POPPIES Flashcards
Give POPPIES quotations
“released a songbird from its cage”
“my stomach busy making tucks, darts, pleats”
“Sellotape bandaged around my hand”
“play at being eskimos”
“I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled black thorns of your hair
“to the front door, threw it open, the world overflowing like a treasure chest”
“Sellotape bandages around my hand”
Jane Weir references to the homely and familiar image of “Sellotape” however juxtaposes it with the military language of “bandaged” which implies a wound or injury. This contrast reflects the internal conflict.
“play at being eskimos”
this is a personal anecdote used by Weir to create a sense of intimacy through referencing the sense of touch. It displays how to mother longs for the closeness she once had with her son.
“resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair”
The metaphor of “blackthorns” is used to highlight that the hair style required by the military makes the son appear aggressive and the simple act of stroking his hair is now dangerous.
Alternatively it could be an allusion to Jesus who upon his crucifixion wore a crown of thorns and therefore the poet foreshadowing the potential sacrifice of the narrator’s son in this war.
“to the front door, threw it open, the world overflowing like a treasure chest”
The “front door” here is used metaphorically by Weir as the door acts as a threshold between the world of domestic living and the battlefields of the future.
Weir then uses the simile “overflowing like a treasure chest” to suggest that the world appears attractive and full of opportunity through the childlike connotations of treasure. However the verb “overflowing” reflects the mother’s emotion.
“I released a songbird from its cage”
Weir uses the songbird as a metaphor for the mother letting her son go off to war and giving him the freedom to make mistakes. Alternatively, it could suggest the mother is releasing out all of her emotions which were caged up.
“my stomach busy making tucks, darts and pleats”
The mother uses domestic and sewing imagery here as this conjures a familiar and motherly image. The asyndetic listing used resembles the anxiety and discomfort flowing out.
Explain the form and structure of POPPIES
It is written in the form of a dramatic monologue to reflect the mother’s stream of consciousness and is coupled alongside the use of first person narrative to give a strong impression of the mother’s emotions.
The poet also writes in free verse to display the chaotic impact it has had on the mother. Furthermore, the enjambment over stanzas 2 to 3 causes a break in the structure which resembles the mother breaking.
