Poppies - Jane Weir

The title - The poem focuses heavily around the idea of poppies as memorials, linking to the memories she is having of her and her son

Women's role in war - As women could not fight at the frontline, they had to wait at home with little to no news of what was happening. This links to the distant feelings that the Mother is having

Young soldiers - Lots of vunerable sons were influenced by propaganda and went off to war, some even too young to be the legal age leaving behind their homes and their families. Most did not return, like the son in the poem

Conflict and it's effects - The poem focuses on war and conflict but in a slightly different way, choosing to zoom in on its effect on those who are involved from afar

Loss of identity - The Mother has lost her paternal identity due to losing her Son and is trying to cling on to any memories or any remaining bond

The 4 stanzas are structured as a story of a mother and a child's relationship:

1) The mother talks about looking back on rememberance day and the idea of the poppy which has helped trigger the memory

2) The mother talks about helping her son get ready and seeing him off

3) The poem explores the emptiness that is left in his absence, finally the mother feels drawn to a war memorial bringing the story back to where it started

The poem uses lots of enjamberment and familiar nouns tto ehance the idea of natural tone and the mothers voice

There is a huge contrast with some of the imagery of the poem - Sometimes it links to violnce 'blackthorns of your hair ' Sometimes it is more peaceful homely images 'released a song bird' 

This emphasises the conflicting emotions in her mother, as well as her attempts to cling on to her paternal relationship despite all the ways that war changed and ruined it