Both “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher”, adults provide explanations for children to try and protect them. The parent in “A Barred Owl” uses sweet nothings to reassure the child and keep out the harsh realities of the world. Similarly, the teacher in “The History Teacher” lies to his pupils about historic truths to attempt and protect their innocence and keep them ignorant to the harsh realities of life. In both of the poems, the adults lie to attempt to protect or pacify the children. However, the results of lying differ and both use imagery to emphasize the effects on the children; hence, in Richard Wilbur’s “A Barred Owl” is soothed by it— as suggested by the structure of the poem— and in Billy Collins’ “The History Teacher” it leads to harassment, while he is completely oblivious to it. …show more content…
Furthermore, the speaker recounts “words, which can make our terrors bravely clear, can also thus domesticate a fear.” They highlight how speciousness in certain situations are used to alleviate children and protect their innocence. Moreover, the speaker describes “some small thing in a claw borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw”. The imagery depicts the child’s rampant imagination and nightmares the parent rescues the daughter from by lying in an altruistic way to dissuade their fears. Similarly, the poem is structured as an iambic contamerter giving off an organized and naturing mood. The structure and rhyme of the poem symbolizes the comforting aura of the parents to the