Children in the darkness

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

Henry M Bechtold

Task 1
Comment from the poet

I was in Vietnam in 1967 - 68 and again in 1969. I go back often because my soul lives in Vietnam and I go back to visit it from time to time.

was sitting in my hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and I was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treat them. I was angry but unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. I looked at the TV and the news was on. I did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just came to me and I typed as fast as I could to get it all down.

Henry M Bechtold

Task 2
Point of view

The poem is written from the point of view of an outsider, who reveals the poet's disgust about children being forced to war and laments about their sufferings and the cruel punishments of war. Throughout the poem, the poet repeats 'darkness' and 'no light' emphasizing on the gloomy and cold emotional environment these children are forced to survive in. The children are described to be unable to escape this harsh reality, and are not given the chance to do anything that they want to like a normal child. They will never learn how to read or dance, because war has trapped these innocent children in the cages of military.

Situation and setting

The situation is during a war period, where men are killed faster than they can be replaced, forcing countries to get even children to fight in war. It is a period where no child is free from war, and noone has the power to escape this nightmare. These children are consumed by the harshness of war, where they will fight until death. As explained in the poem, nobody will be able to save them, or at least even light their lives with any hope, for there is none.

Language and diction

Repetition is a key device used in this poem in order to draw attention towards the themes of the poem. For example, as highlighted before, 'darkness' represents isolation, uncertainty and ominousity. It evokes much feelings such as pity as the plight of the children are even more exposed. Also, the idea of being controlled and unable to escape is brought up in the poem, where these children cannot 'flee' from what they are commanded to do, that is to fight for the country.

Personal response

War has never been able to solve anything properly, and the issue brought up in this poem complements such injusice. If war can already bring so much suffering to the soldiers fighting it, how much of that suffering can a child endure?