Poppies- by Jane Weir

Question 1

Poppies:
Who is the poem written by?

Answer 1

Jane Weir

Question 2

Poppies:
What is the meaning of this poem?

Answer 2

-A mother who has lost her son mourning his death on Armistice Day.
-Narrative reminisces on memories of him leaving school as a young boy.

Question 3

Poppies:
What form is this in?

Answer 3

-Free Verse
-Dramatic Monologue

Question 4

Poppies:
“your playground voice watching on the wind”
What is some analysis of this poem?

Answer 4

-Catharsis- reverting back to thinking of him child and furthers point of grief reminiscing on son not able to move forward.
-Visual Imagery

Question 5

Poppies:
“All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt”
What is some analysis of this poem?

Answer 5

-Tactile Imagery- presents the close relationship with son and conflict of identity with life without him.
-Irony of how her occupation is to fix things but she can no longer mend her feelings.
-Visual Imagery.

Question 6

Poppies:
“Later a single dove flew from the pear tree,”
What is some analysis of this poem?

Answer 6

Avian Imagery- symbolises death, brings persona back to reality that her son is no longer with her

Question 7

Poppies:
What is the context here?

Answer 7

-She has two sons which may have influenced her desire to explore what caused young boys to go to war and fight. Weir was also a textile designer which explains her use of related imagery.
-collection commissioned by Carol Ann Duffy called “exit wounds”. Poppies grew in battlefields and became a symbol of remembrance in 1921, armistice Sunday also became a way to remember World War Two