LIT2 - Poetry - Poppies

Question 1

Who wrote Poppies? Give some context about the poem:

Answer 1

-Jane Weir

-begins just before Armistice (ie Remembrance) Sunday, perhaps reflecting on soldiers in conflict
-focuses on maternal concern and love

Question 2

Give 5 quotes for Poppies:

Answer 2

-crimped petals, spasms of paper red
-blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer
-All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt
-without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves
-war memorial, leaned against it like a wishbone

Question 3

crimped petals, spasms of paper red

Answer 3

-adjective “crimped” suggests a damaged/dying poppy, implying how war can damage people through the pain of loss
-painful noun “spasms” implies uncontrollable pains/convulsions, connoting the uncontrollable grief the mother will feel
-adjective “red” connotes blood/injury, powerful + emotive image

Question 4

blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer

Answer 4

-noun “blockade” has connotations of war, suggesting the barrier between the mother and her son
-for a conscripted soldier, “binding” may be a metaphor for the compulsory requirement by the country to fight
-noun “blazer” refers to soldier’s uniform, but is also what a schoolboy would wear, denoting that the mother is reminiscing

Question 5

All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt

Answer 5

-tactile imagery is used here and is repeated throughout the poem
-employs the semantic field of sewing, conveying how the mother is trying to stitch the gap between them that was caused by war
-noun “felt” implies her warm, tender words, which are “flattened…melting”, illustrating her loss of composure and how she is ignored in the grand scheme of conflict, an irrelevant voice

Question 6

without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves

Answer 6

-lexical field of war from noun “reinforcements”, highlighting how she is left exposed to the cold grief/pain of a future without her son
-military terms used in a domestic setting, reflecting that emotional wars are fought at home, not just on the battlefield

Question 7

war memorial, leaned against it like a wishbone

Answer 7

-fragile verb “leaned” conveys her emotional weakness as she relies on hope from the breakable “wishbone”
-simile of “wishbone” could also represent the mother and son as 2 halves of a wishbone - only whole when together, but destined to be broken apart

Question 8

Explain the use of structure in Poppies:

Answer 8

-dramatic monologue emphasises the mother’s voice - represents the domestic effects of war that are often ignored
-irregular stanza length, frequent enjambment, and caesura show the lack of control at home because they are engulfed in the terrifying thoughts of their son being at war