Was Half-Past Two a Successful Poem?

The poem is about a boy who did “Something Very Wrong” and doesn't understand time. He has his preset times which he can use at home, such as “teatime”, but can't understand real-time like five o'clock. In the poem, the poet is talking as if he is looking down on what is happening like a memory that he is reciting to the reader. But, when the teacher talks, it is written in italics to show this.

The poem is arranged out on the page into three line verses. However, I don't really feel the need to do this; it would be the same as one big stanza so maybe it is just laid out like this to help the reader. I think it could be don't like this for these reasons: First, I don't really read it to a sort of beat or rhythm. I read it like a short story. It doesn't rhyme either apart from the “times” so certain words do not have to end on the line. At first the poem seems light and bouncy as if it could be a fun and light-hearted poem but as you progress, it seems to slow down. Just like the boy enters the time-less world. So do you. This gives a very good effect and makes the reader feel like they were in the poem.

When I first read the poem, I saw it taking place in my old school's school hall. However, when I read it a second time, the similes and metaphors used jumped out at me and created an identity of its own. It gives a sense of smell: “smell of old chrysanthemums” and sound: “silent noise of his hangnail” which gives the readers a sense of what it was like to be in that world as well as being able to see it. In verses four and five, the words such as “time for a kiss time” and “time you were gone time”, although they were had to read at first really help put into the point of view of a child. While the poet is still telling the story, there a good number of phrases that help put it into the child's perspective such as: “little eyes and little legs for walking” for the clock and “so she slotted him back” as if he was a gear missing from a clock.

The repetition of “time” gives the gist of assonance but there isn't really any alliteration. The poem is in the past tense but as the boy drifts into his time-less world it turns into the present giving once again a great substance of timelessness for the reader. Finally, the punctuation sometimes gives a bit of suspense like at the end of verse five. “But not half-past two.” And sometimes helps the poem move along like the wheels of a car.

I'm not really sure what the mood of this poem is supposed to be, only that it is very confusing and silly. It sort of has a moral though. It teaches that you should listen when learning time-you'll need it! And that if you didn't get into trouble you wouldn't get into those sort of messes.

Overall, I feel that the poem is a bit weird. It is enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone who needs a laugh.