Evan Boland Essay

, but with a sense that it is up to us to do something about it. There is a sense of deep hurt conveyed in the last line of the second stanza: ‘you dead’. The first stanza has a sad, regretful tone while there is anger in the use of the word ‘murder’. The images of caring for a child in the second stanza are conveyed in a tone of tenderness. The second stanza contains a sense of urgency about learning from the devastating atrocity. In the final stanza, the tone is pleading and positive. The poet accuses us all of robbing his [Aengus] cradle, but speaks softly of healing. Yet the repetition of the word ‘broken’ seems to carry an immense amount of grief.
The Child Of Our Time was killed in a bombing in Dublin in 1974, such a public catastrophe ensures that this child was a victim of our time - in the real sense of the word and in the sense of the world that we live in. If we consider the title for a moment we can dwell on what a child should mean - life, love, enjoyment and a tomorrow but as we read on we see that this poem is speaking of the opposite. What is interesting to note is that Boland had not yet had her children when she wrote this poem and yet her feelings portray the feelings of mothers world-wide (in fact can anyone feel anything but remorse when contemplating the death of an innocent child?). Boland begins the poem by mentioning a lullaby:
Yesterday I knew no lullaby
A lullaby is meant to be sung to a child to lull he/she to sleep, to bring peace and soothe the baby - yesterday (16 May 1974) a lullaby was unknown to Boland (alluding to her not being a mother yet) but today (17 May 1974) calls for a different kind of song and perhaps a lullaby that Boland was not expecting - such a dreadful lullaby that sent both babies to their deaths.
You have taught me overnight to order
This song, which takes from your final cry
Its tune, from your unreasoned end its reason
The child’s ‘final cry’ is painful, confused and full of anguish; Boland feels that...