Poppies - Jane Weir

Question 1

lack of rhyme

Answer 1

reflects her feelings, being irregular and unreliable

Question 2

‘blazer’ ‘felt’ ‘scarf’ ‘gloves’ ‘stitch’

Answer 2

semantic field of fabric. fabric has connotations of maternal care, the speaker feels as if they have lost that part of themselves, when their son went to war.

Question 3

‘graves’ ‘left’

Answer 3

noun grave and verb left, shows she is facing a sense of loss without her son, like one of her core purposes has been ripped out of her and she cannot survive without it

Question 4

‘bias binding around your blazer’

Answer 4

plosives - mimic the sound of a bomb - violence and distress of war

Question 5

‘i rounded’ i wanted i resisted

Answer 5

past tense verbs show that she sees her role as a mother has now gone. it is now something of the past

Question 6

‘all my words flattened, rolled, turned to felt.

Answer 6

triplet of verbs, ‘flattened, tuned, rolled, - distress she not functioning properly.

metaphor ‘turned to felt’ - sense of weakness unable to speak, paralysed by greif

Question 7

‘i resisted the impulse to run my fingers through’

Answer 7

enjambment- free flowing slows down pace, so we can really feel her pain

Question 8

context:

Answer 8

jane is putting her feet in the shoes of a mother who has lost a loved won at war’

Question 9

context:

Answer 9

Poppies was written by Jane Weir at the request of Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, to commemorate those lost in war

Question 10

free verse

Answer 10

Poppies is a free verse poem, free from the constraints of a regular rhyme or rhythm. This, and the first-person narration, make the reader feel a part of the mother’s own memories and emotions. Long sentences and enjambment are used to reflect the rather rambling nature of memory

Question 11

after you’d gone i went to your bedroom and released a song bird from its cage’

Answer 11

noun bird in metaphor - bird has connotations of flight, freedom and independence, she is leading that she has to let go.