Class discussion 

summary 

The poem class discussion was written by GERVASE PHINN is about how in a class they are talking about a certain topic and everyone is taking part and portraying their points except one girl so the teacher questions the girl about why she is not taking part in the discussion and she replies by saying not everyone needs to talk.

Stanza by Stanza explanation

1st stanza

“In the class discussion Jane, you hardly said a word.
We all aired our opinions but from you, we barely heard.
You sat and stared in silence surrounded by the chatter,
Now tell me, Jane,
and please be plain,
is there anything the matter?”

In the first stanza, the poet says that there was a discussion going on in class and the entire class gave their points of view and you just sat there and heard and the teacher goes further to ask if everything was ok or if something was wrong.

2nd stanza

Jane looked up and then she spoke,
Her voice was clear and low:
“There are many people in this world
Who are rather quiet you know!” 

in the second stanza, the student jane replies to the teacher saying that there are a lot of people in this world that are rather quiet people and who don't really say much.The girl explains to the teacher that the world is full of various kinds of people and that you cant judge everyone on the same basis