Hide and seek by Vernon Scannel Call out. Call loud | Schemes and Mind Maps Poetry

Hide and seek by Vernon Scannel

Call out. Call loud: ‘I’m ready! Come and find me!’

The sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside.

They’ll never find you in this salty dark,

But be careful that your feet aren’t sticking out.

Wiser not to risk another shout.

The floor is cold. They’ll probably be searching

The bushes near the swing. Whatever happens

You mustn’t sneeze when they come prowling in.

And here they are, whispering at the door;

You’ve never heard them sound so hushed before.

Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Stay dumb. Hide in your blindness. They’re moving closer, someone

stumbles, mutters;

Their words and laughter scuffle, and they’re gone.

But don’t come out just yet; they’ll try the lane

And then the greenhouse and back here again.

They must be thinking that you’re very clever,

Getting more puzzled as they search all over.

It seems a long time since they went away.

Your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat;

The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat.

It’s time to let them know that you’re the winner.

Push off the sacks. Uncurl and stretch. That’s better!

Out of the shed and call to them: ‘I’ve won!

Here I am! Come and own up I’ve caught you!’

The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs.

The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone.

Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you?

'Hide and Seek' concerns a boy hiding cautiously whilst playing hide and seek with his peers.

Gradually, he realises he has been abandoned, and fear overcomes him due to being isolated in the

dark surroundings. The tone is incredibly certain and positive at the beginning. However, his

confidence gradually fades away as the realisation of his abandonment occurs. The mood is

analogous to the tone. At first, we can sense the excitement. This modifies to anxiety and

nervousness towards the end. The poet uses language features to portray the tone. On the first line,

exclamation marks are used to show the enthusiasm of the boy. Scannell uses personification and the

senses to describe the surrounding atmosphere in a vivid way. Therefore, the reader gets a clearer

image. Occasional rhyme is used to add a sense of rhythm to the poem. The poem is one continuous

stanza. It is like dramatic monologue in that it creates character, but it is actually second person.

The structure emphasises the unbearable length of waiting time. The adult speaks to his childhood

self in second person, explaining feeling and thoughts. There are short sentences to build up tension

and create stillness. The themes explored in 'Hide and Seek' are childhood experiences, reflection,

isolation and abandonment.

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Hide and seek by Vernon Scannel Call out. Call loud: ‘I’m ready! Come and find me!’ The sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside. They’ll never find you in this salty dark, But be careful that your feet aren’t sticking out. Wiser not to risk another shout. The floor is cold. They’ll probably be searching The bushes near the swing. Whatever happens You mustn’t sneeze when they come prowling in. And here they are, whispering at the door; You’ve never heard them sound so hushed before. Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Stay dumb. Hide in your blindness. They’re moving closer, someone stumbles, mutters; Their words and laughter scuffle, and they’re gone. But don’t come out just yet; they’ll try the lane And then the greenhouse and back here again. They must be thinking that you’re very clever, Getting more puzzled as they search all over. It seems a long time since they went away. Your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat; The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat. It’s time to let them know that you’re the winner. Push off the sacks. Uncurl and stretch. That’s better! Out of the shed and call to them: ‘I’ve won! Here I am! Come and own up I’ve caught you!’ The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs. The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone. Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you? 'Hide and Seek' concerns a boy hiding cautiously whilst playing hide and seek with his peers. Gradually, he realises he has been abandoned, and fear overcomes him due to being isolated in the dark surroundings. The tone is incredibly certain and positive at the beginning. However, his confidence gradually fades away as the realisation of his abandonment occurs. The mood is analogous to the tone. At first, we can sense the excitement. This modifies to anxiety and nervousness towards the end. The poet uses language features to portray the tone. On the first line, exclamation marks are used to show the enthusiasm of the boy. Scannell uses personification and the senses to describe the surrounding atmosphere in a vivid way. Therefore, the reader gets a clearer image. Occasional rhyme is used to add a sense of rhythm to the poem. The poem is one continuous stanza. It is like dramatic monologue in that it creates character, but it is actually second person. The structure emphasises the unbearable length of waiting time. The adult speaks to his childhood self in second person, explaining feeling and thoughts. There are short sentences to build up tension and create stillness. The themes explored in 'Hide and Seek' are childhood experiences, reflection, isolation and abandonment.

Hide and Seek Analysis In the poem Hide and Seek, Vernon Scannell makes excellent use of all the sense to bring out the great excitement children usually experience whenever they play this ever- green game. The fact that short sentences are used in rapid succession and that the poem seems to have been written in one short stanza also contribute to this feeling. The persona is the one being sought, so he hides himself in the toolshed at the bottom of the garden making sure that his feet “aren’t sticking out”. The place smells salty because of the sacks of sand and both the floor and air feel damp and cold. As the seekers draw stealthily close, the poet is almost afraid to breathe and automatically closes his eyes as if by doing so, it would be difficult for his friends to find him. Time passes, the poet feels stiff, cold and uncomfortable so he decides to come out of his hiding place only to find that the other children have long abandoned the search and left him alone in the dark shed. “The bushes hold their breath: the sun is gone Yes here you are. But where are they who sought you?” Although this poem is basically a poem about childhood recollections, a moral can still be learnt form it: namely that in life, when success seems to be within easy reach, we should not allow ourselves to feel too over-confident as we might end up losing all and feeling bitterly disappointed. Diction (The writer’s choice of words) The poem starts with the imperative verb ‘call’. Examples of words in the imperative are ‘ call out’ ‘call loud’ ‘be careful’, ‘don’t breathe’, ‘don’t move’, ‘stay dumb’, ‘hide’, ‘push pff’, ‘uncurl’, ‘stretch’, ‘come and own up’. In the poem, these words/verbs in the imperative form are very important because they are showing the expertise of this boy at play in this well-loved game. It is almost as if the boy is instructing the reader as to how we should play the game as well as we possible can, in order not to be caught. In “be careful that your feet aren’t sticking out” the young persona/the young child is giving us readers a good piece of advice – he wants to make sure that he makes the search for him a very difficult one. This shows that he wanted to be the winner at all costs. This shows that he wants to be the winner at all costs. In fact, in the next line, “Wiser not to risk another shout.” The boy is again giving advice, showing that the risk of being caught is very much possible since his friends might be close by. The adjective ‘cold’ is repeated twice in the poem, whilst we also have the word ‘damp’ to show the discomfort that the boy was feeling. In this poem we also have words like, ‘musn’t sneeze’, ‘whispering’, ‘hushed’, ‘dumb’, ‘mutters’ and all the words show the excitement felt by the boy, when he was being sought by his friends, he tries to avoid any sort of noise, even going as far to say, ‘don’t breathe’. There is only one stanza in this poem and there are four instances of rhyming couplets, ‘out’ and ‘shout’, ‘door’ and ‘before’, ‘land’ and again’ and ‘coat’ and ‘throat’. The fact that there is little rhyme in thus poem is indicative of the excitement being felt by the boy as he lies in hiding. The poem is very rich in figures of speech. From the very first line we find alliteration of the letter/consonant ’c’. This alliteration almost makes the call of the boy even more audible in our minds and it also gives the poem a certain vibrant feeling from the very start. We also have alliteration in the second line, ‘sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside’’ with the letter/consonant ‘s’ and the effect that this creates is very much like the sound of the sea upon the shore, bringing about the olfactory image of the sea to mind. The soothing sound effect created by the

who were supposed to be looking for him. A few literary devices highlight and add color to the poem: Alliteration is used in the second line: ‘smell like the seaside’ of the letters L and S. Going on blindness is personified as a safe house where the boy seeks sanctuary. Also in the end, a series of personified phrases: ‘The darkening garden watches.’ ‘The bushes hold their breathe’ describe the quite of the scene. The poem not just about a childhood game but it is about life. The difficulties which the boy faces after deciding to hide in the shed are metaphorically used for the obstructions one has to deal with while walking down the road one chooses in life. But the boy’s determination to win and succeed enables him to be strong enough to overcome all these difficulties. Also the other boys are the competitors which one has to deal with in life. They are described as ‘prowling’ like as if they were predatory animals waiting to strike on their prey when it is unaware. Such are the problems life throws one’s way, but if, like the little boy, one has an predetermined aim in mind, it is not difficult to pull through despite them. Then another message; that of making the maximum use of any and all opportunities that life and luck bless one with is conveyed in the last few lines. The boy could have enjoyed the thrill of a glamorous victory which would have been ample compensation for enduring through all the frightening aspects of the toolshed; had he came out and declared his presence when the seekers turned away from its doorstep. But he procrastinated; hoping that his delay would put the other children in awe of his brilliant hiding spot and earn him more glory as the victor, only to find out that his continued absence had made them lose interest and move on leaving him alone and disappointed. Thus is a very important message conveyed in a light and interesting manner, through a detailed description of a generally popular childhood game.

Hide and seek by Vernon Scannel Call out. Call loud, Schemes and Mind Maps of Poetry

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