POPPIES POEM - GCSE STANDARD REVISION AND NOTES - ADVANCED LEVEL

POPPIES - DHARMIC MEGGI. Edexcel

The noun‘poppies’ symbolises violence, death and memory.

 ‘ Before you left, I pinned one onto your lapel’ - The dependent clause emphasizes the sense of loss for the mother. The past principle ‘pinned’ reflects the growing altitude of pain in the mother. The fact that is was ‘pinned onto [his] lapel’ suggests that the mother knew he was going to die. This is an antithesis for the mother and son; the son was ‘intoxicated’ , he was unaware of what he was stepping into,whereas the mother knew all along. By doing this Jane Weir makes us realise through the contrast of the mothers and government who were very powerful as ‘war’ was shown as a good and heroic thing as a result the mothers were unable to have a say, heightening the theme of powerlessness vs powerful,this in turn can also be seen as jane weir giving power to the left out voice during war; this shows how those who were at war were not only affected but the people left back were also impacted by war.

‘All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt, slowly melting.’ - The use of listing here shows how the mother hated the change although she was the one who was not in control of what was happening. It also suggests the disconnection which is juxtaposed to the past of the mother and son where the mother was in charge of the son.

‘My stomach busy making tucks, darts, pleats’ - the use of sewing machine imagery and domestic imagery and listing conveys her nervousness and feelings of anxiety.

‘Sellotape bandaged around my hand’ - The use of military terms and metaphor of war highlights how the mother is emotionally wounded.

‘Spasms/bandaged/graze’ - The use of the semantic field of militarization, injury and being hurt reflects the son and the mother who is instead affected psychologically thus showing an inner conflict.

‘The world overflowing like a treasure’…