The Cry Of The Children Analytical Essay
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Victorian Age Analytical Essay
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Is God Hearing the Children 's Cry? Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was considered one of the most influential and highly esteemed women poets of the Victorian era. Her poem “The Cry of the Children”, which was written based on a Report by commission (1843) that investigated the conditions of the children who worked in mines and factories, clearly manifest her humane and liberal point of view as an anti-child labor advocate. Barrett Browning’s main intent in writing the poem was to arouse society’s awareness about the plight of child laborers, as can be gleaned from the line, “ Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers,” (Stanza I, Line 1). The line, which is quite ironic, for how could people not hear children weeping, unless they are either deaf or pretending to be deaf, intends to touch people’s egos, especially the leaders, thus her use of the word “brothers” (Stanza I, Line 1). By addressing the poem to the leaders, she clearly wants them to be aware of her thoughts about the issue of child labor. In the preceding lines of the First Stanza, the poem creates a picture of how helpless these children are in the face of their situation, emphasizing that even their loving mothers are helpless to get them out of their plight. By comparing the poor child-laborers to the young animals and flowers, Barrett Browning was saying that even the lowly creatures deserve to live freely and happily, capping with the lines “But the young…children… They are weeping bitterly! They are weeping in the playtime of the others, in the country of the free.” (Stanza I, Lines 9-12) to further emphasize that the children do not deserve to be working when they should be playing and that such a scenario should not happen in a civilized and free nation such as England. Stanzas II to VIII of the poem expresses Barrett Browning’s deep understanding of the child-laborers’ pain - not
Class
Professor
Victorian Age Analytical Essay
Date
Is God Hearing the Children 's Cry? Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was considered one of the most influential and highly esteemed women poets of the Victorian era. Her poem “The Cry of the Children”, which was written based on a Report by commission (1843) that investigated the conditions of the children who worked in mines and factories, clearly manifest her humane and liberal point of view as an anti-child labor advocate. Barrett Browning’s main intent in writing the poem was to arouse society’s awareness about the plight of child laborers, as can be gleaned from the line, “ Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers,” (Stanza I, Line 1). The line, which is quite ironic, for how could people not hear children weeping, unless they are either deaf or pretending to be deaf, intends to touch people’s egos, especially the leaders, thus her use of the word “brothers” (Stanza I, Line 1). By addressing the poem to the leaders, she clearly wants them to be aware of her thoughts about the issue of child labor. In the preceding lines of the First Stanza, the poem creates a picture of how helpless these children are in the face of their situation, emphasizing that even their loving mothers are helpless to get them out of their plight. By comparing the poor child-laborers to the young animals and flowers, Barrett Browning was saying that even the lowly creatures deserve to live freely and happily, capping with the lines “But the young…children… They are weeping bitterly! They are weeping in the playtime of the others, in the country of the free.” (Stanza I, Lines 9-12) to further emphasize that the children do not deserve to be working when they should be playing and that such a scenario should not happen in a civilized and free nation such as England. Stanzas II to VIII of the poem expresses Barrett Browning’s deep understanding of the child-laborers’ pain - not
Cited: Browning, Elizabeth B. “The Cry of the Children.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature (2012): 1124-1128.