Child and Insect Tom O'Donnell "Child and Insect" is a poem that demonstrates many

literary strategies. The poem is about a child who ‘captures’ a grasshopper on a sunny
day in a meadow and is sad that he kills the grasshopper in his infant hands. The boy
feels grief next as he cries to his mother, but the grasshopper is not dead. Yet as if by
magic and with a flick, comes back to life. The poem draws attention and emphasizes
key emotions that are expressed in the poem. The poet uses sensory imagery to
convey the different aspects and characteristics of the poem. The structure of the
poem is also key in uncovering the subject matter as it is broken into stanzas and
helps describe the different emotions present and also a shift in tone of the speakeris
seen. Thus, this essay will aim to discuss the effects of the imagery and the tone
aspects of the poem “Child and Insect” .

The poet takes use of extensive sensory imagery in the poem. Visual Imagery, Aural
Imagery, Kinesthetic Imagery and Tactile Imagery are used in the poem. The use of
this imagery helps the poet to create the atmosphere of ............... in the minds of
the readers.
‘He cannot hold his hand huge enough’ - Tactile imagery
‘He races back, how quick he is - Kinesthetic Imagery
look! to his mother‘
‘its dead struts snapped - Visual Imagery
even the brittle lidless eyes
crushed into the tangle’

The use of imagery also helps to explain the mental state of the boy to the readers.
For eg, you can see the boy running towards the mother ( kinesthetic imagery ) as he
is sad that an innocent grasshopper has been killed by his own hands. The
connotations of the words “cradle” and “cage” could also be seen. The state of
happiness in the boy is seen as he takes the grasshopper in his hands but his cruel
nature towards the insect is also seen. When the boy realizes that the grasshopper is
dead he refers to is as “cradled” in his hands and thus the guilt in the boy is also
seen. Therefore, it is seen that the sensory imagery helps in creating the atmosphere
in the minds of the readers and also reflects the state of mind of the child.

Several literary techniques are also used by the poet in the poem. Anaphora,
Alliteration, Enjambment, Neologism, Onomatopoeia and Personification are used in
the poem. Transfer epithets in “shrieking meadow” and the “fearful clutch” are also
used. The poet used words such as “fizz” which tend to slow down the pace of the
poem. Some lines in the poem show the effect of enjambment as a quickening pace
as well as a slowing pace.

“Revealed, the grasshopper - Slowing Pace

lies broken on his palm. ”
 “Yet quick and now - Quickening Pace
as if by magic the undead insect
with a flick re-
assembles itself ”

Also, in the line quoted above the use of “undead” , neologism, reflects the effect of
the life of the insect striking on the child’s mind. Juxtaposition is also seen when the
two contrasting words “rage” and “relief” are used. Repetition of “will not” along with
the typography and the use of Archiac English in “O” also draws attention which
reflect the extent of despair. Extensive Exaggeration is also seen in the poem as in
“ Sunlight
and the landscape flood way
in tears”
It refers to, that the child, after looking at the dead grasshopper, was feeling so sad
that he cried so much that the sunlight and the landscape seemed to drown away.

A change in the tone of the speaker is constantly seen throughout the poem. The boy
seems to be happy when he ‘captures’ the grasshopper in his infant hands but
suddenly the tone of the speaker changes to a sad tone as he sees that the insect is
killed by him. This change in tone also reflects the guilt in the boy’s mind for killing
the insect by his own hands. When the boy is told by his mother that the insect is not
dead, a tone of anger is seen as he shed his tears for the creature which he thought
to be dead but which suddenly becomes “undead”. The poet effectively portraits the
change in tone through the typography of the poem. Sudden breaks are seen in the
poem as in :
“assembles itself
throbs
and is latched to a leaf a yard away”

In the lines quoted are also run on or enjambed lines which are tending to quicken the
pace, heighten the tension and also to highlight the work “throbs”.