My Parents Kept Me

My Parents Kept Me

The words “My” and “Me” hint at the personal nature of this poem. This poem is similar to that of a diary entry. Such poems are also called autobiographical poems.

Poet Steven Spender wrote about an incident in his childhood where he was confronted with lower class boys whom his parents told him to avoid.

My parents kept me from children who were rough

Who threw words like stones and who wore torn clothes

“kept me” – protected me/prevented me from being in contact with/restrained me from making friends with-shows that his parents were condescending towards these children“rough” – appearance, mannerisms, actions

“words like stones” (simile)their words were aggressive and hurtful, abusive and with intention to provoke“torn clothes” lower income families hence unable to afford

Their thighs showed through rags. They ran in the street

And climbed trees and stripped by the country streams

Clothes that revealed their “thighs” were not for fashion purposes, but more because of poverty

They were like street kids, children from the lower classes

Yet they were carefree and without inhibition – they did as they pleased, because they had no adults to restrict them.

They were a stark contrast to the author – he was restricted by parental control, and by his richer social status

I feared more than tigers their muscles like ironTheir jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms

“muscles like iron” (simile)- shows strength/brute force“jerking hands”- violence of the bullying“knees tight on my arms”- speaker is being pinned down to the floor, suggests animal-like viciousness

I fear the salt coarse pointing of those boysWho copied my lisp behind me on the road.

“salt” – idea of rubbing salt into one’s wounds, causing greater pain

“pointing” - mocking/ scorning someone

“copied my lisp”- imitated his speech defect to make fun of him

“behind me on the road”- laughed at him behind his back, in a public place

What is a Lisp?

They were lithe, they sprang out behind hedges

Like dogs to bark at our world. They threw mud

While I looked the other way, pretending to smile,

I longed to forgive them, but they never smiled.

“lithe” – Flexible and graceful

“sprang out” – sudden and with speed

“Like dogs to bark at our world” (simile)- shows aggression and viciousness- “our” distinguishes between the two different classes ( rich vs poor)

“looked the other way”- tried to ignore

“pretending to smile” – why?- gracious thing to do- upbringing

“longed to forgive them”- out of envy/admiration- perhaps he wants to join them

“but they never smiled”- never accepted him as a part of them- they continued to bully him

Key Points

• Use of First person “I”- hints at the personal nature of this poem

• Use of Contrasts- the speaker the complete opposite of the children mentioned in the poem ( well dressed, soft spoken, well mannered, friendly)

• Ambiguity - his parents are condescending, he is envious of their freedom, yet resentful/unhappy at their bullying behavior

In Summary:

• His parents have shielded him from the bullies and tried to protect him

• He tries to forgive the bullies and gain acceptance but they never accepted him

• If you’ve been brought up thinking that there are some “types of people” you should ostracize, what would you do?