Cecil Day Lewis - Walking Away

Question 1

What is the poem about?

Answer 1

• A father remembering his son play his first game of football, possibly on his first day of school, he is worried about his son as he watches him walk uncertainly away and the memory still affects him deeply but he has come to understand that this was natural and eventually all parents must let their children go.

Question 2

Give a brief synopsis of the poem

Answer 2

• A father is remembering a day eighteen years ago when his son was playing his first football game at school.
• He remembers how on the first day of term, his son would walk away from him, and compares him to a lot of natural imagery, to show how it is natural that he is growing up.
• He can’t stop thinking about this moment and how it has affected their relationship since - perhaps considering how he regrets letting him go to boarding school at such a young age.

Question 3

When was the poem published?

Answer 3

• 1962

Question 4

When was the poet alive?

Answer 4

• 1904-1972

Question 5

Who was the poem dedicated to?

Answer 5

• The poet’s eldest son, Sean.

Question 6

When was the poet Poet Laureate?

Answer 6

• 1968-1972

Question 7

Context regarding Cecil Day-Lewis

Answer 7

• Day-Lewis was brought up by his father as his mother died when he was young.
• This may explain the emphasis he places on the father-son relationship with his own son.
• He had a very successful career as a poet during his lifetime, he was Poet Laureate until he died in 1972.

Question 8

Context regarding Sean Day-Lewis

Answer 8

• It is thought the poem is about his first son Sean, who was born as a result of his first marriage.
• Sean went to boarding school, in Somerset, from the age of seven. * The original poem is subtitled “for Sean”, and the poem considers the effect that separation can have on a still developing parental relationship.

Question 9

Context regarding Walking Away

Answer 9

• Walking Away It is a semi-autobiographical poem, suggested by the initial subtitle “for Sean”, Day-Lewis’ oldest son, which reflects the intimate narrative of direct address.
• The relationship between father and son appears very distant, stimulated by the fact that Sean went to boarding school from the age of seven - it also sets up the institution of school as a sort of surrogate parent -
• perhaps Day-Lewis is issuing a hint of regret that he’s not closer to his son?

Question 10

“It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day -“

Answer 10

• Use of specific temporal deixis emphasises the importance that Day-Lewis feels it has on life
• “almost to the day” - remembers the exact day, this suggests the memory was so important that the date has stuck with him ever since.

Question 11

“A sunny day with leaves just turning,”

Answer 11

• Pathetic fallacy introduces theme of change and development into the poem through the suggestion of seasonal change
• The transition from summer to autumn may reflect the transitional period in the son’s childhood.

Question 12

“The touch-lines new-ruled - since I watched you play”

Answer 12

• “new-ruled” - beginning of the school year, continuing the theme of change and the development of time, reflects how new lines are being drawn between the father and son as the son grows more independent.
• “watched” - use of past tense to highlight how the poem is a reflection of his son’s childhood

Question 13

“Your first game of football, then, like a satellite”

Answer 13

• Introduces the semantic field of space, which thematically links to exploration and development
• Along with “orbit”
• The negative simile demonstrates how wrong it feels to the father to let go, satellites aren’t meant to drift out of orbit, ‘go drifting away’ and he wishes he could stop his son going too, reflecting how the father is no longer the centre of the child’s world and no longer ‘orbits’ him.

Question 14

“Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away”

Answer 14

• The contrast of “wrenched” and “drifting” may suggest that the father is reluctant to let his song go, but the son is ready to embrace independence
• Emphasise the powerlessness that is being experienced by Day-Lewis at this point
• Repetition of the word “away” (“eddying away”) highlights the introduction of distance into the relationship
• ‘wrenched’ - finds it painful, the enjambment from Line 4 is unexpected and emphasises how sudden and painful his son becoming independent was for the narrator.

Question 15

“Behind a scatter of boys. I can see”

Answer 15

• The enjambment between the two stanzas reflects a change in focus as the son further and further from him and disappears into the crowd.
• “Scatter” implies a sense of uncertainty - shows the choice between friends and family for the son

Question 16

“You walking away from me towards the school”

Answer 16

• Separation of the pronouns “I” and “you” and “me” subtly embed the theme of separation for the reader
• School is presented as an institution that acts as a substitute parent and teaches a child independence

Question 17

“With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free”

Answer 17

• “Pathos” means evoking pity; portraying the son as a vulnerable character
• Dehumanises the son by suggesting he is a “thing set free” to emphasise Day-Lewis’ reluctance to let him go
• “Half-fledged” suggests that he doesn’t think he’s ready to let him go - bird metaphor shows the father’s concerns over whether his son is ready to start school, and his reluctance to let him go.

Question 18

“Into a wilderness, the gait of one”

Answer 18

• Somebody’s gait is their way of walking
• The metaphor suggests that he believes the school could be potentially dangerous and he worries that he cannot be there to protect his son.

Question 19

“Who finds no path where the path should be.”

Answer 19

• Suggests his son will have to forge his own path in life and shows that he feels lost at this point
• Utilises a lot of fricative consonants to create a sort of onomatopoeia for the image of flight
• The repetition of path emphasises how the father is desperate for his son to find the ‘right way’ in life and can’t help but see him as helpless.

Question 20

“That hesitant figure, eddying away”

Answer 20

• Changes the portrayal of the son as ready to gain independence, as he’s now “hesitant” and “eddying” away, which highlights his realised vulnerability
• The natural imagery reflects the movement of the winds and currents, suggesting that the son is uncertain and has a lack of control over his destination, reinforcing that the son is naturally drawn to becoming more independent and drifting further from his dad.

Question 21

“Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,”

Answer 21

• Natural imagery used in this simile - seeds are a part of a plant’s reproductive system and therefore it could be relating to the son starting a new family
• Also intensifies the image of an uncontrollable entity - the father no longer has control over his son an his behaviour
• It demonstrates a shift in perspective in the farther, the natural imagery of the plant contrasts the satellite imagery in Lines 4 and 5, “loosened” (Line 12) is much more gentle than “Wrenched” (Line 5), this shows how over time the father has come to terms somewhat with the fact that he had to let go of his son so he could become independent.

Question 22

“Has something I never quite grasp to convey”
“About nature’s give-and-take - the small, the scorching”

Answer 22

• ‘scorching’ - the pain imagery shows how the father believes that growing up is a difficult and painful experience.

Question 23

“ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay”

Answer 23

• The clay may be symbolic of the son’s socialisation at home and by institutions such as schools and the justice system.
• It images humans as malleable beings, changed by the environments they are subjected to throughout their childhood. Painful events can be permanent and leave fixed marks on a person.

Question 24

“I have had worse partings, but none that so”

Answer 24

• Father finds his son’s separation from him painful and causes him to reflect - it is ambiguous as to if he is experiences regret towards this or not

Question 25

“Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly”

Answer 25

• “Gnaws” has animalistic connotations which show the uncontrollable nature of his sadness - imagery is both animalistic and vicious and shows that the father is still affected by seeing his son go through the difficult process of growing up.

Question 26

“Saying what God alone could perfectly show -“

Answer 26

• Poem concludes with religious reference which implies that the conclusion the speaker has reached was inevitable
• Religious imagery references how in the bible god sent Jesus, his son, to earth and in many ways let go of his son the same way the narrator does. However, after God lets go of Jesus, Jesus is crucified. It is stated that God did this to show humans that he loves them. That “God alone” could do this shows how hard it is for the narrator to let go of his son.

Question 27

“How selfhood begins with a walking away,”
“And love is proved in the letting go.”

Answer 27

• Final conclusion centres around acceptance for the situation he’s in and an acknowledgement that just because his son is growing older, their love only changes rather than disappearing
• The change to a more steady rhythm underlines how the father has come to a philosophical understanding- that his son has to walk away from him to find his own identity, and the father proves his love for his son in letting go of him.

Question 28

Describe the ending of the poem

Answer 28

• Reflective tone as the poem concludes in the final stanza.
• Reaffirms the portrayal of the father as a passive character by comparison to the son who is describe actively
• The use of enjambment shows that this thought takes up more than on line in the speaker’s memory

Question 29

Explain the significance of the title of the poem

Answer 29

• Intentionally vague title to intrigue reader and engage them into the poem’s narrative
• No inclusion of subject so no hint as to what kind of relationship is being explored
• The verb “walking” is present tense but presents no concrete place of time

Question 30

Describe the form of the poem.

Answer 30

• The poem uses first-person narration to emphasise how personal the experience was, the use of enjambment and caesura create a natural rhythm that sounds like normal speech.

Question 31

Explain the perspective the poem uses

Answer 31

• Walking Away’ from the perspective of a father watching his child grow up and leave home, thinking about his involvement in his son’s childhood.
• It is written in a first person narrative, with a heavy tone employed of reflection, demonstrated by lines such as “I have had worse partings, but none that so // gnaws at my mind still”.
• However, the distance between them in the relationship is displayed when the speaker refers to his son as a “hesitant figure”, despite the poem being addressed to the character of the son with the object pronouns “you” and “your”.
• This further emphasises the tone of reflection, because it implies the speaker himself is unaware of the amount of distance he has in the relationship between himself and his son.
• As the original poem had the subtitle ‘“For Sean”, the poem becomes more intimate and personal as we can assume it is semi-autobiographical, so influenced loosely by the experiences Day-Lewis himself has had

Question 32

Describe the opening of the poem

Answer 32

• The poem opens on a focus on time - “eighteen years ago” - which immediately suggests to the reader that the poem will be centered around reflection.
• This use of specific temporal deixis - which refers to events moving away - emphasises the importance that Day-Lewis feels it has on his life.
• Pathetic fallacy introduces the theme of change and development into the poem through the suggestion of seasonal change.
• Day-Lewis references the beginning of the school year - “touch-lines new-ruled” continuing the theme of change and the development of time.
• The use of the past tense “watched” highlights how the poem is a reflection of his son’s childhood.
• Introduces the semantic field of space, which thematically links to exploration and development. Repetition of the word “away” highlights the introduction of distance into the relationship.
• The contrast of “wrenched” and “drifting” may suggest that the father is reluctant to let his son go despite the son being ready to embrace independence.
• These verbs emphasises the powerlessness that the speaker feels at his son growing up.

Question 33

Describe the rhyme scheme and what it suggests

Answer 33

• The poet uses a regular ABACA rhyme scheme to reflect the steadiness of the father’s parental love, the repetition of the ‘A’ rhyme is used to emphasise how the memory continues to affect him years.
• Employs a consistent ABACA rhyming scheme, and this stable structure contrasts the theme of change and individual development within the poem, and could also reflect the stable nature of paternal love.

Question 34

Describe the structure of the poem regarding use of dashes

Answer 34

• Throughout the poem, the poet uses punctuation of dashes, to add in extra information to make the description and narrative more vivid for the reader.
• It also has the effect of mirroring the shift in time and setting described in the poem: seasonal change.

Question 35

Describe the structure of the poem regarding repetition

Answer 35

• Day-Lewis continues to repeat the word “away” in each stanza, which continues the theme of separation and development in the father-son relationship as the son is growing up and leaving home and school.

Question 36

Describe the structure of the poem regarding direct address

Answer 36

• By using the object pronouns “you” and “your”, Day-Lewis is employing direct address to place the reader into the position of the speaker’s son, to engage the reader and try and help them relate the poem to their own familial relationships

Question 37

Describe the structure of the poem.

Answer 37

• The first two stanzas talk about the memory, whereas in the last two stanzas the narrator talks about how the memory is still painful and how he has reconciled over time with having to let go.

Question 38

How is natural imagery used in the poem?

Answer 38

• The natural imagery shows the father’s growing understanding that his son walking away is natural, but he still remains concerned, comparing to a “half-fledged thing” (Line 8) in the “wilderness” (Line 9), which shows he sees his child as vulnerable.

Question 39

How is language about pain used in the poem?

Answer 39

• The use of violent verbs such as “Wrenched” (Line 5), “scorching” (Line 14) and “Gnaws” (Line 17) all show how traumatic the experience was for the father and possibly his son.

Question 40

How are similes used in the poem?

Answer 40

• Day-Lewis uses a lot of similes to create vivid imagery in order to create a sense of relatability for his reader.
• The naturalistic language may also be Day-Lewis reflecting on how a change in the dynamic of a relationship over time is natural and to be expected - perhaps to comfort and reassure himself.
• Day-Lewis compares his son to a range of common concepts using the similes “like a satellite” and “like a winged seed” which helps his readers understand how he is feeling towards his son, to include them in their relationship.
• By using the preposition “like”, it could be assumed that their relationship is flimsy and always borders on being concrete, but is never fully stable.

Question 41

How is language regarding lyrical style used in the poem?

Answer 41

• Lyrical style of the structure is mirrored in the language, with Day-Lewis using a range of adverbs and adjectives to create a vivid image of his pain and reflection on his relationship with his son.
• For example, “worse partings” and “gnaws at my mind still”

Question 42

How is language about seasonal change used in the poem?

Answer 42

• The poet references seasonal change in order to create a natural backdrop to compare the changes experienced in his relationship with his son.
• As Sean, who the poem is addressed to, went to boarding school for many of his formative years, the poem could be Day-Lewis’ attempt at exploring the impact of separation in a still-developing father-son relationship.

Question 43

How is language used about direct address used in the poem?

Answer 43

• He uses a lot of direct language towards his son, such as “I watched you” and “You walking away”, but this ceases in the last two stanzas as he becomes more reflective and contemplative.
• This shift from direct language to contemplative language mirrors their separation as his son grows up.

Question 44

How is language used about passive vs active verbs used in the poem?

Answer 44

• Uses passive language to describe himself - such as “see” and “watched”, by comparison to the active language used to describe his son - such as “eddying”.
• This may suggest Day-Lewis is jealous of his son’s lifestyle, which is not a healthy trait to be introduced to a relationship.

Question 45

How are feelings/attitudes of protectiveness displayed in the poem?

Answer 45

• The father sees his son as vulnerable, but understands that he can’t protect him forever - he now has to show his love for his son by letting him gain some independence

Question 46

How are feelings/attitudes of loss displayed in the poem?

Answer 46

• There’s a feeling of loss and sadness throughout the poem, but also the understanding that “walking away” is a natural part of growing up. It’s not a permanent parting, their relationship is just being redefined

Question 47

How are feelings/attitudes of reflection displayed in the poem?

Answer 47

• The father is philosophical about the relationship between parents and their children - although his son leaving his protection was painful, he understands that it was necessary for both of them

Question 48

Themes:

Answer 48

• Family Bonds
• Letting Go
• Childhood
• Parental Love

Question 49

Compare With

Answer 49

• Follower
• Mother, any distance
• Eden Rock
• Winter Swans

Question 50

Family Bonds:

Answer 50

• “Since I watched you play”
• “Your first game of football”
• “It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day”

Question 51

Letting Go:

Answer 51

• “And love is proved in the letting go”
• “Wrenched from it’s orbit, go drifting away”

Question 52

Childhood:

Answer 52

• “Your first game of football”
• “You walking away, from me towards the school”
• “Since I watched you play”

Question 53

Parental Love:

Answer 53

• “And love is proved in the letting go”
• Like a winged seed, loosened from it’s parent stem”

Question 54

Compare With: Follower

Answer 54

• The parental figures won’t let their children go
• In Walking Away, the parent watched the child grow
• In Follower, the child watched the parent while the child was younger

Question 55

Compare With: Mother, Any Distance

Answer 55

• The children have grown up and their parents are at the end, still there

Question 56

Compare With: Eden Rock

Answer 56

• Memory Poems
• Children Always have the memories of the parents and then reality at the end of the poem

Question 57

Tone:

Answer 57

• Sorrowful tone from the father, that had to let go of his son