Poppies - Jane weir

• Context

  • weir has two sons which drove her empathy towards a mother who had a son leaving for war
  • Spent several years in Belfast through 1980s troubles
  • Poppies brace me a symbol of remembrance in 1921
  • Grew on battlefields in ww1
  • published in 2009 - ww1 would be fleeting from peoples living memories
  • Duty to enforce importance of remembrance
  • grapples an array of social, historical and political themes
• domestic imagery - “blazer”


  • extended metaphor throughout the poem which parallels the notions of gong to war with a comparatively mundane departure of school - apparent in noun
  • in this sense represents military uniform however mire commonly associated with school uniform
  • weir translates the act of loosing a child to battle in a way the reader can relate to
  • evokes empathy
• domestic imagery - “sellotape bandages around my hand”


  • domestic act of collecting hairs and lint from clothes
  • verb ”bandage” is an allusion to injury which likely stems from her anxiety that he may be wounded
  • Could convert emotions of injuries - “bandages herself to cope”
  • ”bandage” is merely a temporary cover and does not heal wounds thus is only superficial protection
• domestic imagery - “graze my nose across the tip ofyour nose“


  • recalls desire
  • juxtoposes the maternal act of an Eskimo kiss with imagery of “graze”
  • Even innocent acts are contaminated with notions of a battle
• fear - “spasms of paper red”


  • unorthodox imagery
  • reminiscent of a battle however it also explores an uncontrollable reflex which cannot be repressed
  • mother is acting out of involuntary fear she cannot control
• fear - “steeled the softening of my face”


  • metaphor is sibilant depiction of a mother trying to put on a “brave face”
  • actively trying to fight the impulse to outwardly advertise anxiety
  • sibilance could represent tearful sniffing sound made when trying to repress crying
  • forces reader to mimic this sound much lie the speakers emotions are forcing an emotional response
• Freedom - “the dove”


  • motif is a symbol of peace and it advertises an alternative or the suffering and conflict of warfare which the mother chases and yearns for
  • Imagery of “songbird” is common trope of poetry
  • Act of “releasing a song bird from its cage” is seemingly unorthodox which exposes it as metaphorical
  • Mother is perhaps turning poverty to assuage her emotions
  • Finds cathartic which frees anxiety and fears
• Form - dramatic monologue

  • allows every aspect of the poem to be imbued with personal emotions
  • Writtin in second person and directed at her son
  • Suggestion of absent listener amplifies sense of loss and mourning
  • Gives a voice to those generally overlooked during war
  • Public attention directed towards soldiers not traumatised families
  • No regular rhyme and stanza length is also irregular which makes the poem seem conversational and intimate
  • Reader is given impression that speaker is struggling to control organise and understand emotions
• structure - caesura

  • visual and audible depiction of emotional restraints
  • mother does not want to submit herself to fear
  • captures bravery of mother
  • pays homage to a type of bravery often overlooked during war - families
• structure - enjambment

  • conveys how overwhelming her emotions were particularly in the simile “the world overflowing/like a treasure chest”
  • taken aback in the moment as they transcend the domestic safety and enter the world
  • outside intruding in
  • treasure chest is allusion to the conflicting attitudes between mothers and their sons
  • war is advertised as idealistic and exciting opportunity of adventure