poppies

• what is popies about?

  • a mother describes her experience of her son leaving home to join the war
  • we see her struggle with the potential death of her son, and she reflects on his childhood and memories which she cherishes
• who wrote poppies?

  • jane weir
  • a mother who has 2 sons herself, which likely drove her to write poppies due to her maternal empathy which she may have for other mothers who went through this
  • weir grew up in belfast and lived through the troubles, a time of violence and conflict which may have driven her want to comment on war
  • poppies are a symbol of rememberence , and weir may be using the poem to consolidate this rememberence despite the war now happening over 100 years ago, especially remembering the young and innocent boys who lost their lives whilst fighting for this cuntry
• what does weir do throughout the poem?

  • she uses an extended metaphor throughout which parallels the experience of a mother sending her son to war with an equally mundane experience fo sendign her son to school
  • weir may do this to critique society's lack of care for the young and innocent boys being sent to war, as they are treated with no more love than if they where being sent to school, reflecting society's coldness and lack of compassion for those who lost their lives
• 'blazer'

  • the noun represents military uniform, however it is more commonly used as a school blazer
  • this could show that weir feels that the youth and innocence is beign stripped from these young boys who are going to war
  • she may do this to evoke a strong sense of empathy
• 'Sellotape bandaged around my hand'

  • 'sellotape bandaged around my hand' is a domestic act of collecting lint and hairs from surfaces such as clothing
  • however, weir may use this as a metaphor as the speaker has 'bandaged' herself to cope with the pain of loosing her son, reflecting the pain and struggle which those at home deal with
  • alternitavly, weir may also be alluding to the son who has been 'bandaged' and injured in war, critiquing the violence and chaos of war and how the young boys who are sent are too young to experience this pain and trauma
• 'spasms of paper red'

  • the violent and graphic verb 'spasms' may be alluding to the mother's uncontrollable fear and sadness for her son however weir may also use it as it has connotations of being wounded and hurt, alluding to the son's death on the battle field and the mother is reflecting upon the pain and suffering which he had to endure
  • furthermore, the noun 'paper' may be used to underscore the fragility of life, as paper is a delicate material which is easily ripped apart, just like life. Therefore the mother may be reflecting upon how quickly her son was taken from her
  • 'Red' - has obvious connotations of blood and violence
• 'the dove pulled freely'

  • the symbolism of a 'dove' is a symbol of peace, which weir may use to imply the death of the son
  • the speaker observes the dove flying freely away, which emphasises that the son is now at peace
  • the symbolism of freedom starkly contrasts with 'pulled' as it indicates that the dove is still tied down, which weir may do to highlight the hard time that the speaker is having when tryign to let her son go, as she cannot fully accept the fact that he is gone