Poppies

Question 1

“I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals,
spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade
of yellow bias binding around your blazer.”

Answer 1

This use of
asyndetic listing
shows how detailed
the memory is to
the narrator

Question 2

“the world overflowing
like a treasure chest”

Answer 2

This metaphor
creates an image of
there being an
outpouring of
emotion by the
narrator

Question 3

“I listened, hoping to hear
your playground voice catching on the wind”

Answer 3

The poem ends with
sad metaphor

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

Free verse- stream of emotion
Enjambement-fragmented incomplete memories

Question 5

Language

Answer 5

Domestic imagery with violent military metaphors.
“without a winter coat or
reinforcements of scarf, gloves”. The lack of protection from the cold shows how violence has left a mark on all parts of her everyday life. This could also imply that she feels she needs reinforcement to face seeing the memorial for her son as it is still difficult to face the reality of her situation.

Question 6

Remains comparison (similarities)

Answer 6

The psychological impact of losing a son is seen in Poppies through
the desire to return to “play at being Eskimos like we did when
[he] was little”. Armitage also explores the psychological effect of
losing someone however, whilst Weir’s narrator wishes to
remember, Armitage’s attempts to forget “the image of agony”
after killing a man. This is damaging to both narrators as in
Remains, he is unable to “Sleep” or “Dream” and in Poppies the
irregular structure shows her unable to hold herself together. These
memories seem to extend the impact of war for both narrators
however, they are more positive and welcomed by Weir’s who sees
the sad memories as a chance to remember her son

Question 7

Remains comparison (differences)

Answer 7

Armitage presents the narrator’s guilt through the harsh repetition of
“his bloody life in my bloody hands” as well as the desperate
“the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out”. In Poppies, the
narrator instead experiences grief which is shown in the declarative
“I was brave” and having to “[lean] against it” when seeing the
war memorial.https://bit.ly/pmt-cc
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