Walking Away, Cecil Day-Lewis

• Context

  ● Original poem title: ‘For Sean’

  ● Looking back 18 years, son’s first day at boarding school in 1938

  ● He was brought up by father, mother died young - link to emphasis on father son relationship.

  ● Son of church of island preacher - link to nature/godly references
• ‘Like a satellite wrenched from its orbit’


  negative simile, father was the centre of the son’s life, enjambment puts wrenched on a new line - sudden, unexpected
• ‘Half fledged thing..set free into a wilderness’


  bird metaphor, dehumanises, not ready yet, being let out into danger without protection, worry for son
• ‘Eddying away'


  something moving in air of wind, son’s uncertainty and lack of control
• ‘Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem'


  loosened less intense than wrenched, coming to terms, intensifies the idea of an uncontrollable situation
• ‘Gnaws at my mind’


  animalistic connotations, sadness is consuming him, no control
• ‘God alone could perfectly show’ 


  religious imagery - god let go of Jesus in the bible and was crucified - to show humans his love for them. ‘Alone’ shows how difficult it is
• Regular ABACA rhyme


  steadiness of parental love
• ‘Love is proved in the letting go’


  change to regular rhythm, philosophical understanding
• Themes and comparisons

  ● Growing up: MOTHER ANY DISTANCE - how it affects a parent, last few lines hopeful conclusion, direct address to show intimacy, diff perspectives, uncertainty, bird imagery (not ready vs successful independence)

  ● Memory: EDEN ROCK - biblical imagery acceptance vs fondness, natural elements show worry vs separation, structure - steady but RHYMES, direct address vs they, emotional impact of separation pain vs shown physically