Walking Away Flashcards
Context
Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972) was born in Ireland and studied at Oxford. Walking Away’ was published in 1962 and was dedicated to his first son, Sean. Day Lewis was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972.
summary
1 A father remembers watching his son play his first game of football, possibly on his first day at school.
The father feels worried about his son as he watches him walk uncertainly away from him.
2) The memory of that day still deeply affects the father eighteen years later. However, he comes to an understanding that this is a natural process that all children and parents must go through - every child has to experience the difficult process of gaining independence, and every parent has to let go.
form
Learn about the form, structure and language
1) FORM - The poem has a first-person narrator - this emphasises that it’s talking about personal experiences. The use of enjambment and caesura contributes to the rhythm of the poem, which sounds like natural speech. The regular ABACA rhyme scheme reflects the steadiness of the father’s parental love, and the repetition of the ‘A’ rhyme reflects how the memory of that day continues to affect him years later.
structure
2) STRUCTURE - In the first two stanzas the narrator talks about the memory. In the final two stanzas, he reflects on how the memory still pains him. The final two lines of the poem form a sort of conclusion - he understands that whilst it was a painful event, it was a necessary part of his son’s development.
natural imagery
3) NATURAL IMAGERY - Natural imagery is used to show the father’s growing understanding that his son walking away from him is natural, but also that he remains concerned about him. He compares his son to a “half-fledged” bird out in the “wilderness” - he’s worried because he sees his son as vulnerable.
language about pain
LANGUAGE ABOUT PAIN - Verbs such as “Wrenched”, “scorching” and “Gnaws” show how the process is traumatic for the father as well as difficult for the son.
quote about Familial Love + Longing?
“like a satellite / wrenched from its orbit”
-contrast of “wrenched” & “drifting” = father reluctant to let son go, but son is ready to embrace independence.
-Introduces semantic field of space,
-verb “wrenched” = the violence of the image of separation of satellite from a planet’s orbit - emphasising poets pain of separation from son, poets control of child is weakened, just like a satellite without orbit floating as debris in space.
-violence of ‘wrenched’ is in contrast to the gentle ‘drifting’ that follows - though ‘wrenched’ is a monosyllable, the vowel is elongated and the consonants are appropriately harsh.
-“orbit” the child’s entire life so far has been revolving around his father and now he is finally starting the journey to independence
-The present participle ‘drifting’ suggests the vulnerability of the child as, in his immaturity, he seeks direction and purpose, free of parental guidance.
-The speaker’s longing is rooted in nostalgia, to momentarily avoid the painful passing of time, confronting the emotional distance & evolution of their parent-child bond proves to be a difficult reality to come to terms with.
quote about Nature + Age?
“sunny day with leaves just turning”
-pathetic fallacy = introduces theme of change & development into poem through suggestion of seasonal change
-season = metaphor - conveying the melancholy mood behind poem,
as summer slowly gives way to autumn poet implies summer of child’s life is slowly giving way to maturity and all that goes with it, including loss of innocence & excitement of new experiences
-natural imagery portrays gradual transition into adulthood as both natural progression and an immensely emotional experience.
-despite unavoidable progression into adulthood, it’s a painful & inevitable detachment.
