Theme of Childhood

Chosen Poems: Material

To My Nine-Year-Old Self

Helen Dunnmore’s poem, To My Nine Year Old Self and Ross Barber’s Material are both
dominated by themes of childhood. Both poems have a rather nostalgic tone which is
reminiscent of the past and they both have a very personal approach. Generally they both
present a very similar message but in dissimilar ways of delivery in terms of form and
structure of the poem

In terms of similarities, these poems share a lot of common ground, particularly in terms of
broader ideas. As mentioned above, both poems express an air of nostalgia, predominantly
brought to the fore through the language used. Material actually directly refers to words
such as “nostalgia” and “I miss” which strongly emphasise this sense of longing for the past
in a rather explicit manner. To My Nine Year Old Self also mentions a sense of nostalgia but
in a more implicit manner through addressing his past self as “you”, differentiating his
current persona from that of the past as two different people. By doing so, he separates the
present from the past and creates a sense of distance. She views her life not as a linear
continuation of events but rather as the past and the present being individual entities,
separated by time. This idea of distance created by time creates a sense of nostalgia in the
sense that she no longer feels accustomed to her old self and brings about this idea that she
will never be able to go back to how times used to be no matter how much she wishes to.
This highlights an implicit element of nostalgia as she never directly states anything about
longing for the past but it is expressed in the way she refers to her past self in second
person, creating a sense of distance as those times are so detached from her she will never
be able to reach them.

Furthermore, these two poems are also similar in the way they express such personal ideas
with the use of personal pronouns. Material uses personal pronouns as a means of creating
a sense of informal familiarity. For example the poem begins with “my” which immediately
sets the tone of familiarity and adoration to her mother. This deeply contrasts To My Nine
Year Old Self which uses these personal pronouns to create a distance between the “you”
and the “I”, despite the fact that it refers to the same person, in different parts of time.

Nevertheless, perhaps the most striking difference between the two poems is the form and
structure. Material follows a strict structure of iambic tetrameter which is reflective of the
formal era the poet is evoking whereas To My Nine Year Old Self is written in free verse
which adds to this idea of longing for the free and liberated years of childhood.

In conclusion, both poems present a dominant theme of childhood and a sense of nostalgia
for returning to those times. They both present the same idea but in vastly different ways.