· 7 short stanzas that are linked by either a run on line or a continuation of a thought or image - perhaps a written representation of the speed of the signing being used by the children the writer is observing. He refers to this signing as 'thoughts that dance on (other) finger-tips' (line12) and 'fire-flies of gesture' (line 22)
· The writer stands apart from the children - observing them rather than being amoung them. His separateness is both literal and figurative as he has no means of understanding the way in which they communicate with each other and the nuns who watch over them as they play. He remarks on some of the sounds they make and the way they use sign language, but says that he finds these sounds "sad, irrelevant, absurd" (line 7). Silence "is their element" and yet, when observing them, he is totally out of his.
· The image of the black tarmac is strongly contrasted with the whiteness of the statue of the Virgin watching over these children at play - this contrast is repeated in the last line of the poem creating a tableau reminiscent of the old silent black and white movies where, although there was plenty of interaction amoung the actors (laughing, running and animated dialogue), there were no actual Words for the audience to follow. He also describes the "muted children" as jerking and scuffling across the scene of the playground - perhaps another reference to the interrupted gestures so typical of the characters in the black and white movies from the early days of cinema?
· He looks upon a small boy who is leaning from a bench, clearly fascinated by something another child is signing to him - he describes the scene as having a "soundless quality of (a) painting" (line 10) and this image is reinforced by his referring to the world these children live in as being framed by glass - just as an image in a painting might be. The reference to glass may also imply a fragility to these children; somehow 'weakened', or more vulnerable because of their inability to speak or hear.
· The writer seems intrigued by this scene taking place on the playground; he is captivated by the "communication (that) glimmers" between these children; rapid signing, cries; the 'mimicry and mummers' he refers to in line 19 - although it is very clear to the writer that these children are 'talking' and enjoying their play time as much as hearing and speaking children would be, he is also aware that the best he can hope for is a glimpse through this 'window' into their world. The "minds that make their signs and mouth their cries" are only of meaning to those that belong in this silent world he is observing - to an outsider, like himself, this dream-like play he is witnessing makes very little sense
· There is a sensitivity to the way in which the writer has recorded his observations of these children; although some of the terminology used in the poem may seem politically incorrect or insensitive in 2012, there is no sense that he is mocking or ridiculing these children - instead he seems intrigued, fascinated and a little sad that he is unable to interpret the 'muffled out-cries' he can hear. By referring to the children as "songless planets signalling through space" he imbues them with a certain majestic quality - as beings not of this earth
