15.1.1

Summary, Structure & Form

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Summary of Climbing My Grandfather

Andrew Waterhouse's poem focuses on the memory of climbing his grandfather's knee and the safety of childhood.

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Background

  • Waterhouse was a teacher at an agricultural college. He was also an environmentalist and musician.
  • His interest in the environment is shown in the powerful natural imagery in the poem.
  • Waterhouse also suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2001 - in light of this, it may be interesting to consider the sense of safety in the memory of childhood in the poem.
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Summary

  • The narrator looks back on memories of climbing up his grandfather as a child.
  • He uses imagery and language relating to real-life rock climbing to convey a sense of childlike reverence for his grandfather.

Structure and Form in Climbing My Grandfather

Here are some of the key features of the structure and form in Climbing My Grandfather:

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Structure

  • The poem is in free verse in a single stanza – the poem is practical in its structure, reflecting the serious tone and intensity of the child’s attempt to climb.
  • Each line of the poem takes the reader higher and higher, so they reach the summit of the poem with the little boy climbing his grandfather.
  • The poet uses enjambment between lines 5-6 to make the reader change direction of their eyes as the child changes direction.
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Present tense

  • Although the poem is in the present tense, this is tempered by the fact that this poem has been written by the poet as an adult.
  • The tense shows that he is attempting to recreate a childhood memory and make it as vivid as possible.

Jump to other topics

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2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

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5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)

7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)

10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963

12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)

13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)

15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

16Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons

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