Poppies

• Who was Poppies written by?

  Poppies was written by Jane Weir
• The poem is a _____ monologue

  The poem is a dramatic monologue
• What is a dramatic monologue?


  a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker addresses a silent audience.
• Who does the mother adress?


  The mother speaks to her son in a dramatic monologue as he is going to war.
• What is the poem a depiction of?


  A mother's pain and grief
• What are the key themes?

  Parents and children, strength and bravery of soldiers, a mothers grief and loneliness/loss.
• "All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt."


  Metaphor and rule of three. Indicates mother's grief and the fear has left her speechless.
• What does the mother do?

  Mother tries to preserve sons childishness, reminiscing old times and games they played.
• What technique is used in "I listened, hoping to hear/your playground voice catching on the wind."


  Caesura. The break in line indicates the mother's faltering voice, on the verge of tears.
• What concept does Poppies explore?

  It explores the difficulties parents faced, allowing children to become independent.
• What does the poem contrast?

  The contrast of the mother's sadness and the soldiers freedom.
• What does the mother have to coke to terms with?


  The fact that she can no longer keep her son safe as she did when he was a child.
• What type of poem is Poppies?

  A contemporary war poem.
• What was Weir interested in?

  Weir was interested in woman's voices involved in conflict, which she believed were often silenced.