The Complete Guide to Hide and Seek
You hid perfectly. You won. So where is everybody? — the whole poem, told properly.
Introduction
- The poem that plays you
The world behind the poem
- Scannell — boxer, deserter, poet of ordinary dread
Through the poem
- Through the poem I — the recruitment (the opening lines)
- Through the poem II — the toolshed (the senses take over)
- Through the poem III — the empty garden (the ending)
The speaker & the child
- The voice and the 'you' — the poem's two inhabitants
The writer's craft
- The craft room — block form, buried clocks, ritual rings
- The shed and the garden — setting promoted to antagonist
Interpretations
- The debates — parable, memory, or comedy that curdles?
The examination
- The comparison workshop — partnering Hide and Seek in Section B
- In the exam room — the final drill