Stephen Spender's "My Parents kept me from children who were rough" is a poem written in free verse. That means it is unrhymed and has no specific meter. However, we can confirm by counting that the lines range from 10-12 syllables each, and many of the "feet" of the poem are anapests (two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one, such as in the line "and who threw" where the stress is placed on the word "threw").
The poem is filled with similes:
"words like stones"
"I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron"
"they sprang out behind hedges / Like dogs to bark at our world"
The words within these similes help contribute to our understanding of the "rough children." The words "stones," "tigers," "iron," and "dogs" all carry the rough connotation that the author is trying to convey.
Another device that has the same effect is metaphor. The poet says, "I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys." Thus, the pointing of the boys is compared to coarse salt - not a pleasant feeling!
The tone of the poem is most strongly conveyed through the device anthesis. This device uses contrast in order to prove a point. So in this poem, the speaker discusses all of the things that the rough children are, and by doing so he also tells us everything he is NOT. He tells us all the horrible things the other kids do, which emphasizes his position as a victim.
The speaker also seems envious of how free the other children are, even though he resents their bullying. We can see this in the title and first line, where he states that his parents keep him away from the others, implying that it is not his own decision to avoid them.
Hope this helps!
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