Poppies

• What is Poppies about?

  • A mother describes the experience of her son leaving home to join the army
  • She reminisces on memories of his childhood, yet the tone becomes increasingly sombre as the narrator implies her son has lost his life in battle
• What is the contextual significance of Weir’s family?

  Weir has two sons herself which likely drove her empathy towards a mother who had to say goodbye to a son leaving for war
• What is the contextual significance of WW1?

  • Being published in 2009
  • WW1 would have been fleeting from people’s living memory
  • Weir may have seen it as her duty to keep enforcing the importance of remembrance
• What quote reflects domestic imagery interwoven with conflict?

  “blazer”
• How does the quote “blazer” reflect domestic imagery interwoven with conflict?

  • There is an extended metaphor throughout the poem which parallels the notion of going to war with a comparatively mundane departure of leaving for school
  • This is made apparent through the noun “blazer” which in this sense represents military uniform however it would more commonly be associated with school uniform
  • Through this Weir translates the act of losing a child to battle into an experience her readership would more easily be able to relate to, evoking a stronger sense of empathy
• What quote reflects fear?

  “steeled the softening of my face”
• How does “steeled the softening of my face” reflect fear?

  • The metaphor “steeled the softening of my face” is a sibilant depiction of a mother trying to put a ‘brave face’ on
  • She is actively trying to fight the impulse to outwardly advertise her anxiety
  • This sibilance could represent the tearful sniffing sound made when trying to repress crying- it forces the reader to mimic this sound much like the speaker’s emotions are forcing an emotional response
• What is the structural significance of enjambment?

  • Used to convey how overwhelming her emotions were particularly in the simile “the world overflowing // like a treasure chest”
  • She is taken aback in this moment as they transcend the domestic safety of their home & enter the outside “world”, it gives the impression of the outside intruding in
• What is the alternative use of enjambment?

  • Alternatively, the symbol of a “treasure chest” could be an allusion to the conflicting attitudes between mothers & their sons
  • For many young boys & men, the notion of going to war advertised an idealistic & exciting oppurtunity of adventure
• What form is used in the poem?

  Dramatic monologue
• Why has Weir used a dramatic monologue?

  • It is a dramatic monologue which allows every aspect of the poem to be imbued with personal emotions
  • It is written in the second person & directed at her son, the suggestion of an absent listener amplifies the sense of loss & mourning
  • It gives a voice to those who were generally overlooked during the war- the mothers & families of soldiers still when through traumatic emotions, but public attention was directed towards the soldiers themselves
• Why has Weir uses irregular rhyme within the dramatic monologue?

  • There is no regular rhyme, or rhythm (it is written in free verse), & the stanza length is also irregular which makes the poem seem conversational & intimate
  • The reader is given the impression that the speaker finds it hard to control, organise & understand her emotions