Walking Away Flashcards
1
Q
Who wrote Walking Away?
A
Cecil Day-Lewis
2
Q
‘like a satellite…
A
… wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away’
- simile incites space imagery as the subject adventures into the unknown
- the verb ‘wrenched’ signifies a violent pull, painful and unnatural (satellites aren’t supposed to travel off their orbits)
3
Q
‘with the pathos…
A
… of a half-fledged thing set free’
- half in flight, metaphor of a baby bird at its most vulnerable stage of life
- insinuates uncertainty and premature growth in spirit
4
Q
‘like a winged…
A
… seed loosened from its parent stem’
- verb ‘loosened’ is gentler, growing in acceptance about separation
- simile about the stem, as a support system, image of a seed flying away to make their own roots - independence
5
Q
‘Saying what…
A
… God alone could perfectly show’
- Religious imagery in reference to sacrifice of Jesus, emphasising the gravity of the sense of loss through the separation, but grown to accept the goodness that will come of the event
6
Q
‘How selfhood begins…
A
… with a walking away. And love is proved in the letting go’
- emphasises importance of the message by the title phrase
- the speaker accepts letting go
7
Q
Describe the structure of Walking Away
A
Enjambement represents father losing control over the wandering child, or a shift in relationship as the father becomes conflicted?
8
Q
What are the themes in Walking Away?
A
- letting go
- changing relationships
- sacrifice of parental love
9
Q
Which poems should you compare with Walking Away?
A
- Mother, any distance
- Follower
- Eden Rock
- Climbing My Grandfather
