Hide and seek Vernon Scannell

The Poem

call out. call loud: 'I' m ready! come and find me!'
The Sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside;
they'll never find you in this salty dark,
but be careful that your feet aren't sticking out.
Wiser not to risk another shout.
The floor is cold.  They'll probably be searching
The bushes near the swing.  Whatever happens
you mustn't sneeze when they come prowling in.
And here they are, whispering at the door;
you've never heard them sound so hushed before.
Don't breathe.don't move. Stay dumb. hide in your blindness.
they're moving closer, someone stumbles, mutters;
Their words and laughter scuffle, and they're gone.
But don't come out just yet; they'll try the lane
And then the greenhouse and back here again.
They must be thinking that you're very clever,
Getting more puzzled as they search all over,
It seems a long time since they went away.
your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat;
The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat.
It's time to let them know that you're the winner.
Push off the sacks. Uncurl and stretch.  That's better!
Out of the shed and call to them: 'I've won!
Here i am! come and own up I've caught you!'
The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs.
the bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone.
Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you?

Critical Appreciation

The poem Hide and Seek written by Vernon Scannel contains 26 lines long  and written in one stanza with a first- and second-person point of view.  It says about a small who plays with his friends an unpopular game hide and seek.  He shows how to achieve the victory in the game. Hide and Seek is a free verse poem which expresses and explores the theme of irresponsibility and ignorance.  The poet tells the story of a small child who plays the game with his friends with great excitement.  But soon we learn that the boy played too well and for a little too long and missed out to end the game in a proper manner.  Soon he realized that he has been left alone at the end.

It starts with a Child's’ childhood life.  May be the child is now much older and wiser, looking back at the memory of the game in a different perspective and speaking to himself and  advising himself.

“The sacks in the toolshed smell like the seaside.

They’ll never find you in this salty dark, 

 Lines 1 – 8 expresses the excitement of the child and gives a detail account of his surroundings as the sacks in the toolshed smell like the sea side. He is calling out to his friends to find him as he is in a safe place where no one can find him. He figures he will never be found this “salty dark”ness and he reminds himself to be quite and still. 
"but be careful that your feet aren't sticking out.
Wiser not to risk another shout".
The boy is very careful that he is not ready to put his feet outside to give way for the other kids to catch him by any chance.  He is quite clever and no way to take risk as he is sure to achieve his game.  The poet expresses how winning the game becomes more important thing in the world. 
"And here they are, whispering at the door;
you've never heard them sound so hushed before.
Don't breathe.don't move. Stay dumb. hide in your blindness.
they're moving closer, someone stumbles, mutters;
Their words and laughter scuffle, and they're gone".

Lines 9-12 the poet expresses the child's  state when the other children are so close to finding him. He can hear their voices “whimpering at the door” of the tool shed. They linger there for a bit,while the hidden child can hear their hushed voices The little boy never heard them talking in such a hushed voices,laughing and muttering to each other.  He did not make any single movement, he is quite and still so as to hide from them.  Finally, the children decided to leave the area outside the tool shed as they could not find him and also they become less anxious. Slowly their voices disappear and gone

"It seems a long time since they went away.
your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat;
The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat".

Lines 13 -19 describes the child’s wait as he decides that the other children must be searching for him “puzzled” and thinking that he is quite “clever” for being able to find such a good hiding place. Now he starts to notice that they have gone a “long time” and he himself is getting tired of hiding as he realizes how cold and “stiff” he is. He can now also feel “the smell of sand” as he loosing the focus of game.
"Out of the shed and call to them: 'I've won!
Here i am! come and own up I've caught you!'
The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs.
the bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone.
Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you?

Lines 20 -23 shows the declaring himself the “winner” and deciding it was times the others recognize him for it. He wants to shout in joy that he is the winner and the cleverest.  But when he comes out he can see no one there, the dark garden is quite and still, the bushes show no movement, the sun disappears and welcomes the darkness, the small boy stands alone with the silent atmosphere. here he is alone without anyone.  Where are they who looked for you?

The last three  concluded the poem by revealing that nothing stirs as he realizes he has been left behind. None of the other children were there looking for him.

The poem is metaphorical narrative. The title announces that the reader is about to indulge in an account of concealment and pursuit. The theme of the poem is negligence in relation to opportunities that life gives to each individual. The poem begins with the hide and seek game where a child calls out other children to come and find him. This is teaching to each one of us who decides to conceal our sense of duty for all our responsibilities in order to “play the “game of life “. The child hides himself in a tool- shed which is a metaphorical narrative as the character has puts his responsibilities in “storage” even though he is in the tool -shed it smells of the seaside; this could easily symbolize how delusional he is close to a picturesque seaside. The floor he is sitting is “cold” -it is a foundation of his immaturity being unsympathetic to the responsibilities that he must uphold in his life.

The point comes when he could hear people at his door, people who he had called out play. They search for him by trying to make him see what he is loosing out on in life. He is aware of what he is doing, his actions of negligence are not out of ignorance but it is a conscious choice that he is making to stay blind to his responsibilities and opportunities: in life. when he realizes that everyone is “gone” no one is reaching out for him. Any more. He begins to panic. But does not want to seem desperate. He decides to wait until his immaturity of being unsympathetic to his responsibilities starts to “bite” him and he can see the “darkness” of his situation.

Now he pushes off the “sacks” of immaturity that have been holding him back and decides to step out and join the others around him in living a proper life. But unfortunately, it is too late. Others did not pause their lives for him. “The sun is gone” the source of warmth, life and life is gone from his life. He is standing alone realizing his consequence of his negligence he lost all those who sought him.

Literary Devices:

On the stating exclamation marks are used to show the passion of the boy. “I am ready”. The poet uses personification for the nearby atmosphere in a rich way. The mature speaks to his childhood self in second person. the poem is about life and reflects of the process of growing up.

Alliteration – is used in the second line “smell like the seaside”. Going on blindness is personified as a safe house where the boy seeks sanctuary.

The difficulties the boy faces are metaphorically used for the obstruction one has to deal with while walking down the road.

Thus, a very important message is conveyed in a light and interesting manner through a childhood game where one can see how winning in everything forces you to ignore all which is more important, over the greedy over ambitious nature.

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