Climbing my grandfather Flashcards
“Easy scramble onto his trousers”
Verb - He has made the easy start of a longer journey (links in with the extended metaphor of a mountain)
“Earth stained hands”
Metaphor - he worked hard and left a legacy behind him.
“Warm ice”
Oxymoron - Even though he is gone he has left an impact
“Glassy ridge of a scar”
Metaphor- Seems strong but has a sense of fragileness as well
“Screed cheek”
Metaphor - suggests that the cheek is worn and drooped
“Watch a pupil slowly open and close”
Metaphor - as a pupil opens and closes with and object proximity, it suggest that the child is getting emotionally closer to the grandpa
“Reaching for the summit”
Metaphor - He is coming to the conclusion of who his grandpa was
“Watching clouds”
Metaphor - clouds often associated with imagining so it makes sense to have this image in an extended metaphor
“At his still firm shoulder”
Metaphor - Shoulders are usually described as symbols of bearing weight, so if the shoulders are “firm” it places respect on the Grandfather and shows he is resilient
Links to other poems
Follower - Idolising a Family member
Mother any distance - Both in first person narrative and present tense
Context
Author lectured in an agricultural college - links to Grandfather as a labourer
He grew up in a semi-industrial town and his family life is reflected by his poems
Poem may be autobiographical
Reflects on Waterhouse’s environmentalism
