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What is the cry of the children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning about?
What did Elizabeth Barrett Browning say about child labor?
How does Elizabeth Barrett Browning use language in the cry of the children?
Who was Elizabeth Barrett Browning?
Among all female poets of the English-speaking world in the 19th century, none was held in higher critical esteem or was more admired for the independence and courage of her views than Elizabeth Barrett Browning. During the years of her marriage to Robert Browning, her literary...
- Mother and Poet
The Cry of the Children. By Elizabeth Barrett Browning. To...
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Among all female poets of the English-speaking world in the...
- Mother and Poet
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “The Cry of the Children” is a passionate indictment of child labor in 19th-century industrial England. First published in 1843 and later revised multiple times, the poem captures the immorality of exploiting children as workers, and condemns both the people and societal institutions that uphold child labor as ...
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Similar Poetry
The poem alternates between the voice of a narrator and the voice of the children. The speakerintroduces the children, their plight while at the same time asking that the listener and all fellow human beings pay attention to what she’s saying. Then, the children raise their voices. They express their sorrow as well as their desire to meet their dea...
The themes in ‘The Cry of the Children’ include pain/suffering and God. Throughout the poem, Browning uses very direct language in order to address the overwhelming problem of children’s labor during her lifetime. This was something that she often spoke out against, something that was quite unusual for the time. This can be interpreted simply from ...
‘The Cry of the Children’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a thirteen stanza poem that is divided into sets of twelve lines. These follow the rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEF, with a few moments of divergence throughout. For example, the first stanza rhymes ABABCDCDAEAE. Additionally, readers should note how some of the end sounds are repeated in other...
Browning makes use of several literary devices in ‘The Cry of the Children.’ These include but are not limited to examples of anaphora, metaphor, caesurae, and enjambment. The latter is a common formal device that is concerned with where the poet chooses to end a line. If the line ends before the end of a sentence or phrase, then it is likely enjam...
Stanza One
The first stanza of ‘The Cry of the Children’ is quite direct (as are all the following stanzas). Browning immediately jumps into the main point of the poem, condemning and exposing the horrors of child labor in England and around the world. She asks her brothers or her fellow countrymen if they can hear the “children weeping.” These young boys and girls are too young to know the sorrow they’re experiencing, she adds, making it all the more important that someone listens. The following lines...
Stanza Two
The next stanza also begins with a question. She asks the listeners, her “brothers,” if they have even thought to ask the children why they’re crying. This suggests that men and women of the upper classes usually do not take the time to think about what the children are going through. There are some griefs, the speaker says, which can be expected. This includes the old weeping for their youths and the loss of long-held dreams. These are normal griefs, ones that come with age. But, when a chil...
Stanza Three
The third stanza of ‘The Cry of the Children’ is dedicated to what the children look like. It also brings in the first bits of dialogue. The speaker describes them as having “pale and sunken faces” that are filled with grief. They are burdened as if they’re old men. The children speak in the next lines, expressing how tired they are and how gloomy they find the earth. They’ve barely had time be able alive, and already they’re seeking rest in their grave. Unfortunately, they say, they have a l...
Readers who enjoyed ‘The Cry of the Children’ should also consider reading some of Brownings’ other poems. These include ‘Sonnet 14,’ ‘Sonnet 24,’ and ‘Patience Taught by Nature.’ The first sonnet, ‘Sonnet 14,’ is one of her best-known. It contains a speaker’s ideas about how she wants to be loved. She’s interested in being appreciated for love’s o...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
The Cry of the Children" is a poem by English writer Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It examines children's manual labor forced upon them by their exploiters. It was published in August 1843 in Blackwood's Magazine. This was shortly following the report into child labour by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Children's Employment. Background
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- 1843
The tone of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “The Cry of the Children” is one of deep sadness and despair. Throughout the poem, Browning uses powerful imagery and language to convey the suffering of the children who are forced to work in factories and mines.
Background. A two-volume anthology, Poems, by Elizabeth Barrett, later Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was published in 1844, to great critical acclaim. The most significant verse in the collection was a powerful sentimental work, ‘The Cry of the Children’, which had first appeared the previous year in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine.
The poet protests against the terrible conditions endured by children employed in factories and the mining industry; the consequence of the Industrial Revolution and the insatiable demand for ...
