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Poet: Robert Burns
Poem: Coming Through The Rye
Comment 6 of 6, added on June 17th, 2006 at 6:09 PM.
the poem is written by Robert Burns, who is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and even in his writing in English a "light" Scots dialect simply is ubiquitous.His poems are like folk songs something passed on from mouth to mouth by people who may or may not know anything about its significance or meaning.The boy sings the song while left untended to, his parents engrossed with something else and just then Holden sees him knowing nothing about the song or poem whatever it is, instead his mind registers an all together different song , with an all together different interpretation. Had it been anyone except the child singiing it Holden most probably would have dismissed him as being "phoney."But the boy draws his atteneion just the way his little sisters draws his attention.My point is that it has to be a boy singing.
may be he just going along singing something her maid has taught him or just a catchy tune he heard somewhre.
Shivam from United Kingdom
Comment 5 of 6, added on November 13th, 2005 at 9:37 AM.
The pivotal question in the poem, "Should the world care?" is the idealism that Holden is struggling with.
Phoebe asks Holden what he truly likes in life because Holden is always so critical. Holden answers he likes talking to her. Phoebe informs him that just talking to her isn't anything. And this is the question that Burns poses. Jenny in her wet petticoat, the six-year-old walking along the curb and society symbolized by the parents not caring, the innocence and beauty of childhood that gets shut out by adult society. These are the issues Holden is struggling with, and they lead to his wishful thinking to be the Catcher in the Rye, the one that prevents the playing children from falling over the cliff, the point of no return, into the phoniness of adulthood.
Peter Nerad from United States
Comment 4 of 6, added on October 1st, 2005 at 7:09 PM.
The meaning behind the little boy singing it is the following:
His family is walking home from church, while the parents are talking not really paying attention to the little boy. The ironic thing is the little boy is walking in the gutter really close to the street singing this line. It basically means (to holden) that there should be someone there to save the boy from getting hit by a car (cars honking), so the ironic thing is the little boy singing it.
Marc from United States
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the poem is written by Robert Burns, who is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and even in his writing in English a "light" Scots dialect simply is ubiquitous.His poems are like folk songs something passed on from mouth to mouth by people who may or may not know anything about its significance or meaning.The boy sings the song while left untended to, his parents engrossed with something else and just then Holden sees him knowing nothing about the song or poem whatever it is, instead his mind registers an all together different song , with an all together different interpretation. Had it been anyone except the child singiing it Holden most probably would have dismissed him as being "phoney."But the boy draws his atteneion just the way his little sisters draws his attention.My point is that it has to be a boy singing.
may be he just going along singing something her maid has taught him or just a catchy tune he heard somewhre.
Shivam from United Kingdom