Practicing unseen poetry analysis or comparing it to other poems about childhood, such as "Hide and Seek" by Vernon Scannell. External Resources

The poem is deeply ironic. The teacher punishes the boy for doing "Something Very Wrong" but fails to recognize that she herself has done something wrong by forgetting to teach him how to tell time. The boy, who is the one being punished, is the one who remains innocent, while the authoritative teacher is forgetful and careless.

Fanthorpe’s masterful use of language is the star of the poem. She vividly creates the child's perspective through several key techniques:

Having a digital copy makes it easy to cross-reference Fanthorpe’s other works or compare it to other poems in the AQA or Edexcel anthologies. 5. Conclusion

The poem unfolds in eleven stanzas, each of three lines. The full, unchanged text of the poem is reproduced below:

For students, teachers, and lovers of contemporary poetry, the search for a is more than just a quest for a digital file. It is an attempt to capture the fleeting, frustrating, and fascinating world of a child’s perception of time.