poppies by jane weir Flashcards
(16 cards)
context of war
refers to poppy tradition originating from WW1 armistice
written during period of time in which british soldiers were dying in iraq and afghanistan
she is a mother to two sons
dramatic monologue
structure
free verse (no set rhyme or rhythm) creates a feeling of freedom, giving an authentic parental voice
unsteady: like emotions before war
‘spasms of paper red’
description of flower is like war imagery of death/blood
‘disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer’
semantic field of war language: plosive alliteration
‘binding’: conscription connotations
‘sellotape bandaged around my hand’
bandaged: semantic field of war continued
symbolic of war injuries
‘graze my nose across the tip of your nose, play at eskimos like we did when you were little’
graze and nose - consonant, similar sounds that create a memorable rhythm like a children’s song
semantic field of hurt/injury
‘resisted the urge to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair’
focus shift to him as an adult, connotations of crucifixion (wrongly executed) from blackthorns (jesus’ crown of thorns)
‘all my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt’
felt is often used to make military caps/uniform trimmings, her voice is lost in a similar way as she is losing her own material to war
‘the world overflowing like a treasure chest.’
simile used as the boy escaped his mother’s suffocating clutches to freedom
use of caesura highlights dramatic decision for him to leave, slight naïveté
‘released a song bird from it’s cage’
metaphor: her son is released and may not come back
‘later a single dove flew from the pear tree’
dove: symbol of peace
irony: died in fighting (unpeaceful)
‘my stomach busy making tucks, darts, pleats’
sewing motif - fitting with uniform etc
words are nearly all monosyllabic with hard consonants - like small stabs
‘without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves’
military connotations/semantic field continued
exposed to the coldness of her grief
‘traced inscriptions on the war memorial, leaned against it like a wishbone’
wishbones: good luck (irony) wishbone is located over the heart yet are traditionally broken- showing the physical and metaphorical protection of her heart is gone
wishbones are broken into two, as she and her son have been split
‘an ornamental stich’
extended metaphor of sewing continued
symbolic of the link between them
stich is ornamental- their bond now has no substance as it no longer exists on this earth
‘hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind’
metaphor for elusiveness and fleeting ness like the spirit of her dead son
