poppies

• The poem "Poppies" by Jane Weir is about a mother reminiscing about her son, who is implied to have died in conflict
• The poem opens "three days before armistice Sunday" to establish the theme of remembrance
• The narrator places a poppy on her son's blazer and recounts memories of him, including using Sellotape to remove cat hairs from his clothes
• The narrator wishes she could still hear her son's voice
• Jane Weir, born in 1963, lived in Northern Ireland during the troubles in the 1980s, which influenced her exploration of young boys going to war
• Poppies grew in battlefields and became a symbol of remembrance in 1921, used by Weir to establish the poem as an act of remembrance
• The poem uses temporal deixis to establish the theme of remembrance from the start
• The word choice in the poem implies that the memory also has painful undertones
• The poem is a dramatic monologue where the speaker directly addresses their son, creating a sense of death and loss
• The structure of the poem is free verse, reflecting the narrator's uncensored thoughts and an outpouring of emotion
• The poem "Poppies" by Weir depicts a strong emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver
• Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study on attachment aimed to identify stages of attachment and find a pattern in the development of an attachment between infants and parents
• Participants in the study were 60 babies from Glasgow, and the procedure involved analyzing interactions between infants and carers
• Findings from the study showed that babies of parents or carers who displayed 'sensitive responsiveness' were more likely to have formed an attachment
• Weir's use of enjambment in the poem "Poppies" gives the sentences a fragmented feeling, alluding to the narrator having to grasp at incomplete memories
• In "Poppies," Weir blends domestic imagery with violent military metaphors, showing how violence has left a mark on all parts of the narrator's everyday life
• Weir explores emotional suffering rather than physical pain in her poetry, as seen in the speaker's declaration of bravery in "Poppies"
• The use of enjambment in "Poppies" breaks the structure of the poem to correspond with the mother emotionally breaking, hinting at her suffering throughout the poem
• In "Poppies," the narrator is acting bravely by carrying on with her daily life despite her suffering, showing unconventional bravery in the face of emotional challenges
• Weir's exploration of emotional suffering in "Poppies" contrasts with conventional ideas of bravery associated with fighting and risk-taking
• The poem "Poppies" by Weir shows how war prevents people from having a normal domestic life, intertwining maternal affection with injury-like connotations
• In "Poppies," the lack of protection from the cold symbolizes how violence has permeated all aspects of the narrator's life, making it difficult to face the reality of her situation
• Weir's unconventional approach as a war poet focuses on emotional suffering rather than physical pain, as shown in the speaker's declaration of bravery in "Poppies"
• The chaotic structure of the poem "Poppies" reflects the narrator's lack of control over her emotions and the events she has endured, showing that the chaos created by war extends beyond the battlefield