Half-past Two

Overview:

“Half-past Two” is a poem by U.A. Fanthorpe, an influential contemporary British poet.
The poem describes the experience of a young child who doesn’t yet understand the concept of time.
The child is punished by being left alone in the schoolroom, causing him to retreat into his imagination.

Themes:

The child’s ignorance of conventional time delineates an innocence that exists only before the comprehension of complex concepts.
This theme reflects on the sharp contrasts between childhood innocence and the rigidity of adult life.

Fear instigates a vivid imagination in the child, creating a realm beyond the realms dictated by time.
The child’s imaginative world, while born out of adverse circumstances, seems more enjoyable than the regimented school environment.

Devices and Structure:

“His escape from Time” is a prime metaphor reflecting the liberation of the child’s imagination.
It echoes the semantic field of fairy tales, making the child’s experiential world feel magical and timeless.

Words and phrases like “Timeformykisstime”, “Gettinguptime”, “Sleepingtime” express the child’s understanding of time in terms of routines.
This simplistic framing of time lends an endearing quality to the child’s narration.

The poem adopts a third person narrative, allowing for an omniscient perspective of the boy’s inner world.
It doesn’t abide by a traditional structure, instead opting for irregular stanzas as if mirroring the child’s unfettered mind.

Interpretation:

“Half-past Two” is a journey into a child’s imaginative realm, where time is still an unfathomable concept.
The poem elucidates how fear and imagination become intertwined in a child’s mind, often resulting in the creation of a fantastical world.
Above all, it poses subtly poignant questions about our rigid, structured adult world and the loss of childlike wonder therein.
The poem firmly establishes that innocence and imagination are transient, often lost amidst the harsh realities of growing up.