Analysis of First Day at School
Roger McGough 1937 (Litherland)
A millionbillionwillion miles from home
Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?)
Why are they all so big, other children?
So noisy? So much at home they
Must have been born in uniform
Lived all their lives in playgrounds
Spent the years inventing games
That don't let me in. Games
That are rough, that swallow you up.
And the railings.
All around, the railings.
Are they to keep out wolves and monsters?
Things that carry off and eat children?
Things you don't take sweets from?
Perhaps they're to stop us getting out
Running away from the lessins. Lessin.
What does a lessin look like?
Sounds small and slimy.
They keep them in the glassrooms.
Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.
I wish I could remember my name
Mummy said it would come in useful.
Like wellies. When there's puddles.
Yellowwellies. I wish she was here.
I think my name is sewn on somewhere
Perhaps the teacher will read it for me.
Tea-cher. The one who makes the tea.
Scheme | XABXXCDDX EEXBXXXXFCB XXXXAFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111 1010111111 1111111010 11011111 1111010 111101 1010101 111101 11111011 0010 101010 111111010 111010110 111111 011111101 100110110 1101011 11010 111001 111111010 111101011 101111010 1101110 111111 11111111 0101011111 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 915 |
Words | 172 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 11, 7 |
Lines Amount | 27 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 245 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"First Day at School" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/58859/first-day-at-school>.
Discuss this Roger McGough poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In