Poppies

Question 1

Form

Answer 1

• Dramatic Monologue emphasises how much pain is caused for the often-ignored mother and emphasises how he is not there.
• It is free verse with no rhyme scheme with different stanza length. The chaotic structure to show chaotic impact for the mother. They lack control because they are surrounded by the thought of their loved ones in the war.

Question 2

Opening

Answer 2

“Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer.”

• “Red” symbolism of the poppy and of blood so she might be imaging his death.
• It is in a “spasm” which is a semantic field of pain, and his possibility of death makes her feel pain or it could be her spasms of emotions saying goodbye to her son leaving home. The ideas of conflict overwhelm her.
• “Blockade…bias” – Using vocabulary and motif of embroidery. She wants memories about him so she can always remember him. Or “blockade” could be military action where he is enthusiastic for war.

Question 3

SOAPAIMS x 2

Answer 3

“Blackthorns of your hair. All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt, slowly melting.”
* “Blackthorns of your hair” suggesting nature is showing that her son is pure, or it is a metaphor of how he doesn’t repress his feelings and wants to go away.
* “Thorns” suggest he doesn’t want her to touch his hair and wants to break away the bonds of motherhood and he picked a hairstyle that will discourage her from showing affection. Metaphor for him being prickly towards her.
* A realisation that her approach to him is the reason why he wants to go.
* Enjambment into the next stanza reflects how the mother is breaking emotionally. But she’s not telling her son how she really feels
* “Felt” is soft and her words are not sharp, so she is not revealing her true emotions. Semantic field of sewing and she is trying to fill in the gaps.
* “Slowly melting” she is trying to express her feelings, but her son does not understand her. The mother is breaking.

“Threw it open, the world overflowing like a treasure chest”
* She is protecting her son from her own emotions. She realises that letting him go will offer him treasure of the life outside, the world is a treasure chest, and her son is going to find experiences and opportunities. Juxtaposes with mother’s anxiety.
* She is letting her son free. She decides to protect her son from her own emotions.

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

The caesura reflects the attempt of control, but she keeps failing as the enjambment allows the poem flow to the next line. Chaotic structure. Enjambment also speeds up the poem reflecting the sense of panic.

Question 5

Ending x 2

Answer 5

“The dove pulled freely against the sky… an ornamental stitch…playground voice catching on the wind”
* “Dove” – symbol of peace. If a war poem, then it is a symbol of her son being free. It also reminds us of the songbird. It also refers to needle weaving in and out her emotions of fear and grief. Juxtaposition of “freely” and “pulled” as the bird is still trapped by its troubles
* “Ornamental Stitch” – sewing metaphor suggesting he is pure and precious. “Ornamental” – metaphor for the remains of their loving bond which has no substance.
* “Playground voice” – she wants her child to return and wants to join her son.
“After you’d gone…released a song bird from its cage”
* The son is the “song bird” who is trapped in the family home or is trapped by the protective love by the mother.
* Alternatively, once the son has left, the mother is given a new identity. She can live freely and write her own bird songs in the form of the poem.
* Or it is a metaphor for her finally being able to cry and let out her emotions. She can express her true feelings which she was repressing her emotions.