شرح قصيدة "The Cry of the Children"

Poetry Analysis of Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"The Cry of the Children"
"True," say the children, "it may happen That we die before our time.Little Alice died last yearher grave is shapenLike a snowball, in the rime.We looked into the pit prepared to take her:Was no room for any work in the close clay!From the sleep wherein she lieth none will wake her,Crying 'Get up, little Alice! it is day.'If you listen by that grave, in sun and shower,With your ear down, little Alice never cries;Could we see her face, be sure we should not know her,For the smile has time for growing in her eyes:And merry go her moments, lulled and stilled inThe shroud by the kirk-chime.It is good when it happens," say the children,"That we die before our time."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem entitled "The Cry of the Children" was written at the time "when government investigations had exposed the exploitation of children employed in coal mines and factories." Since writers tend to write about things that they know or firmly believe, it comes to no surprise that Elizabeth would write about the "appalling use of child labor," especially at this crucial time in history (1173-74 Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. 2). For instance, in line 37 of the poem, Browning writes, "'True,' say the children, "it may happen that we die before our time;" indicates that the children know that what is happening is wrong and will not only put them in danger, but cause their early death.
It is sad to think that children would say this, sadder yet, to know that they died as a result of child labor. The children in the poem also go on to say, "Little Alice died last year her grave is shapen like a snowball, in the rime. We looked into the pit prepared to take her: was no room for any work in the close clay!" This part of the stanza illustrates the knowledge the children were exposed to; after all, they witnessed other children like themselves die before their eyes. The part that says, "Her grave is shapen like a snowball, in the rime," illustrates that once the child passed away, the body lay where it fell and from time dust or perhaps ashes from the coal created a grave by covering the child.
The children did not receive proper burials and once gone were forgotten. The children toiled away for long periods of time and died from exhaustion, lack of food, illness, breathing the fumes from the coal mines or getting hurt at the factory. Without medical attention, the weak faded from existence. How could parents and adults let children work? Even if times are tough, kids deserve to be kids, they should never work.
Following this through, although the poem is morbid, it is describing the harsh reality of what actually occurred. The poem does have negative imagery; however, it does have positive images as well. For example, "With your ear down, little Alice never cries; could we see her face, be sure we should not know her, for the smile has time for growing in her eyes," clearly depicts that although this little girl named Alice is dead, she is happier. She is no longer suffering, she is not laboring away under harsh conditions; this little girl, like so many before her are now free from the mistreatment that they endured.
This being so, the children are actually saying that is better to die than to withstand being overworked. This positive image makes the reader angry and sad at the same time, but knowing that the children are at a better place makes the poem extremely powerful. For instance, "'and merry go her moments, lulled and stilled in the shroud by the kirk-chime. it is good when it happens,' say the children, That we die before our time.'"
This image is significant, and although she is dead, she lives on. "Lulled and stilled in the shroud by the kirk-chime," this phrase gives the poem a dreamlike quality and it gives the reader assurance that the children are well. "Shroud" in the phrase can be depicted as the church or of God that is covering the children, protecting them in some way.
This is also important, since many of the children did not have proper church burials and perhaps in a way God is saying that is okay. They will be saved. When the children say, "It is good when it happens That we die before our time," it is their way of saying that they are okay with dying. They are not afraid because anywhere is better than where they are, at that moment in time. Death is a sanctuary for the children. They can now be at peace. In conclusion, Browning's poem "The Cry of the Children" greatly depicts the harsh reality of child labor that occurred in the nineteenth century. At the time, this poem would have been seen as a warning telling the world that this is wrong and should be stopped.


(lines 57-64)

Here the speaker is telling the child-workers to run and play like normal children, but apparently, and ironically, they refuse, because they are disillusioned. The issue of disillusionment is prevalent, whose discussion takes up almost half of the poem, especially when discussing a fall-out with religion. Even though the children are the ones being described as disillusioned, is it possible that it is not only them that are experiencing it, but adults as well? Could it be that the adults are seeing or even creating their reflection in the children? If the poem confronts the concern about child labor, is the speaker also concerned about religious disillusionment? Could the issues be both child labor and religious disillusion?
The editor of the anthology, in the biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning said that both she and her husband had "fell out about politics and spiritualism" (p. 18), but pairing her protest against child labor with religious disillusionment links them together as concerns to be confronted. If she pairs them together and wants one to be removed, does that not suggest that she actually wants them both gone? She might share in the disillusionment, but perhaps she does not want it to be that way and would prefer life in society and what is being taught in the Bible to be congruent, rather than totally letting go of the latter. She communicates the same sentiment towards child labor. She knows that the children were not meant to be working in the mines and factories: "Let them feel that his cold metallic motion | Is not all the life God fashions or reveals" (lines 93-94). In the same way, she thinks that neither should there be any disillusionment towards religion.
The children are the subject matter of the poem, but the poet might also be pertaining to adults and society as a whole. Child labor is just a specific issue and is related to the general issue of working conditions


that adults had to face daily alongside the children. Elizabeth might have just considered children working as the greater sin, but the theme of poor work conditions is universal to all ages as well as religious disillusion. Both adults and children experience it and during the time, due to the poor work conditions and the effects of industrialization, it ran rampant throughout society. The children could not speak for themselves. Nor can it be expected of them. Nor can someone be blamed for speaking for them, such as the poet. It is possible that the adult poet could be projecting her disillusion on the children in an attempt to speak and vouch for them. To say so is not to say that she is wrong. She is correct in saying that they feel unhappy laboring and being exploited, but it cannot be said that she is entirely correct in knowing what they think or believe.

Regardless of the correctness her projection of religious disillusion onto the children, including that with her protests against child labor puts it on the list of social complaints.

‘The Cry of the children'
‘The Cry of the children' is a poem written by Elizabeth Browning describing the sorrows of the factory children as a result of greed and oppression. In this case, this study will be guided by a thesis stated as; only death would change the emotions, pains and sorrows of the children in child labor. From the poem it can be revealed that, children working in the iron factory keep on weeping because of the way they are treated. They have sad faces as a result of being oppressed by their masters and wish to die rather than stand the oppression. It is of importance to note that, this work performed by these children is not worth their age and strength (Rhoswen, 2009).
When looking at the fourth stanza of the poem starting from line 37; I consider it puzzling and enlightening as far as children are concerned.
"True," say the children, "it may happen
That we die before our time.
Little Alice died last year—her grave is shapen
Like a snowball, in the rime.
We looked into the pit prepared to take her:
Was no room for any work in the close clay!
From the sleep wherein she lieth none will wake her,
Crying 'Get up, little Alice! it is day.'
If you listen by that grave, in sun and shower,
With your ear down, little Alice never cries;
Could we see her face, be sure we should not know her,
For the smile has time for growing in her eyes:
And merry go her moments, lulled and stilled in
The shroud by the kirk-chime.
It is good when it happens," say the children,
"That we die before our time."
On this basis, the first line of the stanza denotes that the children are aware that whatever they are subjected to is wrong and can endanger them as well as causing their early deaths. This is because they are weak and weary. In this relation, these children say this in sadness knowing that they would die as a result of forced child labor (Hernandez, 2002).
Additionally, this stanza illustrates the kind of knowledge the children were exposed to as they had witnessed other children dying before their eyes like the case of Alice; "Little Alice died last year". On this basis, this line is enlightening because children have already realized that; no one cares for them even if they die. Further, in this stanza the children indicate that they may not be buried properly when they die; as indicated by the way the body of Alice was left only to be buried by the dust ("Her grave is shapen like a snowball, in the rime,") (Hernandez, 2002). In this relation, the moment one dies as a result of exhaustion, lack of food, illnesses, breathing the fumes produced in the coal mines or get injured at the iron factory; he/she is forgotten (Rhoswen, 2009).
It is of importance to note that, as depicted from this stanza these children wish to die in order to be free from suffering and oppression ("little Alice never cries; could we see her face, be sure we should not know her, for the smile has time for growing in her eyes") (Hernandez, 2002) . Like the case of Alice, death would liberate them from working under harsh conditions and mistreatments. In this case, they will only have peace when they will die even though they will not be buried properly. A point worth noting is that, the oppression and sufferings faced by the children have made them to loose the meaning of life but see pleasure in death (Hernandez, 2002).
In winding up, the poem describes the emotional faced by the children working in the iron factory and coal mining. In this case, there should be social reforms in this nation in order to save these children's lives and spare them their confusion.