Christopher Howell Comments

A profound poem on the impact of inequality, poverty, horrors of war, fear etc on childhood! Late 40's and early 50's were hard times for children all over the world, due to the extreme impact of war. Germans and Japanese symbolised this horror. The poem depicts it horrible Marsh Wheeling crooks, dark forms rose near us like submarines listening, mystified Germans, perhaps, trapped there since the war and wondering if they should kill us or simply steal our catfish and cigars. They are dreaded as crooks who would rob the child of his coveted possessions of catfish and cigars. Or simply kill us! I remember that even in my childhood, that is early sixties, these words were dreaded. German were represented by the battleship Emden (EmaNdan, in colloquial Malayalam) that visited of little port Cochin/Kochi during the war and spread horror. Japanese were dreaded for they 'would steal girls and women tpeat them'. Uttering these two words was enough for mothers to make their children obey without any demur.