Poppies

Question 1

Form and structure:

Answer 1

Free verse, uneven stanzas: Mirrors her uncontrolled, fragmented thoughts.

Enjambment/caesura: Suggests emotional turmoil and faltering speech (e.g., “I listened, hoping to hear / your playground voice”).

Form: Dramatic monologue (free verse with enjambment and caesura).

Question 2

Comparisons:

Answer 2

Kamikaze
Emigree
Remains
War photographer

Question 3

Themes:

Answer 3

Strength and bravery of war victims (e.g., mothers left behind).

Parents and children (pain of letting go, loss of protection).

Loneliness and loss (ambiguous grief, hinted death at war memorial).

Question 4

“All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt”.

Answer 4

Metaphor + Rule of Three: Shows her grief renders her speechless; “felt” implies muffled, stifled emotions.

Question 5

“Released a songbird from its cage”

Answer 5

Symbolism: The mother accepting her son’s independence (freedom to join war), despite her fear.

Question 6

“the world overflowing / like a treasure chest”.

Answer 6

Contrasts her son’s excitement (adventure) with her dread (loss).

Question 7

“I traced the inscriptions on the war memorial, leaned against it like a wishbone.”

Answer 7

Tactility: “I traced the inscriptions” shows longing for connection.

Metaphor: “leaned against it like a wishbone” implies fragility and unresolved hope.

Climbing the hill is a metaphor for her struggle to deal with the grief of sending her son to war.
The wishbone is a visual image that hints for her wish for his safety.
Ideas of the war memorial being tangible unlike her wishes and memories

Question 8

Writer’s purpose

Answer 8

To give voice to silenced women – Weir wanted to highlight the often-overlooked grief of mothers and families left behind in war.

To explore the emotional cost of war – The poem focuses on a mother’s pain rather than battlefield heroism, challenging traditional war narratives.

To evoke empathy – By using a dramatic monologue, Weir directly engages the reader in the mother’s sorrow, making the personal impact of war more relatable.

To reflect on loss and memory – The poem’s ambiguity (whether the son died) universalizes themes of mourning and remembrance.

Question 9

War photographer comparison:

Answer 9

1. Perspective on War’s Victims
   Poppies: Focuses on a mother’s grief, representing the silent suffering of families left behind.

War Photographer: Examines the detached horror of war through a photographer’s lens, showing how media sanitizes conflict.

2. Memory and Remembrance
   Poppies: Uses tactile imagery (“traced the inscriptions”) to show personal mourning (Armistice Sunday).

War Photographer: Shows impersonal remembrance—photos developed in a darkroom, destined for “Sunday’s supplements.”

3.Conflict with Duty and Choice
Poppies: The mother has no choice—her son leaves for war, symbolizing forced sacrifice.

War Photographer: The photographer chooses his duty but is haunted by guilt (“his hands did not tremble then though seem to now”).

Question 10

Comparisons with Remains:

Answer 10

1. Effects of Conflict
   Poppies:

Shows indirect consequences—a mother’s grief and helplessness as her son leaves for war.

Metaphor: “All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt” → Conflict silences families.

Remains:

Depicts direct trauma—a soldier haunted by killing a looter (“his bloody life in my bloody hands”).

Graphic imagery: “Then I’m home on leave… but he’s here in my head” → PTSD’s lingering violence.
Comparison: Both reveal war’s scars, but Poppies focuses on homefront suffering, while Remains exposes battlefield guilt.

2. Powerful Memories
   Poppies:

Nostalgic, sensory memories: “hoping to hear / your playground voice” → Clings to childhood innocence.

War memorial symbolizes unresolved loss (“leaned against it like a wishbone”).

Remains:

Invasive, violent memories: “sleep, and he’s probably armed, possibly not” → Flashbacks blur past/present.

Repetition of “probably” shows paranoia.
Comparison: Poppies uses tender memories to highlight absence; Remains uses brutal memories to show psychological imprisonment.

3. Negative Feelings
   Poppies:

Ambiguous grief: Uncertainty if son died (“war memorial” hints at death) → Mothers’ anxiety.

Simile: “like a treasure chest” contrasts her fear with son’s excitement.

Remains:

Explicit guilt/shame: “his bloody life in my bloody hands” (alliteration emphasizes self-disgust).

Colloquial tone (“Then I’m home on leave”) contrasts with horror → Soldier’s numbness.
Comparison: Poppies conveys quiet sorrow; Remains spirals into aggressive self-loathing.