Poppies Flashcards
What is the big idea of Poppies?
The poem looks partially at conflict because the son is going to war, but from the perspective of those it leaves behind - a behind the scenes view of the emotions of families and the conflict of the mother”s emotions.
Who wrote Poppies?
Jane Weir
What is the structure of poppies?
- Monologue in 4 stanzas
- No rhyme - free verse
- Stanzas are structured like events in the life of mother & child
- Remembrance day
- Remembering getting her son ready
- Explores the emptiness of her son’s absence
“poppies have already been placed”
The poppy has symbolic links to death, violence and memory
“I pinned one onto your lapel”
Pronouns ‘I’ and ‘your’ used to emphasise the intimacy of the speaker and subject
“disrupting a blockade / of yellow bias binding around your blazer”
- ‘blockade’ - military reference to blocking, perhaps of emotion
- Semantic filed blocking emotion
“Sellotape bandaged around my hand”
- ‘bandaged’ - metaphor - emotional injury
- Familiar noun/military metaphor. The reference to sellotape is quite familiar, homely image
“steeled the softening”
Sibilance, the words ‘steeled, softening’ etc. gives a calm tone to the scene described in the poem
“play at / being Eskimos like we did when you were little”
- Aside, the personal anecdote creates a sense of intimacy and human realism
- Juxtaposed with her military son
“the gelled / blackthorns of your hair.”
Metaphor - reference to the shortened hair and stubble required in the military and how aggressive it makes her son appear
“flattened, rolled, turned into felt”
Power of 3, reflects the way the mother is tongue tied and doesn’t know what to say, proud of her son but doesn’t want him to go
‘I was brave, as I walked / with you, to the front door”
Symbolic, idea of throwing the door open and setting her son free. The door represents acceptance
“the world overflowing / like a treasure chest”
Simile, suggests how attractive the world appears to her son and also her aspiration for him to have opportunities
“released a song bird from its cage”
Metaphor, connotes that he is like a beautiful caged creature and needs to be set free. Implies that she understands this includes free to make mistakes and be harmed
“this is where it has led me”
‘this’ - vague pronoun, contains double meaning, location and situation (son’s death)?
