The point of view is that of an adult who is mature enough to understands the plight of the children in Vietnam and the horrors of war.
He wants to free the children from all the suffering they are going through. This could be seen from stanza 4, which describes the horrors of war. The repeated use of 'could we' in stanza 3 seems to be suggest that it is a must for us to help these children.
Situation and Setting:
The setting is in Vietnam. Children are taught how to fight and then sent to war and usually to their deaths. Stanza 1 line 4 - 'who someone will teach to fight' tells us that the children were given training. It could be inferred from Stanza 2 ' there is no key' and 'are not free' that the children were unable to escape the horrors of war and that they would never be free from this abuse. 'their life and blood be poured down some endless thirsty hole' shows that the number of children dying would increase infinitely.
Language/Diction:
The rhyme scheme follows the ABAB style.
This is evident from:
Stanza 1: darkness, light, darkness, fight
Stanza 2: be, key, flee, free
Stanza 3: candle, chance, read, dance
Stanza 4: them, soul, poured, hole
Stanza 5: darkness, flight, darkness, light
Stanza 2: be, key, flee, free
Stanza 3: candle, chance, read, dance
Stanza 4: them, soul, poured, hole
Stanza 5: darkness, flight, darkness, light
Personal Response:
After reading this poem, I have learnt to pity the children in Vietnam and realise how lucky I am in Singapore where there are no war. I also learnt that children should never be dragged into war. In the first place, there should never be war.
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