The poem describes a young boy who is kept in after school as punishment but does not understand the concept of "half past two" as the time he must stay until. As he waits, he escapes into fantasies and experiences of timelessness. When the teacher finally remembers him, she sends him home without understanding the profound effect her forgetfulness had on how the boy now views time.

1. Half-past Two
by U.A. Fanthorpe
Can I do a verse by verse
analysis of a poem?
T.A 2014

2. Half-past Two
Once upon a schooltime
He did Something Very Wrong
(I forget what it was).
And She said he’d done
Something Very Wrong, and must
Stay in the school-room till half-past two.
(Being cross, she’d forgotten
She hadn’t taught him Time.
He was too scared of being wicked to remind her.)
He knew a lot of time: he knew
Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,
Timetogohomenowtime, Tvtime,
Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).
All the important times he knew,
But not half-past two.
He knew the clockface, the little eyes
And two long legs for walking,
But he couldn’t click its language,
So he waited, beyond onceupona,
Out of reach of all the timefors,
And knew he’d escaped for ever
Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,
Into the silent noise his hangnail made.
Into the air outside the window, into ever.
And then, My goodness, she said,
Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.
Run along or you’ll be late.
So she slotted him back into schooltime,
And he got home in time for teatime,
Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,
But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,
He escaped into the clockless land of ever,
Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.

3. Verse by verse analysis of
the poem
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4. Verse 1: establishing time and voice
Once upon a schooltime
He did Something Very Wrong
(I forget what it was).
• How is the time established?
• With whom, or what, do you associate “once upon a…”?
• What is the purpose of the capital letters?
• Who is the “I” and why does (she) speak in brackets?

5. Verse 2: techniques
And She said he’d done
Something Very Wrong, and must
Stay in the school-room till half-past two.
•
•
•
•
Who is the “She” character?
Why no name for the teacher? Why capitals?
Why lower case “he” for the boy?
What is gained by using a simple 3 line stanza form?

6. Verse 3: the internal thoughts of both
(Being cross, she’d forgotten
She hadn’t taught him Time.
He was too scared of being wicked to remind her.)
•
•
•
•
•
What is ‘voice’?
“Cross; wicked” – whose language?
Why is all of this stanza in capitals?
De-chipher the final line.
Whose voice is this stanza in?

7. Verse 4: language and viewpoint
He knew a lot of time: he knew
Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,
Timetogohomenowtime, Tvtime,
• What are these 4 “times” the boy knows?
• Why present them in these compound ways?
• Where does the final comma lead….?

8. Verse 5: non-numerical time
Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).
All the important times he knew,
But not half-past two.
• To whom are these “time zones” relevant in the poem?
• So far, how does the poem show differences between
the child and adult experiences?
• Look ahead – what change occurs between this
verse/section of the poem, and the next?
• Subject of sympathy…or humiliation?

9. Verse 6: devices used?
He knew the clockface, the little eyes
And two long legs for walking,
But he couldn’t click its language,
• Find the: personification; figurative imagery;
onomatopoeia
• Which voice are we in here?
• Note the change from conversation to poetic language.
Is this sustained from hereon in the poem?

10. Verse 7: language and experience
So he waited, beyond onceupona,
Out of reach of all the timefors,
And knew he’d escaped for ever
• The run together words tell us what of the the boy’s
experience of time?
• Look up the technique “enjambement”: how does it
operate in this verse; to what effect?

11. Verse 8: escape into fantasy
Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,
Into the silent noise his hangnail made.
Into the air outside the window, into ever.
• This is the final stanza of the middle section
• Why? What is so special about this one?
• What does the use of the following bring to the theme
here:
– repetition (into)
– Sense of smell and sound (flowers and nail)
– Oxymoron (…go on, work it out yourself!)

12. Verse 9: final section of poem
And then, My goodness, she said,
Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.
Run along or you’ll be late.
•
•
•
•
Final section: how does the pace ‘change gear’?
What is the author trying to show by this?
How is a change of voice achieved?
Scuttling – what impression do you get from this verb?

13. Verse 10: a hybrid of times?
So she slotted him back into schooltime,
And he got home in time for teatime,
Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,
• Opens with conjunction “so”; second line with “and” The
impact is…what?
• “slotted”: explain the image
• Is the teacher dismissive of him? Or simply efficient?
• Translate what the boy hears of the teacher into what
she might well actually have said.

14. Verse 11: euphoric profundity
But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,
He escaped into the clockless land of ever,
Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.
•
•
•
•
•
Text’s summation becomes gently profound
“clockless land” = a fantasy image: how?
Where is the personification in the final line?
What impact has the boy been left with?
Sense, and celebration, of momentary timelessness he
gained – we all wish for this, sometimes

15. Homework/Team work
• Try a similar poetic analysis on
Rudyard Kipling’s ‘IF’.