the poem describes a child's longing for the immense freedom he sees in the lives of those around him. when the gong sounds ten in the morning, he walks to his school and sees a great hawker crying "bangles, crystal bangles!" and he wishes he could be a hawker. at four in the afternoon, while coming back from school, he sees a skillful gardener digging the ground and he wishes he were a gardener. when dusk falls his cruel mother sends him to bed and he sees an ever alert watchman through the window and he wishes he could be a watchman.