Robin Hoodlum — Summary

Dave BontaInspired

open mouths like offices of Death

talk of profits taken from us

so I steal some apples off the trees

hand them out to any and to all

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The title does a lot of the work here. Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, and this speaker does something similar on a very small scale: picking apples from trees and handing them out to anyone who wants one. The "hoodlum" in the title adds a wry note, as if the speaker knows the act is petty crime and is a little amused by that.

The first two stanzas set up the anger behind it. Open mouths are compared to "offices of Death," which suggests hungry or shouting people, or perhaps officials who speak coldly. Either way, the talk is of "profits taken from us," so the speaker feels cheated by a system that treats people as sources of money. The mood shifts in the last two stanzas. The tone becomes plain and almost cheerful, and the generosity of giving "to any and to all" feels like a quiet answer to greed. Protest here is simple and warm.

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