What is the central idea of the poem "The Runaway City" by Rabindranath Tagore? Why does it seem the city is on the move?

Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “The Runaway City” is a brief
poem for children in which a first-person speaker (presumably a child) describes a
literally unsettling dream. In the dream, the entire city of Calcutta appears to be on
the move, and moving quickly.  Tagore, who began writing poetry from an early age
himself, wrote a great many poems for children. The fact that he grew up in a very large
family (with twelve older siblings) may also have prompted his later interest in trying
to write from a child’s perspective.  He spent his very early life in Calcutta, another
fact that gives “The Runaway City” some autobiographical
relevance.

“The Runaway City” is an effective poem for
children for a number of reasons, including the
following:

• It is written from the perspective of
  a child. The poem does not involve an adult telling a story about children; rather, it
  presents a child telling a story in a child-like
  voice.


• It deals with events that seem unusual, almost
  magical. However, the fact that these events occur in a dream makes the poem credible.
  If the poem were presented as fact, it would seem literally fantastic (a piece of
  fantasy). Presented as part of a dream, the events it describe seem, oddly enough,
  somewhat realistic.


• Most of its lines are short and
  exhibit vigorous rhythms and active verbs. The first four lines (describing the prelude
  to the dream itself) consist of ten syllables each; most of the remaining lines consist
  of six syllables each and often emphasize action verbs at the end of each
  line.


• Various parts of the moving city are compared,
  ironically, to living creatures, such as “rhinos” (10), “pythons” (12), and “a giant
  centipede” (20). Children might especially enjoy such vivid images, while adults might
  find it interesting that Tagore compares man-made creations (the various parts of the
  city) to aspects of nature. It is as if the city has literally come alive in wholly
  literal and unexpected ways.


• The poem ends on an
  especially numerous note as the young speaker describes a bridge
  being

readability="5">

Chased by Harrison
Road

Breaking the traffic
code

It is probably wise not
to make too much of these lines, or of the poem in general, but it may be significant
that the poem’s final two lines end with literal law-breaking, with a symbolic
disruption of what is ordered, conventional, law-abiding, and “civilized.” One might
interpret the poem as symbolizing a longing for anything unusual, energetic, exciting,
and lively, particularly in large cities, which could sometimes seem dead, inhumane,
unnatural, depressing, and stolid. The young speaker of the poem does not seem disturbed
or unsettled by the city’s movements, although “Binu” (a sibling?), who speaks most of
the poem’s words, is reported as “crying out in fright” (2), so
that the poem begins on a somewhat disturbing note. For most of the rest of the work,
however, the emphasis seems to be on the excitement of watching the various parts of the
city move.  Most children would probably read the poem as an exercise in exuberant,
imaginative playfulness, and many adults would probably concur and would not assume or
expect any especially “deeper” meaning.

- See Tagore’s
Selected Writings for Children, Oxford University Press (2002), p.
13.