Poppies (Jane Weir) Flashcards
Jane weir
born in 1963 in Northern Ireland, lived there during the troubles (Catholics protesting against persecution from majority protestants)
had two sons which prompted her to write poppies.
Poppies compares sending a child to school to sending them to war
“Three days before armistice sunday and poppies had already been placed on individual war graves.”
The full stop at the end of the sentence (caesura) highlights how life ends with death, at war.
“spasms of paper red … yellow bias”
The colour yellow is associated with happiness, which contrasts with the deep red colour of blood which links to pain and suffering. Highlighting how the deepening of the colour from yellow to red reflects the deepening pain and sorrow of the mother at the loss of her child.
“blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer”
Alliteration of the plosive “b” sound highlights how vivid the memory of the speaker’s son is in her mind.
creates imagery
“I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair”
“blackthorns” are a barrier blocking the speaker from reaching out to touch her son.
“steeled the softening of my face”
Contrast of sibilance sounds “steeled” and “softening” show the mixed emotions the speaker feels at the loss of her son and the joy of remembering him and the pain of losing him.
“released a songbird from its cage”
Songbirds are a symbol of peace and purity and releasing the songbird highlights releasing the internal peace of the speaker at the loss of her son. “released” also highlights how her emotions were trapped and she released them.
“hoping to hear your playground voice catching against the wind”
Weir ends the poem in a melancholy metaphor, evoking intense feelings of loss and pity as she wishes to hear her son’s voice but is unable to, foreshadowing death in war.
