Family Bonds- Walking Away And Mother Any Distance Flashcards
Ts1: Both poems use natural imagery to portray family bonds.
‘Fall or fly’
‘Pathos of a half-fledged thing set free’
‘Eddying… like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem.
Ts2: Both parents guide their children until they have to let them and their close bond go.
‘Acres of the walls’ ‘prairies of the floors’
‘Space-walk’
‘Ladder’
‘You at the zero-end’
‘Like a satellite wrenched from its orbit’
‘Finds no path where the path should be’
‘First game of football’
Ts3: Whilst in Mother Any Distance, the breaking of the family bond is positive, in Walking Away it is negative.
‘Anchor.Kite’
‘Gnaws at my mind still.’
‘Eighteen years ago… I can see you walking away’
Structure: In mother any distance, the poet ends on a rhyming couplet to show how even though they are physically distant, they will still be emotionally bonded, where as in walking away, line breaks and enjambment is used to reflect the need for the family bond to give, so the son can become independent
‘Fly’ ‘sky’
‘Drifting away/ behind a scatter of boys’
Ts1:
Ts2:
Ts3:
Structure:
Ts1: natural imagery
Ts2: guide children until breaking of family bond.
Ts3: MAD- breaking of bond is positive where as in WA it is negative.
Structure- WA- enjambment
MAD- rhyming couplet
‘Pathos of a half-fledged thing set free’
L= emotive metaphor. Son= vulnerable. Not ready to become independent so the strong family bond has negatively affected his ability to become independent. R= pity for him.
Draws on the image of a bird and how they go out for the first time on their own into the wild. Shows the need for parents to let their children and the strong bond go in order for them to become independent.
C= based on poets experience of leaving his son at first day at boarding school.
R= reader can relate to this so very saddening for them.
‘Eddying…like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem’
L= simile. A seed (child) must become independent from its parent if it is to grow. Very ‘eddying’ suggests child is vulnerable with no clear direction due to the strong family bond with parent and dependence on father.
Must find its own path.
‘Like a satellite wrenched from its orbit’
L= simile. Verb= painful. Not ready for parting. Sons life revolves around him so strong family bond made him too dependent, resulting in a negative impact on his ability to become independent.
‘Anchor.kite’
Caesura- emphasises their need to separate: L= metaphor- she represents everything steady and stable in his life (anchor) I/D= alternatively, his mother being symbolised as an anchor could be negative as it could show that she has held him back and prevented his freedom. the speaker(kite) shows he has to fly free and become independent. Tension- loves mother but has to fly free to move on into adulthood. D= kite- no control- fly with no direction- maybe not ready.
‘Acres of the walls’ ‘prairies of the floors’
L= hyperbolic metaphors. He feels very daunted and overwhelmed about moving out- not used to all this space. Maybe lack of preparation due to strong and close bond. Whole life before= dependent on someone else. Now= he has to be independent and adapt to new surroundings.
‘Space-walk’
L= metaphor. Feels cereal in empty house, almost like a different world. Represents the speaker entering a different world as an adult that he has to adapt to as he has been dependent on someone else his whole life before, guiding him through everything.
‘Ladder’
L= metaphorically represents his journey to independence. Very close bond and guidance of before has to give for him to reach independence.‘Something has to give’
‘Fall or fly’
L= alliteration- oxymoron. Has to move away from his strong relationship with his mother in order to go into adulthood. Will either fail or thrive.
Bird imagery- bird is tested at its first flight, just like him. It has to flee the nest to become independent. Some fail, some thrive.
C= based on poets experience of moving away.
‘Eighteen years ago… I can see you walking away’
L= present tense even though in past- memory still vivid and painful. This emphasises their close bond as the parting hurt him so much still 18 years later. Structure: line break separates pronouns- emphasises son parting from father (physically moving away.) Direct address to son- suggests feelings unresolved in speaker.
‘You at the zero-end’
I= literally she is at the zero end of the tape
OR metaphorically she was there at the moment of his creation and his living out stage. He has never known life without her so difficult for him. Emphasises their strong relationship and bond that has to be broken for him to move on in life.
