PARAPHRASE: The first stanza is told by an out side narrator. The narrator talks of a little black figure that is walking through the snow covered in soot and crying. The narrator questions why they boy is out all alone, and where his parents have gone to. The boy replies by telling the narrator that hey have gone to the church to pray. .
The remaining three stanzas are told from the point of view of the boy. He boy tells the narrator that he is happy being out in the in the snow, and while his parents have sent him out on a life that isn't that great, they have taught him the hardships of life by doing so. Since the boy is happy with his life, his parents feel that they have done no harm to him and they go and pray, pray to the ones who rule their world and make it the hell that it is.
THEMES: .
1. To grow as a person, you sometimes have to do things that you are not happy with. .
2. Even though we know that sometimes the people who are in charge (the government, church, etc) make our life harder then they should be, we still look up to them as the almighty power.
IMAGERY: While this is a short poem, it still contains some imagery. The author uses the line of, "A little black thing among the snow" to describe the boy. The boy appears to be a dark mysterious figure on a white pure background. It helps raise the question "why is this young boy out here all alone?" .
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Irony is use throughout the poem. At the beginning of the poem the narrator talks of how the young boy is crying, but in the second stanza the boy talks about how he is happy. While the boy is said to be out alone, he is happy that he is learning the hardships of life. It is also ironic how his parents have left him, but they have gone to pray. While they have put their son in this tough life, they have gone to pray for him.