Comparing A Barred Owl And The History Teacher

The two poems titled, “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins have a very distinct thing in common. The authors centered each text around adults protecting children’s innocence by hiding the real world problems and issues through interpreting them in ways that will ease their thoughts and imaginations (dreams). Richard Wilbur was able to interpret his piece through rhyme and focused on the preservation of children’s imagination. While Billy Collins elucidated the same theme, he represented his ideals through having the main character a teacher censors real world events when educating his students.
In the piece, “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur, he is able to illustrate his theme through rhyme and uses irony

through the adults interpretation to the child of the events taking place. The author uses rhyme consecutively in the piece with an example being when he says, “And send a small child back to sleep at night. Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight” (Wilbur). He demonstrates dramatic irony through the beginning stanza, “The warping night air having brought the boom, of an owl’s voice into her darkened room. We tell the wakened child that all she heard, was an odd question from a forest bird” (Wilbur). The dramatic irony lies in the second sentence where the adults tell the young girl that the boom (hinted to be the dropping of bombs), was just a bird asking the question, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you” (Wilbur)? This poem emphasises the preservation of children's dreams and adults putting in effort to shield them from real world problems.
In continuation, the poem titled “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, he is able to expresses his thoughts through the teacher censoring his students in the case of real world catastrophes. His poem is an example of free verse as it has no rhyming words to follow case in point when he “ Trying to protect his student's innocence, he told them the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age, a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters. And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age, named after the long driveways of the time” (Collins). He is also able to show dramatic irony when saying, “ The War of the Roses took place in a garden, and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan” (Collins) due to the fact that the audience/reader is able to deduce that Enola Gay is the United States and he is referring to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan which ended World War 2 with mass casualties on the Japanese side. In all, the teacher is able to protect his kids from dangerous events to keep their innocence, but he can only go so far as it says in the piece, “ The children would leave his classroom for the playground and torment the weak and the smart, mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses” (Collins).
Although both of these poems have the same conclusion being the protection of children from real world horrors, they obtain quite the difference.

In Richard Wilbur’s poem, he expresses that a child's dreams are the most innocent part of them as the parents cover up the sound of the bomb by saying that it was just a woodland creature asking a question. While in Billy Collins work, he depicts that the obtainment of knowledge has the ability to sway a child's central aspect of what the real world is and what they believe it to be through the teacher lying to his students about what actually has taken place in the past and at that time, modern day history. Children, are brought up into society by the protection of their parents with dreams acting as a safe haven but they can easily be shattered by real world situations. Parents can only go so far as to protect their kids from what’s really out there. Then it will be time for them to go to school and get an education where the parents then trust the teachers to keep them as open minded and care free to a certain limit as possible. But teachers also have a boundary that they can’t go passed as they can not be with everyone at open things like lunch and recess which is what Billy Collins makes a note

of
Overall, through the pieces “ A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “ The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, the message that makes its way across is that children and their young mindset are fragile and that it is an adults obligation to protect a child for as long as they can for what’s in store outside “safeguarded” walls.

Although it is proven difficult through the growing perspective of children as they are exposed to things such as bullying and harassment as shown in Collins work. As mentioned in both poems, fear is a frequent theme occuring. In “A Barred Owl” it specifically states in a stanza “can also thus domesticate a fear,” (Wilbur) and in the poem “The History Teacher” the first line is “trying to protect his students innocence” (Collins). The first piece shows the little girl is frightened by an odd owl in the nighttime and an assumption can be made that perhaps if she had a parent or a friend present then she wouldn't of been as scared to be alone at night and these nightmares won’t be occuring. On the other hand in the other piece,that this teacher is afraid of the outcome of what could happen if the students grow too mature too fast, and he as the teacher can’t do anything to keep their innocence they have now sane. Clearly this teacher is very caring for his students. Both pieces of work have darker more creepy vibes to them but have many untold meanings behind

them.