Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton's "The Children" is a haunting exploration of the profound suffering and existential despair experienced by both children and adults, portrayed through a series of stark, surreal images. The poem conveys a sense of helplessness and urgency, highlighting the pain that permeates life and the necessity of confronting and transforming that pain to find solace or redemption.

The poem opens with an unsettling image: "The children are all crying in their pens / and the surf carries their cries away." The "pens" suggest confinement, a metaphorical cage in which the children are trapped, voicing their anguish in a way that seems futile, as their cries are lost in the vastness of the "surf." This image introduces a central theme of the poem: the isolation and powerlessness of the children, whose suffering seems to go unheard or unaddressed by the world.

Sexton then describes the children as "old men who have seen too much," a striking juxtaposition that suggests these children are burdened with the weight of experiences far beyond their years. Their mouths are "full of dirty clothes," and their tongues are "poverty," with "tears like pus," further emphasizing their exposure to the harsh realities of life. The image of dirty clothes filling their mouths symbolizes the choking, suffocating effects of poverty and deprivation, while tears described as "pus" evoke an image of infection, suggesting that their suffering is festering, untreated, and possibly unhealable.

The surf, which initially carries their cries away, now "pushes their cries back," creating a cyclical, inescapable echo of their suffering. This suggests that the cries of the children are inescapable, omnipresent, and cannot be ignored, despite the world's attempts to wash them away.

Sexton describes the children as "bewitched," writing down their lives in futile, ephemeral ways: "on the wings of an elf / who then dissolves," "on a century fallen to ruin," "on the bomb of an alien God." These images reflect the fragility and transience of their existence, as well as the destructive forces that overshadow their lives. The reference to an "alien God" introduces a theme of existential alienation, as if the children—and by extension, humanity—are abandoned or subjected to the whims of a distant, uncaring deity.

The speaker identifies with the children, stating, "I am too. We must get help." This line shifts the focus from the children to a more universal human experience of suffering. The urgency of "We must get help" underscores the dire need for intervention, for breaking the cycle of despair that the children (and the speaker) are caught in.

The repetition of "The children are dying in their pens" reinforces the sense of impending doom, as their bodies "are crumbling" and their tongues "arc twisting backwards." These images convey physical and psychological decay, suggesting that the children's suffering is so intense it distorts their very being. The mention of a "ritual" and a "dance" they do in their pens implies that their suffering has become a grotesque, repetitive cycle, almost normalized within their confined existence.

The poem's tone shifts slightly as the speaker acknowledges a shared complicity: "So is my mouth." This admission reflects the speaker's recognition of their own participation in or resemblance to the children's plight. The speaker's mouth, like the children's, is "swallowing monster hearts," symbolizing the internalization of fear, pain, and possibly guilt.

In the poem's closing lines, Sexton moves toward a call for introspection and change: "We must all stop dying in the little ways, / in the craters of hate, / in the potholes of indifference." These lines suggest that the true threat lies not just in external suffering but in the everyday acts of hatred and indifference that slowly erode the spirit. The metaphor of "a murder in the temple" further emphasizes the sacrilege of allowing such suffering to persist, likening it to a violation of something sacred.

The speaker describes their own life as "a kind of maze," a place where they are constantly searching for "the exit or the home." This maze represents the confusion and disorientation that accompany the search for meaning or relief from suffering. However, the speaker suggests that by listening to "the bulldog courage of those children" and turning inward, they might be able to "melt the darkness."

The imagery of "melting the darkness" and the comparison to the sudden relief of an "awful headache" going away or someone "put[ting] out the fire" implies a potential for transformation, for alleviating the pain that pervades their existence. The speaker seeks "the real McCoy," a genuine, unadulterated truth or salvation, found "in the private holiness / of my hands." This closing image suggests that redemption and peace are ultimately personal, found within one's own capacity for compassion, action, and self-awareness.

"The Children" is a powerful reflection on suffering, both individual and collective, and the urgent need to confront and transform the pain that defines much of human existence. Sexton’s vivid, often brutal imagery captures the despair of the children and the speaker alike, while also offering a glimmer of hope that through introspection and a rejection of indifference, one might find a way to "melt the darkness" and achieve a sense of inner peace.

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