2. An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

2. An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

ABOUT THE POET: 

Stephen Spender (1909 - 1995) was an English poet and an essayist. He left University college, Oxford without taking a degree and went Berlin in 1930. Spender took a keen interest in politics and declared himself to be a socialist and pacifist. Books by Spender include Poems of Deduction, The Edge of Being, World Within World. In, An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, he has concentrated on the themes of social injustice and class inequalities.

POEM

Far far from gusty waves these children’s face,

Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:

The tall girl with her weighed down head. The paper

Seeming boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir

Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,

His lesson , from his desk. At back of the dim class

One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,

Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,

Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.

Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map

Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these

Children, these windows, not this map, their world,

Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky

Far far from rives, capes, and stars of words.

Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,

With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal

For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes

From fog to endless night ? On their slag heap, these children

Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel

With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

All of their time and space are foggy slum.

So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,

This map become their lives like catacombs,

Break O break open till they break the town

And show the children to green fields, and make their world

Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues

Run naked into books the white and green leaves open

History theirs whose language is the sun.

Analysis of the poem.

Poor children have no opportunity to enjoy the real blessings of life:

In this poem, The poet voices his concern for children who live all their life in slum and have no opportunity to enjoy the real blessings of life. The poet sees some children sitting in a school classroom in a slum. The faces of  these poor children have no signs of any warm blood running them. They are all Pale and look lifeless. The untidy hair hanging around their pale face looks like rootless weeds.There is a tall girl with her head weighed down. There  a boy  who looks as as thin as paper and and has small terrified eyes like those  of a rat. A boy with twisted bones is reading out his lesson from his desk. He has swollen joints as his father has. At the back of the dim classroom, there is a sweet little child. He seems to be lost in his dreams of what games the squirrels play in their tree home.

Slum Classroom:

The walls of this classroom smell of sour cream. They bear the names of those who have given donation to build this classroom. They have also pictures of a cathedral dome, of Shakespeare's bust, of a cloudless dawn and of the flowery valley of Tyrol. A big open map is also hanging on the wall. It shows all the seas and lands that the world has. But the world that these poor children see is not this world of the map. It is the world they see from the windows of their classroom. It is a world that shows only foggy street under a dull sky. It is a world far from the world of rivers and capes. it is far different from the stars of words promised for them by the politicians.

Useless Things in Classroom:

 The poet says that the picture and maps hung on the wall of the classroom have no meaning for those poor children. They can only arouse in them the temptations that will lead them to steal. These children spend all their lives in homes that are no better than cramped holes. They are so weak and thin that their bones can be clearly seen under their skin. For these children,maps of the world have no meaning. In place of these maps, there should be  slums big as doom.

school governors, inspectors, and also the visitors pay no attention: 

The poet call upon the school governors, inspectors, and also the visitors to such school to take these children out of the slums. They Should take them out of these places that are no better than catacombs. They should take these poor children to place where they can play in the green fields and on the golden sands. They should be kept in places where the can only read from their books but also play among the trees. The poet says that history belongs only to those nations where children can live freely and enjoy all the blessings under the sun.

हिंदी सारांश 

कक्षा में बच्चों की दयनीय दशा 

इस कविता में कवि  कवी ऐसे बच्चों के लिए अपनी  चिंता ब्यक्त करता है जो अपना पूरा जीवन गन्दी बस्तियों में बिताते है तथा जीवन की वास्तविक खुशियों को प्राप्त करने का जिन्हे कोई अवसर नहीं होता है। कवि  एक गन्दी बस्ती के स्कूल की कक्षा में कुछ बच्चों को बैठे हुए देखता है।  इन बच्चों के चेहरों पर ऐसा कोई चिह्न नहीं है जिससे पता चलता हो कि उनके अंदर गर्म खून बह रहा है।  वे सभी ढीले पड़े हुए है तथा निर्जीब प्रतीत होते है। उनके चेहरे पीले हो रखे है। उनके बिना धुले और कंघी किये बाल पीले चेरे पर बिना जड़ की घास की तरह लड़के हुए है। वहां एक लम्बी लड़की है जिसका सर नीचे को झुका हुआ है मानो बोझ से लदा हो। वहां एक लड़का है जो कागज के सामान पतला लग रहा है।  तथा एक चूहे की तरह छोटी छोटी डरी  हुई आंखे रखता है।  वहां मुड़ी हुई हड्डियों वाला एक लड़का अपनी डेस्क पर से अपना पाठ पढ़ रहा है।  उसके जोड़ सूझे हुए है।  जिस तरह उसके पिता के है। धुंधले प्रकाश वाली कक्षा के अंत में एक प्यारा सा छोटा बच्चा बैठा हुआ है।  वह अपने सपनों में खोया प्रतीत होता हैकि  गिलहरियां अपने पेड़ वाले घर में कौन कौन से खेल खेलती है।

कक्षा-कक्ष की स्तिथि 

इस कक्षा के कमरे की दीवारों से बासी क्रीम के जैसी गंध आती है। उन पर उन लोगों के नाम अंकित है जिन्होंने इस कक्षा के कमरों को बनाने के लिए दान दिया हैं। ; वह एक गिरजे के गुंम्बद , शैक्सपीयर के धड़ का चित्र ,  रहित प्रभात का चित्र , तथा टायरोल की फूलों से भरी घाटी के चित्र भी है। दीवार पर एक खुला नक्शा भी लटका हुआ है।  इसमें वे सब सागर और प्रदेश दिखाई गए है।  जो संसार में है।  किन्तु वह संसार जो ये गरीब देखते है, वह इस नक़्शे वाले संसार में नही है। यह वह संसार है जो वे  अपनी कक्षा वाले कमरे की खिड़कियों में से देखते है। यह एक ऐसा संसार है जहाँ वे एक घुसार आकाश के नीचे कोहरे से ढकी हुई केवल एक गली ही दिखाई देती है.  यह एक ऐसा सस्सार है जो नदियां और अन्तरीपों वाले संसार से बहुत दूर है।   यह शब्दों के उन सितारों से बिलकुल भिन्न है जिनका वायदा राजनीतिज्ञों ने उनके साथ किया था।

 बच्चों की मनोदशा 

कवी कहता है कि  कक्षा के कमरे की दीवारों के ऊपर टंगे हुए चित्र और नक़्शे इन गरीब बच्चों के लिए कोई अर्थ नहीं रखते है।  वे इनमे कोई ऐसे प्रलोभन पैदा कर सकते है जो उन्हें चोरी करने को प्रेरित कर सकते है। ये बच्चे अपना पूरा जीवन ऐसे घरों में व्यतीत करते है जो तंग सुराखों से कोई बेहतर नहीं है।  वे इतने पतले और कमजोर है कि उनकी चमड़ी के नीचे उनकी हड्डियां साफ़ साफ़ दिखाई देती है।  इन बच्चो के लिए संसार के नक्शों का कोई महत्व नहीं है। इन नक्शों की वजाए  वहां गन्दी बस्तियों के प्रलय  समान बड़े बड़े चित्र होने चाहिए।

कक्षा के छात्र- छात्राओं के प्रति  गवर्नरों, इंस्पैक्टरों का दायित्व 

कवि  स्कूल के गवर्नरों, इंस्पैक्टरों , तथा वहां देखने आने वाले लोगों से आवाहन करता है  कि वे इन बच्चों को  गन्दी बस्तियों से बाहर ले जाएँ। वे इन्हें  इन जगहों से बाहर ले जाये जो कब्रों वाले तहखानों से कोई बेहतर नहीं है।  वे इन गरीब बच्चों को बाहर ऐसी जगहों पर ले जाएँ जहाँ  वे हरे हरे खेतों में और सुनहरी रेत  के ऊपर खेल सके उन्हें ऐसी जगहों में रखा जाना चाहिए जहाँ वे न केवल अपनी पुस्तकों में से पड़ सके अपितु पेड़ों के मध्य खेल भी सके। कवि कहता है कि इतिहास केवल उन्ही राष्ट्रों का होता है जहाँ बच्चे स्वतंत्र रूप से रह सकते हों।  तथा सूर्य के नीचे उपलब्ध होने वाले सभी आनंदों का सुख प्राप्त कर सकते हो।

Main Points of the Poem

1.  The poet sees some children sitting in an elementary school classroom in a slum. These children have pale faces and untidy hair.
2. A tall girl is sitting with her head weighed down. There is a boy who looks as thin as paper. He has very small terrified eyes eyes like those of a rate. There is another one who has a stunted body with twisted bones. A little sweet child remains unnoticed  at the back of the dim class. He seems to be lost in his dreams.
3. There are some pictures and a map of the world hung on the wall. There are also the names of those who gave donations to build this room.
4. On the wall there is a picture of Shakespeare's bust, another of a cathedral dome, another of a cloudless dawn and still another of a flowery valley.
5. The poet says that these pictures and the map look out of place in this classroom. They can only tempt the little children to steal.
6. The nap shows the world but the world of these poor children is very different. There world is what they can see from the windows of the classroom.
7. Through these windows, they can see only a foggy street under a dull sky. It is the only future they can imagine for themselves.
8. So in place of the map of the world, there should be only the pictures of big slums on these walls.
9. These poet calls upon the school governors, inspectors and also those who come to visit these school. He ask them to take steps by which these children can be taken out of the slum.
10. These children live all their life in a sort of catacombs. They should be taken out from these and taken to places where they can not only read from their books but also play in the green fields and on the golden sands.
11. The poet says that history always belongs to those nations where the children can live a joyful life and enjoy all the blessings that can be had under the sun.

Q.1. how does the poet describe the faces of the children in the classroom?

Ans. The poet says that the faces of the children don't show any signs of strength or vitality. They look very pale. Their untidy hair hangs around their pale faces like rootless weeds.

Q.2. What do you think in the colour of ' Sour Cream'? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls.
Ans. Sour cream indicates the colour cream or dirty white. The poet has used this expression to describe the poor dull and ill- equipped environment of the classroom. the wall were painted long ago by donations and since then no attention has been given to them. We see the neglect these children face. It adds to the dull ambience.

Q.3.The walls of the classroom are decorated with the picture of 'Shakespeare', building with domes, world map and beautiful valleys .How do these contrast with the world of these Children.

Answer

All these totally contrast with the world of the children in the slum. They get half education, the value of education for the children is minimal and to have these pictures which are symbols of high quality education is incongruous here. The buildings with domes are examples of a civilised world, the world unknown to them. The world map is irrelevant to them because the slums, their world cannot be located by them. Finally, the beautiful valley with rivers and capes is meaningless to them. They just have the polluted sky to watch from the broken window panes. These children are deprived of natural beauty. 

4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?

Answer

He wants the children of the slums to venture into the outside world, beyond the boundaries of their slums, and experience a better present and future life.
The elementary school in the slum does not serve any purpose with its poor infrastructure and disinterested students. The poet feels that the governor, inspector and visitors should take initiative to bring about a real change in their situation. To ensure a better way of living for them, they need to be given proper education and freedom from their present confines. They need opportunity, encouragement and optimism to be able to live life with purpose and zest.