poppies

“Three days before Armistice Sunday”

• links to themes: MEMORY AND LOSS

• Temporal deixis

  • Establishes the significance of remembrance

“crimped petals, spasms of red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias”

• links to themes: WAR AND CONFLICT

• Asyndetic listing demonstrates the detailed memory of the prolocutor

  • Symbolises this memory is fond or worthy of remembrance

• The imagery of the statement conjures ideas around violent conflict and the disarray and broken nature violence leaves the body in

“I wanted to graze my nose across the tip of your nose”

• links to themes: MEMORY AND LOSS

• Implies a paradoxical culmination of both softness and harshness

  • Could link to the cloth and the wider field of clothing that Jane Weir uses to portray her ideas

  • Connotes the bittersweet reality of nostalgic memories

  • Also highlights the intimacy of the relationship between the mother and son

“you were away, intoxicated”

• links to themes: WAR AND CONFLICT, IDENTITY

• Use of singular second perspective noun "you" implies this poem is a personal letter, written as a way for the mother to process her grief and physically manifest her emotions and memories

  • The personal tone of this poem enhances and intensifies the atmosphere of loss persistent throughout the poem

• Idea of the son being "intoxicated" demonstrates the effectiveness of propaganda surrounding the 'honourable' and patriotic nature of fighting for your country

“I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind”

• links to themes: WAR AND CONFLICT, MEMORY AND LOSS, IDENTITY

• Painful and sombre metaphor cycles the poem back to its beginning statement, shifting the focus back to remembrance and grief

  • This implies the mother almost gets carried away with her emotions, entranced with the joy her memories bring; before being sorely brought back to the reality of her loss

• This also links to the cyclical nature of the poem, as it begins with the son attending an armistice event when he is younger and then finally being the one honoured in one of these events

AO3

• written in 2005

• this poem was commissioned by former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy as part of a poetry collection called ‘exit wounds’

• Jane Weir was also a clothes designer, which is exemplified in her consistent referral to clothing and textiles throughout the poem

structure

• written in blank verse

• second person narrative is used to directly address the son, creating an atmosphere of loss