35
society. However, in order to realize it, the society or adults have to teach them in a peaceful condition. A peaceful condition is a situation which is conducive to
learn. As in many poems of Tagore, this poem also presents religious aspects of the poet.
2. The Explication of When and Why
The poem, as any other poem in The Crescent Moon, tells a relation between the poet and the children. In this poem, the poet presents an interaction
between children and adults through some interactions. The interactions are presented in each stanza. There are four interactions presented in the poem. The
first, the poet gives colored toys to the children. The second, the poet sings for the children so that heshe can dance. The third, the poet gives a present to the
children. The presents are sweet things. The last, the poet kisses the children. Through the interactions, the poet shows that he can learn from the children. The
poem uses simple diction and has repetition phrase in every beginning of the stanza and in the end of each stanza. In addition, each of the stanzas does not have
a strict rhyme. The title of the poem consi
sts of two relative verbs. They are “when” and “why”. The word “when” refers to situation or time. The poet gives the view
about the situation around him. There are many things around the poet when he made the poem and he presents it through imagery. The poet depicts the colorful
world, the harmony of music and dance, the sweet thing around him, and the weather around him. The second relative verb on the title is “why”. This word
36
refers to a certain reason. The poet states his reason how he can understand the nature and things around him, especially the children. Therefore, it is obvious that
the poet wants to present some interactions that he did with the children and the knowledge he has learned from the children.
When and Why presents both characters, the poet and the children, literally. The poet uses the word “I” to show himself. The poet is the representation of
adult. The word “child” shows the child, an early stage of human beings who loves playing and needs love, care and guidance. This poem also presents the
character of the child. It is shown in the third and fourth stanzas. The poet compares his feelings to the children, and his feelings to the nature. He shows the
nature to show what he feels about the children. Additionally, everything that he got from the children is compared to nature. Therefore, the nature becomes the
reflections of the poet’s feelings to the children. In the first stanza, the poet draws the child’s world using interaction
between him and the child. The interaction is stated literally. The poet gives colored toys to the child. The phrase “colored toys” means toys which have many
colors. It is something that children love. The poet draws the character of child as a person who is glad to have a toy. Toy always associates with child. In this poem,
the poet uses toy to represent the child’s world. Then, the poet uses the expression “colored toys” as the symbol that the child’s world is so colorful.
The colorful world of the child is represented through the imagery of the symbols of nature. The effect of imagery creates a situation which is real for the
readers. In this poem, the poet states that there are colors on the clouds, water and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
37
flowers are so beautiful that the reader can see it through this sense of sight. Then, flower is used as the symbol of colorful world. The other representations, water
and clouds represents calmness. Its blue color often symbolizes calmness. The comparison of the toys and the symbols of nature show a cheerful and
colorful world of the child. Giving toys to the child, the poet realize the child world which is so colorful. The colored toys re
present the color of the child’s world. Thus, the stanza gives a clear sight of the things around the poet represents
the situation of what the poet got from the child. WHEN I bring you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a
play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints
As in other stanzas of the poem, the second stanza presents imagery to enliven the poem. In the second stanza, the poet combines the senses of sight and
hearing. Dance is the representation of the sense of sight. The poet makes the readers feel that they c
an see the child’s dance. The sense of hearing through the poet’s song strengthens the sense of sight of the dance. The reader feels that the
dance is real as the song for the dance appeared. As a harmony, the dance and the music complete one another.
The representation of dance and song symbolizes deeper meaning. Hornby 292, states that d
ance is “a series of steps and movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music”. Every step of the dance is guided by the music.
Music also functions as the step counting of the dance. It makes the dancer easier to move their step. Like traveling a road, the song is like a lantern that gives light
38 to show the way. The combination represents the poet’s feeling that he will
always guide the child so that they can live their life perfectly. There are some personifications in the second stanza. The poet treats waves
and earth as human beings. The poet mentioned that the waves could sing through their chorus. Then, the poet tells that earth could listen. The personifications in the
second stanza actually represent what the poet’s learns from the child. The poet learns about nature from the child. There will always harmony in life such as in
leaves, waves and the earth. When I sing to make you dance, I truly know why there is music in leaves,
and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth--when I sing to make you dance.
Any stage of human beings has different characteristics, so does the child. A child is at the stage that is full of curiosity and greed. They have big appetite of
food, especially food that they like most. In this poem, the character of the child is presented literally on the last line of the third stanza. The poet uses the adjective
phrase “greedy hand” which means an excessive desire of food. Then, to stick out the character, the poet uses the symbol of food. The poet uses sweet thing as
representation of candies, since many children like it very much. The poet realizes that there are many sweet things in the world. However, he
uses flower and fruits to symbolize all of them. They are two sweet things which are provided by the nature. Flowers have its honey while fruit have its sweet juice.
The word flowers can also have different interpretation. It can be sweet things or PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
39
represents the beauty of the world. The representations of nature like in any other stanzas give an insight of the poem’s background. It was made in outdoor area
which was brought to the reader through imagery. In the third stanza, the poet gives some symbols of the nature. He uses flowers and fruits. The poet gives a
clear image of the weather, trees, waters and clouds in the other stanzas. When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands, I know why there is honey
in the cup of the flower, and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice-- when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
The child is regarded as the best gift in the last stanza and the poet represent
it in the situations around the poet and the child. The poem presents a situation which is really beautiful. The situation of the best season is written in imagery.
There are two things depicted in the poem, they are the morning light and summer breeze. The morning light, for the western people, is rarely found. Therefore, its
presence is really a great gift for them. The poet forces the reader to use their sense of sight. He wants the reader to see the morning light that warms the day
and gives spirit for the whole day. Smoothly, the poet brings summer, a season which is regarded as the best season, to the reader. It is the season, which delights
many people for the richness of sunshine. The wind of summer makes the people happy. It gently cares people with warmth. In the last stanza, the poet shares his
enjoyment of the light to the reader. As the best gift, the poet loves the child. He expresses his love to the child using the symbol of love, a kiss. For many people,
kiss is a kind of love expression. Lovers show their love with kisses. Friends show PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
40
their love with kisses. In this stanza, a kiss is an expression of adults’ love to the
child. It shows a great pleasure of kissing the child. When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand
what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light, and what delight the summer breeze brings to my body--when I kiss you to make you smile.
In conclusion, the poem presents the poet’s experiences with the child. It shows the poet’s care, love, guidance, and expectations. On the other side, this
poem presents a poet who is humble. He is a poet who is never afraid to learn from the child as stated in this poem that many things he learnt comes from the
child.
3. The Explication of Benediction
