Walking Away - Cecil Day-Lewis Flashcards
Walking Away
The poem reminds parents that they must allow their children to be independent even if it causes anxiety and pain.
However, it also brings the message to children that becoming independent will be difficult and painful at times but it is necessary.
General Context
- The poem was dedicated to the poet’s son, Sean, from his first marriage. It is describing how he left him at boarding school at the age of seven.
- He also felt guilty for breaking up his son’s family as he divorced his first wife.
‘a sunny day with leaves just turning’
L - symbolism
The change in season symbolises the change in the father and son relationship as the son begins his boarding school.
‘wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away’
‘eddying away’
L - verb
The son has been wrenched by force from his home and it is painful emotionally for both father and son.
L - verb
‘drift’ and ‘eddying’ suggest that the son lacks direction without his father.
‘with the pathos of a half-fledged thing’
L - noun
The father feels sympathy for his son as he is not ready to be independent.
L - metaphor
Suggests that the son is not quite ready to go to school independently.
‘set free into a wilderness’
L - metaphor
Suggests his son is entering an uncharted, potentially hostile, environment.
D - it recalls Jesus in the wilderness where he was tested by the devil. It implies the son’s experience will be a test of his character.
‘like a winged seed’
L - simile
It implies that the son is like the winged seed which needs to leave the parent stem to grow and thrive.
‘the scorching ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay’
L - adjectives
L - noun
They suggests characters of an adult are shaped by the painful ordeals they have overcome in life.
L - metaphor
It represents the human body and the person’s character. People have to go through tough experiences just like clay has to be fired into definite shape.
D - a biblical reference to the Book of Genesis that God made man from clay.
‘gnaws my mind still’
L - verb
Suggests that this experience still plays in the father’s mind and it is painful to him. It emphasises the fact that it still affects him.
L - caesura
Emphasises that the memory will forever gnaws him, causing him anxiety and guilt.
‘God alone perfectly show’
A biblical reference to God letting his son, Jesus, to go into the world and suffer. So, the speaker must let his son goes even if his son has to suffer to become independent.
Enjambment between the first and second stanza
The stanzaic break on ‘away’ shows the son is moving away from the father but the enjambment shows how the father is struggling to let him go.
Rhyme Scheme : ABACA
The rhyme scheme represents the relationship between the speaker and the son.
The rhyming lines presents the bond between the speaker and the son while the non-rhyming lines show the son’s need to break free from his parents.
Reader Response
- sympathy
- worry for the son
