Poetry - Poppies by Jane Weir

Question 1

Give context for ‘Poppies’

Answer 1

• Poppies grew in battlefields and became a symbol of remembrance in 1921, armistice Sunday also became a way to remember World War II. Weir uses these symbols to establish from the outset that the poem is an act of remembrance

Question 2

Describe form in ‘Poppies’

Answer 2

• The poem is in free verse (no metre or rhyming) with lots of enjambment and caesura. The stanzas are also different lengths
• This could reflect the way the mother’s thoughts and emotions cannot be ordered and contained
• It could suggest that, while trying to appear collected, inside she breaking (as it is a dramatic monologue which reveals her inner thoughts)
• The direct address shows the strength of the mother’s feelings towards her son and to elicit sympathy from the reader

Question 3

Finish the quote: ‘ I listened, hoping to hear…’ and describe it

Answer 3

• “I listened, hoping to hear / your playground voice catching on the wind”
• The caesura in the last stanza indicates her faltering voice as she is on the verge of tears

Question 4

Finish the quote: ‘On reaching the…’ and describe it

Answer 4

• “On reaching the top of the hill I traced”
• Climbing to the top of the hill could be a metaphor for her struggle to deal with the grief of sending her son to war

Question 5

Finish the quote: ‘to the front door…’ and describe it

Answer 5

• “to the front door, threw/ it open”
• You could argue that this is symbolic of the mother accepting her son’s choice

Question 6

Finish the quote: ‘Released a song…’ and describe it

Answer 6

• “Released a song bird from its cage”
• This could reflect her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her son’s desire for freedom and independence

Question 7

Finish the quote: ‘spasms of paper red…’ and describe it

Answer 7

• “spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade”
• The colour imagery of “red” and military image of a “blockade” potentially foreshadows the danger that awaits the son

Question 8

Finish the quote: ‘to run my fingers through…’ and describe it

Answer 8

• “to run my fingers though the gelled / blackthorns of your hair.”
• The tender image of the mother touching her son is juxtaposed to descriptions of uniform or sharp objects, which remind the reader of the son’s unsafe and uncertain future