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“Half-Past Two” Introduction
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“Half-Past Two” Summary
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“Half-Past Two” Themes
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Childlike Wonder and Understanding
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 10-24
- Lines 28-33
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Authority and Adulthood
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-9
- Lines 25-28
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Half-Past Two”
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Lines 1-3
Once upon a ...
... what it was). -
Lines 4-9
And She said he'd done ...
... wicked to remind her.) -
Lines 10-15
He knew a ...
... not half-past two. -
Lines 16-18
He knew the ...
... click its language, -
Lines 19-24
So he waited, beyond ...
... window, into ever. -
Lines 25-30
And then, ...
... Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime, -
Lines 31-33
But he never ...
... to be born.
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“Half-Past Two” Symbols
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The Clock
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 16-18: “He knew the clockface, the little eyes / And two long legs for walking, / But he couldn't click its language,”
- Line 32: “He escaped into the clockless land for ever,”
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“Half-Past Two” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anaphora
Where anaphora appears in the poem:- Lines 10-11: “He knew a lot of time: he knew / Gettinguptime”
- Lines 22-24: “Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk, / Into the silent noise his hangnail made, / Into the air outside the window, into ever.”
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Colloquialism
Where colloquialism appears in the poem:- Lines 11-13: “Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime, / Timetogohomenowtime, TVtime, / Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).”
- Line 19: “onceupona”
- Line 20: “timefors”
- Line 28: “schooltime”
- Line 29: “teatime”
- Line 30: “Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 22-24: “Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk, / Into the silent noise his hangnail made, / Into the air outside the window, into ever.”
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Lines 16-18: “He knew the clockface, the little eyes / And two long legs for walking, / But he couldn't click its language,”
- Line 20: “Out of reach of all the timefors,”
- Line 33: “Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.”
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Hyperbole
Where hyperbole appears in the poem:- Line 2: “He did Something Very Wrong”
- Lines 4-5: “And She said he'd done / Something Very Wrong”
- Line 9: “He was too scared at being wicked to remind her.”
- Line 21: “And knew he'd escaped for ever”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Once,” “schooltime”
- Lines 5-6: “must / Stay”
- Line 6: “school,” “till half-past two”
- Line 7: “forgotten”
- Line 8: “taught,” “Time”
- Line 9: “scared,” “wicked”
- Lines 11-12: “Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime, / Timetogohomenowtime, TVtime”
- Line 13: “Timeformykisstime,” “Grantime”
- Line 14: “important times”
- Line 15: “half-past two”
- Line 16: “clockface,” “little”
- Line 17: “long legs,” “walking”
- Line 18: “couldn't click,” “language”
- Line 22: “smell,” “chrysanthemums,” “desk”
- Line 28: “slotted,” “schooltime”
- Line 29: “time,” “teatime”
- Line 30: “Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime”
- Line 31: “never,” “once,” “not knowing”
- Line 32: “escaped,” “clockless land”
- Line 33: “time,” “tick-less”
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“Half-Past Two” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Cross
- Click
- Chrysanthemum
- Hangnail
- Scuttling
Cross-
(Location in poem: Lines 7-8: “Being cross, she'd forgotten / She hadn't taught him Time”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Half-Past Two”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Half-Past Two” Speaker
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“Half-Past Two” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Half-Past Two”
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More “Half-Past Two” Resources
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External Resources
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What Do Kids Know About Time? — An article from Psychology Today exploring how young children conceive of time.
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U. A. Fanthorpe's Life and Work — A short biography of Fanthorpe via the Poetry Foundation.
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U. A. Fanthorpe's Obituary — The Guardian recounts U. A. Fanthorpe's life and major influences after the writer's death in 2009.
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A Short Interview With Fanthorpe — U. A. Fanthorpe shares why she started writing poetry.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by U. A. Fanthorpe
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