Patrick Kavanagh - A Christmas Childhood

One side of…

One side of the potato-pits was white with frost – How wonderful that was, how wonderful!

• The repetition of wonderful, together with the !, conveys the sense of childhood excitement.

The light between…

The light between the ricks of hay and straw / Was a hole in Heaven’s gable

• Here, childhood is seen as a time of perfect innocence and happiness.

O you, Eve, …

O you, Eve, were the world that tempted me

• What he means here is that he knows he will lose his childhood innocence as he gets older and gains more knowledge of the world.

There were stars…

There were stars in the morning east / And they danced to his music
- the personified stars again highlight the power of the child's imagination.

The light…

The light of her stable-lamp was a star

• metaphorical: the poet magically transforms aspects of everyday life into the Christmas story.

Mass-going…

Mass-going feet / Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes

• onomatopoeia

My child…

My child poet picked out the letters / On the grey stone

• from a young age, Kavanagh was aware of his artistic ability.

And I was…

And I was six Christmases of age.

• Childlike perspective; Kavanagh expresses age through “Christmases” which reflect a child’s worldview.

And I had…

And I had a prayer like a white rose pinned / On the Virgin Mary’s blouse

• White rose symbolizes childlike innocence and purity.