Hide and Seek

• strategic tone

  the child takes the game seriously and is competitive.
• free verse

  uncertainty of the game
• starts with a positive tone, how does this contrast to the ending.

  the hider is confident and self assured but become aware of how vulnerable they are which contrasts the confident tone. the readers feel sorry for him and are able to empathise.
• Hide and Seek (title)
• Call out. Call loud: 'I

  thrown straight into the game

  monosyllabic - childish

  short sentences - quick pace and momentum which starts the game

  exclamatory - excited, happy and lively, a positive tone

  imperative sentences - confident and authorative voice
• The sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside.

  sibilance - the olfactory image of seaside

  simile - comforting and familiarity

  end-stopped line - slows the pace and creates emphasis
• They'll never find you in this salty dark,

  sense of isolation

  a sinister 2nd person voice

  modal verb - confidence of the speaker

  salty dark - the adj. os comforting but the dark is sinister.
• But be careful that your feet aren't sticking out. and line 5

  plosive conjuction - sinister

  2nd person

  cautionary tone/warning tone.

  back to the childish tone, thinking about the game again and not the isolation. it is excited.

  feet arent sticking out - consonance of the t - it could take away from the childish tone and make it serious as it is heavier and no longer comes from a light-hearted place.
• The floor is cold. They'll probably be searching The bushes near the swing.

  short sentence couples with a harsh adj.

  they'll ... be searching. collective tone and P.C.V creates isolation.
• Whatever happens You mustn't sneeze when they come prowling in.

  direct address, controlling/authorative language and modal verb/imperative

  negative language

  anamlistic and predatory P.C.V, they are getting closer
• And here they are, whispering at the door;

  they - 3rd person pronoun - nameless/tension

  ominous
• You've never heard them sound so hushed before.

  rhyming couplet with line 9, the speaker makes it sound like they are scheming/plotting against the hider
• Don't breathe. Don't move. Stay dumb. Hide in your blindness.

  imperative/parataxis/triplet of monosyllabic phrases

  
  

  expertise, power and confidence of the speaker.

  dumb - adj., mute/not intelligent. creates a quick pace/tension

  
  

  blindness - unable to see the real world, unable to see the sinister side of the situation, children can sometimes be blind to the truth, and references the game, literally meaning: stay in your spot and make sure you cannot see the seekers.
• They're moving closer, someone stumbles, mutters; Their words and laughter scuffle, and they're gone

  action, ambiguity of the 3rd p pronoun and someone.

  sibilance - mystery, pace, tension, anxious.

  their words/laughter - more passive.

  irony, they are closer and interacting among themselves but simultaneously they disappear and cut off any interaction with the hider.

  gone - struggle of the hider having to stay in one place but he is still excited to win the game.

  
  

  stumble, mutter, scuffle - assonance and unity of their movements against the hiders isolation and emphasises their scheming.
• But don't come out just yet; they'll try the lane And then the greenhouse and back here again

  similar to line 4, the harsh plosive conjunction which breaks the slower pace. after the caeusura the rhyming couplet and polysyndeton slow the pace again and symbolise his isolation
• They must be thinking that you're very clever

  positive/triumphant tone shows that he thinks he has won and shifts the focus back to the game.
• Getting more puzzled as they search all over. It seems a long time since they went away.

  shifts back to his isolation and growing discomfort. the consecutive end stopped lines stop any form of progression which is needed for a game. the game does not end until everyone is found, this builds tension and an anxious mood.

  long time - connotes uncertainty, boredom, lonely and the cold nature of isolation.
• Your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat;

  the natural world attacks and their is connotations of death and a cold surrounding envionment which invades. stiff - adj. from being still and stuck in one place. links to 6, he is been surrounded by the cold for so long.
• The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat.

  plosive, sibilance and sensory language, suggest the uncomfort of the location and there is a vivid description, the smell is so potent it can be tasted, there is overwhelming discomfort. the reader can imagine this feeling.

  preposition in - an invasive force that cannot be stopped.
• Its time to let them know that you're the winner.

  a proud tone, shifting back to the game.
• Push off the sacks. Uncurl and stretch. That's better!

  short imperative phrases, an authorative presence,

  exclamatory sentence- as if the speaker can watch the hider. active verbs being used instead of negative verbs, links back to dont move/breathe.
• Out of the shed and call to them: 'I've won! Here I am! Come and own up I've caught you!'

  active language

  no rhyme = no positivity?

  victorious mood/celebratory tone

  exclamatory sentences which signal the end of the game

  his actions/speech are controlled

  parallel structure to the start of the game on line 1.

  but he hears no reply from them which creates discomfort/confusion and increases pace.
• The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs.

  change in tone from line 25.

  darkening - natural shift of sunset and links to line 3.

  caesura/short sentences/end-stopped lines evokes an immediate shift in tone and pace, not celebratory anymore, more sinister.

  personification of the natural world.

  nothing stirs - stillness

  watches - vulnerability and unable to protect himself, his is in isolation except for the natural world which is personified., he is a victim and is not perfectly happy after winning, despite the effort he put in.
• The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone.

  pathetic fallacy, connotes there is no joy around the hider anymore. eerie atmosphere. he is exposed to a potentially dangerous setting and is vulnerable.

  ominous personification.

  isolation, the natural world has also left him.

  verb hold - they are holding back and waiting for something, linking to don't breathe, don't move.
• Yes, there you are. But where are they who sought you?

  caesura- distance from the seekers, an eerie and uncertain atmosphere. + rhetorical question - no answer makes the reader feel uneasy.
• what does it light symbolise?

  innocence, life and hope, when this is taken away at the end, it symbolises his innocence being removed.
• what are the 2 voices/speakers?

  the child symbolising innocence and an internal voice with powerful imperatives. one focuses on winning the game, the other focuses on the bigger picture and dangers of blindly following/ acting without thinking.
• vernon scannel is not the speaker but what is his message/how does he relate?

  he has experience as a soldier. war was criticises for soldiers blindly following orders and brainwashing/indoctrinating people. recruits are naive and young. war can also be immensely isolating and you may find yourself deviating from familiar locations.
• themes


  universality

  loss of innocence

  allienation

  isolation

  growing up

  childhood

  power/powerlessness dynamic

  hopelesness

  negligence

  loneliness

  ironies of life
• single stanza

  one single game from start to end and the poet is able to vary tension with alternating speakers and exploring every single part of the game. rising/falling tension.