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The title 'bitter ballad' suggest sorrow and sentimental. The first stanza 'little boy smoking cigarette' , 'little boy' connotes young, innocent and naive. The second stanza 'come blow your horn' suggest to fill with air. The third stanza, 'little boy jabbering' and 'old man language' , 'little boy' and 'old man' have a clear contrast. The little boy was talking quickly with little sense. He doesn't understand what he was talking about.  "He puffs lustily' suggest strong and powerful.  Edwin thumboo emphasizes on 'ignorant' suggest that the little boy is lack of knowledge. 'Burning his body away' suggest that smoking will destroy his body. The forth stanza 'here is a picture you can paint' and 'little boy smoking' , Edwin thumboo want us to picture the scene of the ignorant boy smoking. 'Mixing images from gutter-clay' suggests the little boy may be thinking of unhappy memories as gutter-clay suggests gray and dull. The fifth stanza 'bits of anger, evil smelling curses' suggest that in anger, he did something bad and evil. 'The father clouts his head' suggest that the father was angry and hit him.

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As the title suggests, this poem is about death and religions . In the first stanza, Thumboo mentioned "burn you and I on another journey" This can be taken both literally and figuratively. The line literally means that the dead are sent to the place where the cremation takes place and which they are literally being burned there. Figuratively, "on the other journey" means afterlife. "Leaving me no superstition But a stare at your bones, Ash and Shadowless." means that the person whom Thumboo was writing about left the persona in disbelief but to wonder about his death.

The second stanza talks about religion and how different religion has their different beliefs. "Thanks to Brahma for little mercies" suggest that the deceased loved one has literally completed the life cycle and return to mother earth. The writer thinks that Brahma has the power and she did not give any mercy and took the life away, this suggest that the writer misses and wants the dead to be alive again.

The third stanza says "Tears not to be shed were compelled" this denotes that despite holding back the tears, the persona still cried. "You were not dead", "You guide without pressure" This two lines suggest that, to the persona, the loved one did not die, although he is psychically dead, the persona still could remember what the loved one did and said when he was still alive, how he guided the latter.

"I'll laugh at your strength" This line means that perhaps one day the persona will look back and joke about how much impact the loved one made in his life, to make the him feel that bad when the latter passed away. "At the most in two years or three" means that it would be a long grieving period for the persona.

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Poem: Bitter Ballad

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Poem: Cremation