Poppies

Question 1

Poppies context (Jane Weir)

Answer 1

• Poem commissioned by Carol Ann Duffy - contemporary war poetry as response to violence in Afghanistan Iraq enquiry
• Voice is a mother - speaks directly to her son for unspecified war
• Weir considered Susan Owen (Wilfred Owen’s mother) ,families of dead soliders and wrote it from a mothers perspective

Question 2

Poppies MUST mention

Answer 2

• The relationship in the poem provides a deeper level of empathy and the conflict between what was and what now is the relationship
• The poem uses a range of devices to capture the speakers sad and reflective tone.
• The poems uses contrasting language and ideas to emphasise the conflict and turmoil of the Mother

Question 3

Poppies Structure

Answer 3

• Written as a monologue in 4 stanzas and no rhyme scheme.
• The stanzas are structured along events in the life of mother and child. 1st the mother looks back at remembrance day and the idea of the poppy which has helped trigger the memory. 2nd the mother talks about helping her son get ready and seeing him off. 3rd the poem explores the emptiness that is left in his absence, finally the mother feels drawn to a war memorial bringing the story back to where it started, yet now with no son around.
• The suggestion of the dove being that he has died.
• The poem uses a lot of enjambment and familiar nouns to enhance the idea of natural tone and the mothers voice.