What is the analysis of Stephen Spender's poem "My Parents"?

I assume you are referring to Stephen Spender's poem, My parents kept me from children who were rough?

Spender could be using this poem either as a criticism or praise for his parents for protecting him against children in his neighbourhood who were over-rambunctious and would make fun of him or bully him since he suffered from some disability as a child, having had a problematic foot and a speech impediment. The poem, does however, have universal application and relevance.

The poem is divided into three stanzas and does not have a regular rhyme structure, probably used by the poet to emphasise the irregular and harsh treatment he had been a victim of through the treatment meted out to him by other children. The language is simple and straightforward, which makes the content easily understandable. Also, it enables the speaker to address a younger audience in language which is understood and to which such an audience can relate to, thus creating an awareness of the type of harmful abuse they might knowingly, or unknowingly, dispense to their targets or victims.

It is clear that the speaker distances himself from these 'rough' children - the constant use of 'they' and 'their' makes it clear that the speaker does not share a close relationship with or have any attachment to, these children.

The speaker resents these other children for mocking him: 'who threw words like stones'  - their words are hurtful. However, it is clear that these children were either not as economically well-cared for or that they were careless since they 'wore torn clothes' and 'their thighs showed through rags'. It is as if the speaker, in defence, adopts a disdainful and sneering attitude towards the children who are hurting him. 

They ran in the street and climbed cliffs and stripped by country streams' - things the speaker was obviously not allowed to do by his very protective parents.

The speaker was terribly afraid of these other children and feared their strength 'more than tigers'. Their muscles were 'like iron' which implies that they were strong because of all the physical activity or that they came from a rough neighbourhood and were hardened by their harsh lives. They obviously bullied the speaker, for their hands were 'jerking', a reference to their constant pulling and shoving and reaching out to him. 'Their knees tight on my arms' makes it painfully obvious that they physically abused him.

He was afraid of the constant teasing by the other boys. Painfully aware of their attitudes, their mockery would rub salt into his already wounded ego. Their actions were harsh. Their 'pointing' is a clear indication of their rejection. They 'copied my lisp' further indicating that they made fun of how he spoke.

In the final stanza, the speaker further illustrates his envy for these children. They 'were lithe'', seemingly he could not be, since he was not given the opportunity to partake in rough activities. However the animal imagery makes it clear that he does not admire them since 'they sprang out behind hedges' obviously to scare him as an animal would do to surprise its prey. They were 'like dogs' further emphasising their savage nature and they would 'bark at our world'. This line clearly emphasizes that the speaker sees himself completely apart from these rough children. They come from entirely different worlds - he, civilized and they not.

The last two lines has much pathos. The speaker attempts to appear brave by looking 'the other way, pretending to smile', but obviously, he cannot. He had the desire to forgive them for the manner in which they treated him, but they, of course, never gave him the opportunity to do so and rejected him outright - 'yet they never smiled'. He did not stand a chance with them.

How do the last two lines of "My Parents" by Stephen Spender reveal the theme?

In "My Parents," Spender explores the theme of the isolation and alienation he felt from the other boys his age in his neighborhood. They were poor, rough boys dressed in torn, ragged clothing who played in the streets. His parents, he says in the opening line, "kept him" from such children—except that they didn't, not really.

After all, these strong, tough boys bullied Spender physically and frightened him. They also mocked him, imitating his lisp and pointing at him. The poem shows Spender's perception that is was "them" versus "him."

In the last two lines of the poem, Spender says that when the boys threw mud, he looked the other way, "pretending to smile." With the smile, he was trying to get along with them and make a connection that would allow him to feel less isolated and alienated from these lads his own age. However, even though he wanted to "forgive" them, they never smiled back, so there could be no connection. These last two lines therefore reinforce the poem's theme of isolation and alienation.

How do the last two lines of "My Parents" by Stephen Spender reveal the theme?

The last two lines express the isolation the speaker felt because his parents kept him separate and protected from "children who were rough." The children who surrounded him engaged in typical childhood roughhousing; they "ran in the street and climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams." The speaker feared them both physically,when they roughed him up, and psychologically, as they mocked his speech impediment when they followed him.  

The last two lines, 

And I looked another way, pretending to smile,
I longed to forgive them, yet they never smiled.

suggest that instead of being kept away from these children, the speaker longed to live among them to experience the give and take of childhood relationships. He understands that he would have sometimes received the same rough treatment, but if they had been intimate, he expects that he would have also received apologies from them instead of remaining estranged and isolated.

How is the theme of childhood memories presented in Stephen Spender's "My Parents"?

In the poem "My Parents" by Stephen Spender, the narrator recalls childhood memories of being bullied. Bullying is a common theme in the childhood memories of many people because many people were bullied during their childhood for all sorts of reasons. This causes the poem to resonate profoundly with readers.

Although the opening line seems to indicate that the narrator's parents protected him from bullies by keeping him away from them, the rest of the poem seems to indicate that at least sometimes, they were unsuccessful. Parents may have the best of intentions, but as a child grows, he ventures out more and more on his own. The poem indicates that bullies use opportunities when the narrator is alone and defenseless to attack, "springing out behind hedges." They outnumber him, and they are stronger than he is, with "muscles like iron." They taunt him because he lisps, ridicule him with "words like stones," and throw mud.

The narrator, "pretending to smile," acts as if he is not hurt. He fears the bullies "more than tigers" and would like "to forgive them," but they never return his smiles.

We see, then, that the main theme in this poem is childhood memories of being bullied, which many readers can relate to from recollections of their own childhoods.

Summarize the poem "My Parents" by Stephen Spender.

In this twelve-line poem, Spender's narrator shines a light on the class differences in England he experienced growing up.

In the first line of the first stanza, the narrator notes the divide between himself and the "rough" children who lived nearby, stating that his parents "kept" him away from them. He then goes on to explain some of the differences between them: the "rough" children wore "torn clothes" and "rags." They were also more physically active than him, for they "climbed cliffs" and would strip naked to swim in streams.

In the second stanza, the narrator writes of the physical threat these stronger, poorer boys posed to him, with their "knees tight on my arms," an image which implies they would knock him down and sit on him. Their words are harsh, too: they would trail after him, mocking his "lisp."

In the third stanza, the description of the threat of the lower-class boys continues: the child narrator describes them as "dogs" who would spring out from "behind hedges" to scare him. They would throw mud at him. He tried to go along, pretending "to smile." In the last line of the poem, he says he wanted to forgive them, implying that their behavior made him feel angry and victimized, but they would never allow it: he might smile, but they "never smiled" back.

This is a poem about how hard it is to cross class lines in a country where some are privileged and some poor. Spender illustrates that resentments between the lower and upper classes start young and are difficult to resolve.