The memories of childhood are very different for every single one of us, as some may be joyful but some may be heart-breaking. The three major poems ‘Piano’ by D.H. Lawrence, ‘Half Past Two’ by U.A. Fanthorpe and ‘Hide and seek’ by Vernon Scannell all portrays the theme of a child growing up; these poems focus on the feelings of betrayal and regret. The three minor poems ‘Prayer Before Birth’ by Louis MacNeice, ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ by Chinua Achebe and ‘Once Upon a Time’ by Gabriel Okara bring out a theme of a slightly different take of a negative childhood.

The title of the poem, ‘Piano’ is very suiting as music is the strongest trigger of memories which brought him back to the time when his mother was still with him. ‘Piano’ is about a man experiencing nostalgia as he listens to a woman singing “in the dusk” which reminds him of his childhood, when his life was still simple. The word “dusk” provides a grievous and touching atmosphere. The poem starts with the man hearing the soft singing of a woman “taking” him “back down the vista of years” and then he sees visions of his childhood flashing in front of him. This immediately gives us an image of a man falling down from the top of a mountain as growing up is similar to climbing a difficult mountain during his adulthood but then he suddenly falls into his childhood again. The memory he focuses on is the one of a small “child sitting under the piano” as his mother plays it, taking his mother’s elegant feet into his