evacuee by isobel thrilling

A case stood in the hall
outlining the weight
of fear,
her doll felt cold,
she knew then
it had always been dead.
She left it
on the pillow,
heir to the wall-paper
roses and wolly-dog.

Shadows clung
to her clothes at the door,
light struck bone.
She walked unshaded
down streets,
climbed a train and watched
the receding
lamps of platform faces.

The lady was kind,
wove stories
with tinsel thread;
but the texture of her voice was strange,
her mouth
seemed painted on wax;
the smile ran red.

i feel pity for the evacuee. Her case "outlin(es) the weight of fear", showing that she is carrying her fears to her new home. Her doll, probably a source of utmost comfort to a seven-year-old, "felt cold" to her as "it has always been dead." Even the doll is of no comfort to her as she leaves it along with the "wall-paper roses and woolly dog", things that she cannot bring with her to her new home. She "walked unshaded down streets", with no one accompanying her on her new journey. There is no mention of any of her family members in the first two stanzas, hence the reader does not know if she has any kin, hence we know that she is lonely. Her loneliness is further emphasized as she has to be evacuated to another part of the country due to the war, to stay with people she has never met, hence the sense of unfamilarity makes her even more lonely.

Thus this is the message the writer is trying to convey: That the evacuee is going to a new place and feels very lonely and could only turn to the doll for comfort