Poppies
- Created by: pinkbeer
- Created on: 11-08-19 13:02
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- Poppies
- Metaphor "I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair"
- They have a very strong mother son relationship
- His hair is gelled meaning he is going to an important event/ war
- The relationship is strained because he chooses war over his love for his mother
- His hair symbolises the dislocation between the boy/ his mother
- his hair is like barbed wire and her fingers are soldiers
- She can't regain control over him
- A misunderstanding between the intensions of the mother's 'love' and the son's independence increases the distance between them
- His hair is 'unnatural' like war
- She 'resists'- it impacts her thoughts/ behaviour
- Simile "The world overflowing like a treasure chest"
- The son going off to war is a big oppurtunity
- The government have used propaganda to make conflict appealing
- The treasure represents gain/ loss. The British gain a soldier/ the mother losses her son
- The uniform is like treasure he feels significant/ powerful after joining up. People recognise him as a man
- He's protecting the world as one would protect treasure
- The world/ conflict is viewed in a positive light
- There's a contrast between the danger felt by the mother and the joy of freedom experienced by the son
- Metaphor "After you'd gone I went into your bedroom, released a song bird from its cage
- It symbolises how she has let her son go, knowing he might not return
- The mother is like the songbird- crying. It reminds us she's trapped in a 'cage' waiting for his return- she must find some release
- She has lost emotional support/ comfort when he left
- The bird represents hope, but also loss at the end of the poem
- Endless waiting for the 'bird' or 'son' to come back. If he was missing in action- the wait would be endless
- Caesura "I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind"
- The 'playground' has been replaced by the 'grave' and the joy of childhood memories have been taken away
- She's always 'listening' because she is losing sight of her memories of him. Her first instinct was to listen and protect him- react to his pain
- She longs to relive his childhood- gave her opportunities to care for him
- Metaphor "I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair"
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