DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, JALANDHAR

CLASS- X
POEM- AMANDA (by Robin Klein)

Poet- Robin McMaugh Klein is an Australian author of books for children. She was
born on 28 February 1936, in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia and now resides near
Melbourne.

In this poem, the poet shows us how difficult it can be for a young girl to grow up. In
childhood, we are happy to listen to fairy tales and imagine ourselves to be in the
same situation. However, this cannot last forever. At some point of time or the other,
we all have to grow up. One part of growing up is leaving fairy tales behind and
learning to accept reality as it is. Hence, we must get used to having our own set of
responsibilities, such as doing our homework or keeping our rooms clean.

STANZA 1
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
Hunch: bend
Slouching: sitting in a lazy way
Languid: relaxed
Emerald: here, green color
Inhabitant: resident
Drifting: carried slowly by the water
Blissfully: happily

The poet is describing Amanda, a little girl who is always pointed out by her mother for her
mistakes and how she imagines her life to be. The poet says that the mother is pointing out
Amanda for biting nails which is a bad habit. Next she asks her to sit straight without bending
her shoulders. Amanda who has habit of bending her shoulders and sitting lazily is being
pointed out because her mother wants her to sit in the right posture. At this point of time,
when she is being scolded by her mother, she imagines herself to be in a deep green sea. She
says that she wants to be the only resident of this beautiful green sea. She imagines herself
like a mermaid who is alone there and leads her life in a very relaxing way. She says that she
wants to be carried away by the current of water and feel the relaxing environment there.
Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite… don’t hunch)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
Rhyme: aaba ccc (Amanda, Amanda, straight, Amanda, sea, me, blissfully)
Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to the colour of
emrald
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Imagery: drifting blissfully
Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ - ‘s’ sound is being repeated at the start
of closely placed words.
Allusion: ‘mermaid’ is a well known imaginary creature.

STANZA 2
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
Orphan: A child whose parents are dead
Hushed: quiet and still place

Here the poet says that Amanda’s mother is inquiring her about whether she has done her
homework or not? And then she asks her whether she has cleaned her room or not. Moreover
she is also reminded to clean her shoes. So, here we can see that the mother is constantly
asking her questions regarding her homework being done or not or whether she had cleaned
up her room and shoes or not. But on the other hand, while Amanda is listening to her
mother’s instructions, she imagines herself to be an orphan who is roaming in the streets.
This means that she imagines if she would have been without parents she would have walked
freely in the streets. She would have drawn designs on the soft dust with her uncovered feet
very quietly. So, we can see that she thinks opposite to her mother. Her mother wants her to
keep everything neat and clean. But Amanda wants to play in dust with her bare feet.
Moreover, she is so fed up of these constant instructions from her mother, that she says
silence is golden which means that silence is very crucial and precious. She further says that
freedom is sweet. This means she never feels free when she is with her mother.

Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you finish….did you
tidy)
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme is aada eee (Amanda, Amanda, shoes, Amanda, street, feet, sweet)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Metaphor: silence is golden - silence is said to be glorious like golden colour
freedom is sweet - freedom is said to be sweet in taste.

STANZA 3
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(I am Rapunzel; I have not a care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
Acne: Pimples
Rapunzel: A girl in the fairy tale by Brothers Grimm
Tranquil: calm, quiet
Rare: uncommon

Next, Amanda’s mother is disallowing her to eat chocolates. She reminds her of pimples that
Amanda faces due to eating chocolates. At last she scolds her for not paying attention to what
her mother says. At this moment Amanda imagines herself to be Rapunzel. Rapunzel was a
character from a fairy tale that was captured in tower by a witch. The witch used to climb the
tower with the help of long hair of Rapunzel that were let down by her through the window.
So, now Amanda wants to be Rapunzel because she feels that life in the tower will be
peaceful and unusual. She thinks she will be free and live in a peaceful environment in the
tower. She also confirms to herself that she will never let her hair down to anyone so that
nobody could come to her in the tower.
Literary devices:
Allusion: use of famous fairy tale character Rapunzel
Rhyme: rhyme scheme aafa ggg (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda, care, rare, hair)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to
you
Consonance: use of sound ‘r’ (I am Rapunzel; I have not a care …..Bright hair)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’

STANZA 4
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
Sulking: be in a bad mood
Moody: unstable
Nagged: harass

Amanda’s mother now warns her for behaving in a very odd manner. She asks her to stop
being in a bad mood. Moreover she blames her of having such an unstable mood. She also
scolds her by saying that her behavior will one day make people think that Amanda was
constantly being harassed by her mother. So, here we can say that though Amanda is always
pointed out by her mother on every small thing but she can’t react to this. If she reacts
towards this by getting emotional her mother takes this against her sense of pride and scolds
her that she should not behave like this as others would think that Amanda’s mother is very
dominating towards her child.
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: ‘Stop that sulking’ - ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely placed words
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Rhyme scheme: aaha (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda)

Poetic Devices Used in the Poem : (in a nutshell)

The poem is in conversation tone.
Alliteration
Stop that slouching and sit up straight
I thought I told you to clean your shoes
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
Allusion
Mermaid – To be free and contained in their own. (Taken from fairy tales)
Rapunzel. Who lived happily alone on a tower for a long time. (Part of German fairy tale)
Metaphors
Orphan – Who don’t have nagging parents above their head as Amanda’s.
Languid, emerald sea – languid and emerald type qualities are assigned to sea.
Silence is golden
Freedom is sweet
Rhyme Scheme
aaba ccc aada eee aafa gggaaha

QUESTION AND ANSWERS-

1. Why does Amanda seem moody most of the times?
2. Why does Amanda wish to be a mermaid, an orphan, or Rapunzel?
3. Do you consider Amanda’s mother to be a nagging mother?
4. Why is Amanda getting instructions
5. What does the desire to be “sole inhabitant” tell you about ‘Amanda’?
6. Do you think Amanda is sulking and is moody?
7. Is the title ‘Amanda’ suitable for the poem?