Poppies By Jane Weir

Question 1

Dramatic monologue

Answer 1

. The poem is a dramatic monologue (form of poetry where an imagined speaker addresses a silent audience).

. The poem uses a direct address to show the strength of the mother’s feelings towards her son and to elicit (get) sympathy from the reader.

Question 2

Free form

Answer 2

The poem is written in free verse (no metre or rhyming) with lots of enjambment (sentences that flow over lines) and caesura (breaks in lines).
The stanzas are also different lengths.
This could reflect the way the mother’s thoughts and emotions cannot be ordered and contained.
It could also suggest that, while trying to appear calm and collected, inside she is breaking.

Question 3

Poems you could compare Poppies to on the theme of powerful and/or negative feelings:

Answer 3

Remains

War Photographer

The Emigree

Checking Out Me History

London

My Last Duchess.

Question 4

Which quote best indicates her son’s desire for independence and freedom?

Answer 4

” released a song bird from its cage”