Walking Away - C. Day Lewis

• What the poem's about

  1. A father remembers watching his son play his first game of football, possibly on his first day at school. The father feels worried about his son as he watches him walk uncertainly away from him

  2. The memory of that day still deeply affects the father eighteen years later. However, he comes to an understanding that this is a natural process that all children and parents must go through - every child has to experience the difficult process of gaining independence, and every parent has to let go
• Who is the narrator of the poem?

  A first-person narrator
• What does the first-person narrator emphasize in the poem?

  Personal experiences
• How do enjambment and caesura affect the poem's rhythm?

  They create a rhythm that sounds like natural speech
• What does the ABACA rhyme scheme reflect in the poem?

  The steadiness of the father's parental love
• What does the repetition of the 'A' rhyme signify?

  How the memory continues to affect him
• What does the phrase "away, Behind" illustrate in the poem?

  The boy turning away from his father
• What does the repetition of "path" suggest about the father's feelings?

  His desperation for his son to find the right way
• What does the line "How selfhood begins with a walking away" imply?

  The son must leave to find his identity
• How does the rhythm change in the line about love being proved in letting go?

  It becomes more steady, indicating understanding
• What does the father prove by letting his son go?

  His love for his son
• Structure

  In the first two stanzas the narrator talks about the memory. In the final two stanzas, he reflects on how the memory still pains him. The final two lines of the poem form a sort of conclusion - he understands that whilst it was a painful event, it was a necessary part of his son's development
• What does natural imagery reveal about the father's feelings towards his son?

  It shows his growing understanding and concern
• How does the father compare his son in the imagery?

  To a "half-fledged" bird
• What does the term "half-fledged" imply about the father's view of his son?

  He believes his son is not ready
• What does the "wilderness" symbolize in the father's perspective?

  A hostile environment for his son
• What does the word "eddying" suggest about the son's situation?

  It reflects his uncertainty and lack of control
• How does the simile "Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem" contrast with the satellite simile in stanza 1?

  It is less painful and forced than "Wrenched"
• What does the father's acceptance of his son's independence signify?

  He understands it is a natural process
• What are the key natural imagery elements used to express the father's feelings?

  • "half-fledged" bird: father's concern for readiness
  • "wilderness": symbolizes a hostile environment
  • "eddying": reflects uncertainty and lack of control
  • "winged seed loosened": contrasts with painful imagery
• Language about pain

  Verbs such as "Wrenched", "scorching" and "Gnaws" show how the process is traumatic for the father as well as difficult for the son.

  . "Wrenched" - Enjambments puts the unexpected word "Wrenched" at the start of the line, which emphasises it. This reflects how the father found the separation sudden and painful

  . "scorching" - Experiences of growing up are painful

  . "fire one's irresolute clay" - Fire turns clay into a pot - difficult experiences of growing up turn children into independent people

  . "Gnaws" - "Gnaws" is animalistic and vicious - the father is still affected by seeing his son go through the tough process of growing up
• Other Analysis

  . "almost to the day" - He remembers the exact day - it's an important memory

  . "new-ruled" - New boundaries are also being drawn between father and son, with the son's newfound independence

  . "like a satellite", "go drifting" - Negative simile - a satellite isn't meant to fall out of orbit, and to drift away makes the son sound helpless and in danger. The simile also emphasises how the father has stopped being at the centre of his son's life

  . "God alone could perfectly show" - Religious imagery - in the Bible, God let go of Jesus, his only son, when Jesus came to Earth and was crucified. He did this to show humans that he loved them. That "God alone" could do it shows how difficult it is
• Glossary

  pathos - something that create feelings of pity

  half-fledged - describes a young bird that doesn't have all its adult feathers. A bird that isn't fully fledges is unable to fly

  gait - the way someone walks

  eddying - air or water moving in a circular motion

  irresolute - uncertain