Red+Balloon


 * Red Balloon**

It sailed across the startled town, over chapels, over chimney-pots, wind-blown above a block of flats before it floated down.

Oddly, it landed where I stood, and finding's keeping, as you know. I breathed on it, I polished it, till it shone like living blood.

It was my shame, it was my joy, it brought me notoriety. From all of Wales the rude boys came, it ceased to be a toy.

I heard the girls of Cardiff sigh when my balloon, my red balloon, soared higher like a happiness towards the dark blue sky.

Nine months since, have I boasted of my unique, my only precious; but to no one dare I show it now however long they swear their love.

'It's a Jew's balloon,' my best friend cried 'stained with our dear Lord's blood.’ ‘That I'm a Jew is true,' I said, said I, 'that cannot be denied.'

'What relevance?' I asked, surprised, 'what's religion to do with this?' 'Your red balloon's a Jew's balloon, let's get it circumcised.'

Then some boys laughed and some boys cursed, some unsheathed their dirty knives; some lunged, some clawed at my balloon, but still it would not burst.

They bled my nose, they cut my eye, half conscious in the street I heard, 'Give up, give up your red balloon’. I don't know exactly why.

Father, bolt the door, turn the key, lest those sad, brash boys return to insult my faith and steal my red balloon from me.

n.b: the red baloon is symbolic of his judaism


 * 'it sailed across the startled town'-- //its saying the town was startled by the presence of this balloon.//


 * 'over chapels,over chimney pots'-- //gives it a feeling of superiority.//


 * '...it shone like living blood'-- //juxtaposition of a baloon which symbolises childhood and youth but also blood which is anything but.//


 * 'it was my shame,it was my joy'-- //he is confused about how he should feel: ashamed of being jewish but also happy and proud.//


 * 'it brought me notoriety'-- //gives him a bad reputation for being jewish.//


 * 'From all of Wales the rude boys came, it ceased to be a toy.'-- //it means more to him but to them its just a toy. it also gives them a cause to bully him about being a jew.//


 * 'I heard the girls of Cardiff sigh'-- //they seem to be dissapointed by the excitement he has built up about HIS balloon.//


 * 'my balloon, my red balloon'-- //this is symbolic of his pride to being jewish. As he cant be open about his religion he has a object to symbolise it and it is now HIS balloon but at this point he doesn't acknowledge it.//


 * 'soared higher like a happiness'-- //this is symbolic of how the balloon makes him feel//


 * ''Nine months since, have I boasted of my unique, my only precious;'-- //this shows he is ashamed of his jewish heritage although he also refers to his balloon as his 'only precious' which is symbolic of his judaism.//

//*' but to no one dare I show it now'-- ////another example of him being ashamed of being a jew.//


 * 'however long they swear their love.'-- //it shows people are false regarding their attitudes towards jews. this may be representative of abse's beloved wales. it portrays itself as a diverse country however many of its inhabitants are racist.//


 * "its a jews balloon," my best friend cried, "stained with our dear lords blood".--//it seems that his friend,also a jew, understands how Abse feels about his balloon.//

//* That I'm a Jew is true,' I said, // said I, 'that cannot be denied.' 'What relevance?' I asked, surprised, 'what's religion to do with this?'-- //he is surprised that his friend has also established its a jews balloon. at this point he realises why he holds the balloon,and his religion, close to his chest.//

// *'lets get it circumcised'-- his friend suggests that the balloon must get circumcised as it is a jewish tradition.//

//* ' Then some boys laughed and some boys cursed, // some unsheathed their dirty knives; some lunged, some clawed at my balloon, but still it would not burst.--//this stanza re-emphasizes that the welsh boys ridicule is religion and don't take its traditions seriously. it also says ''it would not burst"// which shows it stood strong.

// *They bled my nose, they cut my eye,-- he gets beaten up because he wont give up his balloon but also because he is jewish.//

//*' I don't know exactly why'.-- he doesn't understand why he is getting beaten up.//

//* brash boys return to insult my faith'-- this quotation sums up the point Abse was trying to get across in this poem.// // lest those sad, brash boys return to insult my faith and steal my red balloon from me.--//the last stanza tells he needs to be protected from the racism he suffers for being jewish.//
 * Father, bolt the door, turn the key, //

//**Content...** this poem is about Abse's life as a jewish boy growing up in wales. on the surface it describes when Abse found a red balloon and how the 'rude boys' of wales burst it when they found out it was 'a jews balloon'. //

//**Theme...** the poem is more deeply about the conflict between religion and society, the red ballon is representitive of abse's religion and it shows us how he attempts to hid it from his welsh society.

//**Language...**as above


 * Imagery...**//the title red balloon is a juxtaposition of youth and death. a balloon is symbolic of youth and happiness whereas we are told later the red balloon shone "like living blood".//

Sound...//is a rhyme throughout but it is only strong in certain places.the end of the the first and last lines of each stanza rhyme.there is no strong rhythm throughout.//

Structure...//there are 10 stanzas where the end of the first and last lines rhyme.//


 * Tone...**the mood of the poem varies. at the start, abse seems vary happy to have acquired his red balloon. this is hyperbole and is building up however we are told " //to no one dare I show it"// and from then on things get worse. Bathos.