THE LONELY SCARECROW

My poor old bones-I've only two

A broom shank and a broken stave

My ragged gloves are a disgrace

My one peg foot is in the gave

I wear the labourer's old clothes 

Coat,shirt and trousers all undone

I bear my cross upon a hill

In rain and shine, in snow and rain

I cannot help the way I look

My funny hat is full of hay

O wild birds, come and nest in me !

Why do you always fly away ?

The Poet :

          James kirkup was an English poet.He was born in 1918 in Britain.He served as a lecture in several universities in USA and Japan.He was the author of many novels ,poems, plays and travel books.

Content:

         This is a poem written about the plight of a scarecrow.A scarecrow is a lifeless figure of a hiuman being made from old clothes and sticks it is ficked in paddy fields and chenas in order to scare the birds and other animals away from the crops.The poem is written as if the scarecrow is speaking.in the first poems is describes how it is made."My ragged gloves are a disgrace"This line shows that the scarecrow feels shame for itself.It complains that it is ill-treated by the man who made it.Although this poem appears to be a simple poem, it has a deeper meaning.

Theme :
            loneliness

Techniques :
                Simple language
                 Using symbols - poor old bones,grave,cross
                 assonance - old , bones , only , broom , broken , ragged, disgrace , grave

Rhyme Pattern:
                 Very simple rhyme pattern.In each verse the end word of the aecond line rhymes with the end word of the fourth line.

                                        Rhyming Words
                                        stave - grave
                                        undone - sun
                                        hay - away