In Shel Silverstein’s ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’, he depicts the adult world as harsh, drab and dull. Yet he suggests that childhood imagination is the key to surviving this world, as represented by the place where the children mark: the imaginary “place where the sidewalk ends” (Silverstein, 1). A.A. Milne’s ‘Blinker’ depicts a child persona who is often lonely and neglected but finds solace in his imaginary friend. In this essay, I will argue that Silverstein’s ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and Milne’s ‘Binker’ both capture childhood through their depictions of childhood imaginations having healing abilities.
Milne’s ‘Binker’ captures the spirit of childhood imagination, which the persona uses to comfort himself. In ‘Binker’, Milne writes from the perspective of the child. The poem follows a simple AABB rhyme scheme, uses simple, short words and has a driving rhythm. The persona’s imaginary friend, Binker, helps the child persona from his fears and anxieties. In the first stanza, Milne rhymes “Binker – what I call him – is a secret of my own, / And Binker is the reason why I never feel alone.” (Milne, 1-2). By using his power of imagination, the persona creates his imaginary friend Binker who assuages his fear of loneliness and heals his emotional state. The persona’s caretakers are often implied to be neglectful, as his father “hasn’t time to play” (35) and his mother “sometimes goes away” (36). In this case, Binker serves as his friend to keep him company. Milne employs repetition to reinforce the importance which Binker has to the persona: the first stanza ends with: “Whatever I am busy at, Binker will be there.” (4). The ending line of the poem has a similar idea: “But Binker’s always Binker, and is certain to be there.” (38). Both lines repeat the idea that Binker will always be around to keep the child persona company, shielding him from loneliness. Hence, we see that Milne depicts his persona as using his imagination to heal himself spiritually.
In ‘Sidewalk’, Silverstein uses imagery to show how childhood imagination can be a refuge for even adults. Silverstein’s world of adults is bleak and harsh. In the city, “the smoke blows black” and “the dark street winds and bends” (Silverstein, 7-8). Silverstein uses harsh plosive alliteration with the “b” and “d” consonants to interrupt the rhythm. The use of the verbs “winds and bends” suggests an unnatural, almost violent distortion of nature to fit urban life, compared to the verbs used to describe the childhood wonderland: “rests”, “grows”, “cool”. Additionally, there is a striking lack of colour in Silverstein’s depiction of the adults’ world. Even flowers, which are supposed to be vivid and full of colour, are “asphalt” (9) in the city. Silverstein uses the blackness of the smoke and the darkness of the street create a sense of unease in the reader, as darkness often has a connotation of danger. He uses the monochromatic, drab colours to allude to the dullness of adult life.
Silverstein represents childhood imagination by the imaginary “place where the sidewalk ends”. Silverstein depicts this wonderland using imagery of nature and greenery with references to “grass”, “the sun” and the “moon-bird” (3-5). These objects are symbolic of the natural world, providing a soothing change to the dark and gloomy imagery of the adult, urban world. Silverstein uses repetition in the first stanza, repeating the phrase “And there the” three times when listing these pastoral images along with an ABCCCB rhyme scheme. This use of repeated phrases, alliteration along with a regular rhyme scheme gives the poem a calming effect and tone, reminiscent of Milne’s ‘Binker’. At the end of the poem, Silverstein suggests that it is this childhood imagination which will heal adults from the suffering of adult life. Silverstein writes that “we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go the children, they know” (14-15). The arrows which will lead the adults out of their suffering in the city are assumed to be written by the children, in chalk. They lead towards the imaginary place beyond the sidewalk, which is a metaphor for childhood imagination. Like Milne’s persona who has Binker to heal him, Silverstein depicts the adults regaining their childlike imagination. Hence, Silverstein depicts this imaginary wonderland, created through childlike imagination, as a healing refuge from the harsh adult life depicted in the second stanza.
Like ‘Binker’, where Milne’s persona is healed by his imaginary friend, Binker, Silverstein’s ‘Sidewalk’ urges readers to take refuge and be healed by their powers of imagination, represented by the “place where the sidewalk ends”. Hence, it can be seen that Silverstein’s ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and Milne’s ‘Binker’ both capture childhood through their depictions of childhood imaginations having healing abilities.
Works Cited
Milne, A.A. “Binker”. HL2042 Children’s Literature Poetry Readings AY2020-2021, edited by Katherine Blyn Wakely-Mulroney, Nanyang Technological University, 2020, pp. 1.
Silverstein, Shel. “Where the Sidewalk Ends”. HL2042 Children’s Literature Poetry Readings AY2020-2021, edited by Katherine Blyn Wakely-Mulroney, Nanyang Technological University, 2020, pp. 4.