Analysis of Castles in the Air



Happy are those children that have railways in the hall,
Painting in the kitchen and stories when they’re small.
Friends to come and visit them - ribbons for their hair,
To so many lonely children is a ‘Castles in the Air.’

Mothers doing washing up - neighbours picking flowers,
Brothers under motorcars for hours upon hours.
Coming home from school each day knowing someone’s there,
To so many orphaned children is a ‘Castles in the Air.’

Can you think how it would be if all you could recall,
Were angry words and tempers, or no-one there at all?
Birthdays, picnics, Christmases - families that care,
To so many battered children is a ‘Castles in the Air.’

Sometimes kids are fortunate ‘cos people can be found
To foster them and care for them, and always be around.
All these families ever ask is just a chance to share
With all these precious children their ‘Castles in the Air.’

They give them homes and firesides - railways in the hall,
Painting in the kitchen and stories when they’re small.
They let their friends come visiting - buy ribbons for their hair,
But most of all they help them find their ‘Castles in the Air.’


Scheme aAbb ccbb aabb ddbb aAbb
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 101110111001 100010010111 111010110111 111010101010001 101010111010 1010101100110 10111111011 111010101010001 111111111111 0101010111111 1110010011 111010101010001 0111100110111 1101011101101 11100101110111 1111010110001 1111011001 100010010111 11111100110111 11111111110001
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,161
Words 224
Sentences 11
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 44
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 177
Words per stanza (avg) 40

About this poem

Castles in the Air are children's dreams. Children who are placed in foster care need dreams - dreams to share with their new families that give them hope for their futures. Castles in the Air allows children to realise these dreams.

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Written on October 10, 1999

Submitted by susannaelliott on March 06, 2024

1:07 min read
266

Susanna Elliott-Newth

Susanna is a teacher, living near the coastal fringes of the Illawarra Coastline in NSW, Australia. Her environment is her stimulus for her writing. She has published four books of short stories, as well as her own memoir book, and writes educational resources for teachers. more…

All Susanna Elliott-Newth poems | Susanna Elliott-Newth Books

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