Touch with Fire free essay sample

In lines three and four, â€Å" Mother’s only Sixteen Doesn’t want him† shows how the baby is unwanted and disowned by the one person that should love and care for him. The poet arouses sympathy for the infant by presenting him as an innocent being and the mother as an unfit parent. In Addition to her being an unfit parent is the fact that she is unaware of the father of the child. That is, â€Å" besides she’s not sure, was it Harold or Jim? † the poet uses a rhetorical question so depict the sympathetic theme in this poem. The poets use of repetition of the line â€Å"Defenseless he lay there† which can be seen in lines two, ten, and fourteen show how he’s is trying to stress the fact that the baby was unable to help himself. Each time the reader sees this they may overcome a feeling of pity for the character. We will write a custom essay sample on Touch with Fire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Coming to the end of the poem Albury states that â€Å" She reached out to hold him but couldn’t† which can arouse compassion for the character due to the mother, who is referred to as she, hesitates to hold her son. The use of adjectives â€Å"unloved nameless† describes to the reader what state the child was in, these sad terms are sure to lead him/her into a fellow feeling. The Poem â€Å"Barefoot Boy† is just as sad as â€Å"Welfare Baby†. In the first Stanza of the poem Mayson talks about the boys’ where abouts. He describes him as a â€Å"little barefoot boy, a wandering through the street†. The reader may question this line due to the boy being so young and he’s wandering through the street. The poet says that he is barefoot as well, which creates an image in the reader’s mind that the boy may be less fortunate. The poet uses imagery in the second stanza as he describes the young boys’ physical appearance. As Said, â€Å"Your Skinny arms, Crooked toes and bare feet would touch the quick of hardy men†. If such image would touch men I think it may do the same to the readers. They may feel sorrowful. Like the first poem, the little boy has an unfit parent too. Mayson’s use of a rhetorical question â€Å"Where is your pa today? † makes the readers think to themselves. His use of language, which portrays to the reader how his father was â€Å"the drunken Road, the curse upon his lip. † May make them feel sad for little boy, knowing he has nobody to look up too. The fourth stanza questions the education of the child. In line 19 â€Å"do you dream of bright toys, like the other little boys† the poet uses a simile to compare the barefoot boy to other boys. The reader may conclude that the little boy is not as fortunate as the others. Mayson uses many rhetorical devices to let the reader consider the message being portrayed. That is â€Å"Do you not see your pleading eyes? † The poet describes the boys’ eyes as pleading, which is a sad sight. The Reader may develop a sympathetic feeling toward the boy. In the end the poet uses adjectives to describe the boy â€Å"Little, Skinny, unloved, frightened† just as the first poem. The reader can imagine how it feels, and this can arouse a feeling of sympathy or compassion toward the character. Both poems are similar and the poets use similar techniques to arouse sympathy for the characters. These techniques can be seen throughout the poems.