Poppies ⭐

Structure

Free verse

Is no rhyme scheme/meter + a lot of variety in stanza length. Shows these are the speakers ​uncensored thoughts​ through which she desperately tries to make sense of the situation.

W’s use of ​free verse​ creates impression of poem being an ​outpouring of emotion​/ a ​stream of consciousness​ (is common in modern poetry.) The chaotic structure of poem reflects narrator’s ​lack of control​ over emotions & the events she has endured & shows that the chaos created by war is much further reaching than the battlefield.

EnjambmentSeen in ​“rolled, turned into felt // slowly melting”​ which gives the sentences a​ fragmented feeling, alludes to the narrator having to grasp at incomplete memories.

Form

a ​dramatic monologue​. Speaker uses a ​second person narrative​ to directly address their son however, he never replies, implying he no longer there, creates sense of death & loss. This form serves to focus the listener on the mother.

Unconventional bravery

explores ​emotional suffering​ as opposed to​ physical pain​ - evident in speaker’s declaration of ​“I was brave” which opposes conventional ideas of bravery associated with fighting and risk taking.

In “Poppies”, the narrator is acting bravely by carrying on with her daily life despite what she is suffering. The narrator is also brave because despite her fear of losing her son to war, she still lets him go.

Suffering

Use of ​enjambment​ between stanzas in ​“all my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt // slowly melting”​ breaks structure of poem to correspond w/ mother emotionally breaking. Hints of mother’s suffering heard throughout the poem as she is repeatedly assaulted by painful memories.

Blending domestic w/ conflict

W interweaves domestic imagery w/ violent military metaphors throughout poem. Evident when speaker describes leaving the house ‘without a winter coat/reinforcements of scarf, gloves.’ lack of protection from cold shows how violence left a mark on all parts of her everyday life. Could also imply she feels she needs reinforcement to face seeing the memorial for her son as it is still difficult to face the reality of her situation.

Speaker remembers wanting to ‘graze my nose.. Your nose’ a phrase in which maternal affection is juxtaposed against the injury-like connotations of ‘graze.’ throughout poem, W shows how war prevents people from having a normal domestic life. war disintergrates sacred bond bet mother & child