Half-past Two Poem Pdf __exclusive__ Access

So he stayed, staring at the clock, Where the little eyes blinked, and the big eyes Moved, but said nothing.

He knew something about Something for Something o’clock, but not what half-past Meant. Half-past Two was a strange place.

Be that time again. Time’s strange magic taught him The meaning of half-past two. half-past two poem pdf

by U.A. Fanthorpe

| Text | Author | Relevance | |------|--------|------------| | Standing To (1985) | U.A. Fanthorpe | Original collection containing the poem. | | The Poetry of U.A. Fanthorpe | Various | Critical essays on her style and themes. | | “The Child in Poetry” | Peter Hollindale | Contextual study of childhood in 20th‑century poetry. | | Time and the Other | Emmanuel Levinas | Philosophical background on lived vs. measured time. | So he stayed, staring at the clock, Where

"When I was very young, I had something to do, I had to go to bed At half-past two. I had not much to do, But I had to do it then, For if I did not do it then, It would never be done."

The poem recounts an incident from a child’s early school days. The teacher, angry at an unspecified "Something very wrong," tells the child to stay in the classroom until half-past two. The child, who only understands time in concrete, event-based terms (e.g., "Timefor-kipping," "Getuptime"), does not know what "half-past two" means. After the teacher leaves, the child remains in the empty room, entering a state of timelessness ("heescaped"). He waits so long that time seems to disappear entirely. Eventually, the teacher returns and says, "Well, you can go now," breaking the spell. The poem ends with the child having learned nothing about clock time, only that "half-past two" is a strange, unknown concept. Be that time again

Fanthorpe uses word mashups like "Gettinguptime" and "TVtime" to mimic how a child perceives daily routines as singular units rather than numerical measurements. Personification: