Poppies

Question 1

“ bias binding around your blazer”

Answer 1

Plosive

Question 2

“ all my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt

Answer 2

Metaphor and rule of 3

Indicates that the mothers grief and fear has left her speechless.

Question 3

“Released a song bird from its cage”

Answer 3

Symbolises her letting her son go to war and then to heaven

Question 4

“Like a wishbone”

Answer 4

Simile

She needs someone/ something to rely on

Question 5

“Ornamental stitch”

Answer 5

Something small and delicate yet beautiful

Might represent her sons age when we died at war

Question 6

“Dove”

Answer 6

Represents purity

Question 7

“ Later a single dove flew from the pear tree”

Answer 7

• this could reflect her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her sons desire for freedom and independence
• flying from the pear tree (symbol)

Question 8

“On reaching the top of the hill I traced/ the inscriptions on the war memorial,/ leaned against it like a wishbone”

Answer 8

• climbing to the top of the hill could be a metaphor for her struggle to deal with the grief of sending her son to war.
• it’s an example of the use of metaphor

Question 9

“Released a songbird from its cage”

Answer 9

• This could reflect her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her sons desire for freedom and independence.
• “freeing a songbird” symbol

Question 10

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

Answer 10

The caesura (breaks in the

Question 11

“To the front door, threw/ it open”

Answer 11

Symbolic of the mother accepting her son’s choice