Glass jar- personification of sun= highlights child's faith in the glass jar.
-short, blunt sentences in the third stanza indicates that the child is in a stae of panic due to the glass jar failing to work
-hyperbole (then hope fell headlong from its eagle height)= indicates the extent of the child's disappointment which causes him to lose faith + hope (central theme)
-Musical imagery (loves proud executants played from a score no child could read or realise)= indicates the complexity of the situation when he views his parents in a sexual act. It is at theis point he loses his innocence and undergoes a transition from a child to an adolescent.
Variant Reading- Freudian reading (psychoanalytic reading)
Mention the Oedipus theory --> a variant reading would focus on how the events in the poem may portray the need for the persona (child) to resolve problems within his own paternal relationship.
He refers to his father a his rival (his comforter lays in his rival's fast embrace) = links to the oedipus theory where a child has an unconciuos desire for a sexual relationship for the parent of the opposite sex and views the parent of the same sex as a rival.
Also linking to the oedipus theory is the fact boys grew out of this phase due to the fear of being punished by their fathers
"his father held fiddle and bow, and scraped assent to the malignant ballet"
it is clear that the boy is getting punished through a violent dream involving his father and therefore closely links to the oedipus theory,
Also sginificant to a Freudian reading is how the monsters he views at night are "envenomend with his secret hate" and use this knowledge to harass him. These monsters are merely a creation of his mind and therefore suggest that he has potential for evil thoughts and desires.
Overall, summarise a dominant reading of the poems, then explain a variant reading (making sure it differs to a dominant reading and its balanced with the dominant reading).
I hope that helped.
