployed into the front lines, where they might lose their lives. He potrays war as a very cruel and "dark" place and that children are not given a chance to have freedom. This can be seen from "Who someone will teach to fight", "Could we give them half a chance" and "Or will a war consume them".
3. Language and Diction
The poet uses different types of words to express this poem. Firstly, he uses repetition to emphasize the situation in the poem. He repeats "Could we" in the third stanza and this emphasizes that the children are not given a chance to live a normal live by anyone. The poet also uses personification in the fourth stanza. He likens war as a human as war "consumes" children, potraying war as a very evil and cruel thing. The word "light" used in the poem also refers to the hope of those children. They are kept in the "darkness", which refers to the cruelness of war and that all children are scared of "darkness". They are not given any chance, or hope, to live a normal live, a chance to be free. The word "light" also refers to the carefree life of a normal child which children would love, compared to the "dark" and scary life of a child in war, which children would dislike.
4. Personal Response
Personally, I feel very sorry for the children who were sent to war at such a young age. Their lives are put on the line so that the country can survive and hopefully win the war. I feel that children at such a young age should not be exposed to such cruelty in war as they would be scarred for live after the war. The poem also makes me understand the importance freedom and that not every children are that fortunate to have them.
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