Walking Away

• "It is eighteen years almost to the day"

  The memory is still vivid all these years later. He remembers the specific day which suggests that this day was significant – perhaps it was the first day he felt their relationship had changed. The hyphen at the end of the line could symbolise the moment he felt the separation.
• ‘A sunny day with leave just turning’

  The transition from summer to autumn reflects the transition in his son’s life. The changing of the seasons imitates the changing nature of their relationship. The changing season makes him realise how quickly time passes by.
• ‘new-ruled’

  New boundaries have been created between father and son – there are now new rules to their relationship. The son has a new-founded sense of freedom and they both will need to adjust to the change in their relationship. New boundaries have been created between father and son – there are now new rules to their relationship. The son has a new-founded sense of freedom and they both will need to adjust to the change in their relationship.
• ‘go drifting away Beyond a scatter of boys’

  The enjambment between stanzas again emphasises the growing distance in their relationship. The verb ‘drifting’ portrays how the son is now beyond the father’s control and the white space between the stanzas is symbolic of the ever widening distance in their relationship. The boy will no longer seek his father’s guidance for everything in life because his friends will now influence the choices he makes in life
• ‘half-fledged thing set free’

  The father’s concerns for his son continues with the natural imagery ‘half-fledged thing’. This metaphor demonstrates how the father feels that his son is not ready for a life without his support. However, as the poem progresses he begins to realise that this is a natural process – just as a bird leaves the nest, so the young child must move from childhood to adulthood.
• "wilderness"


  Natural imagery of the ‘wilderness’ suggest the world is a hostile place and his father worries that his son will not survive without his protection.
• ‘no path where the path should be’

  Animalistic imagery – the memory eats away at him even after all these years.
• ‘And love is proved in the letting go’

  In the final lines of the poem he understands that whilst it was a painful event, it was a necessary part of his son’s development. The change to a more steady rhythm underlines how the father has come to a philosophical understanding – the son has to walk away from his father to find his own identity, and the father proves his love by letting go.
• Analysis of the Title

  The title is intentionally vague to intrigue the reader and to engage them into the poem’s narrative. There is no inclusion of subject so no hint as to what kind of relationship is being explored. The title encapsulates the theme of parental love and separation. Every parent must metaphorically watch their child “walk away.” The child must “walk away” from the parent to mature and develop his own “selfhood.”