8.1.1

Summary, Structure & Form

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Summary of Walking Away

Cecil Day Lewis was a modernist poet who often used natural imagery to explore and describe his personal experiences. Walking Away is about his relationship with his son Sean.

Background

Background

  • Cecil Day Lewis was a modernist poet. He was made poet laureate from 1968 until his death.
  • Brought up by his father, Lewis focuses on father-son relationships in this poem.
  • Walking Away is about his relationship with and love for his own son, Sean.
Summary

Summary

  • Lewis’ narrator begins looking back on his memories of his son’s first game of football. This moment is used as a fixed moment in the past and a metaphor for Lewis’ son growing up.
  • He uses cosmic and natural imagery to try and convey the poignant sense of loss a parent feels as their child grows up. He also tries to capture a parent's awareness that their child must and should break away from them in order to experience true ‘selfhood’.
Parental love

Parental love

  • Lewis explores familial love in this poem, a kind of love that is often presented as unconditional.
  • But, even though Lewis will never stop loving his son, the way he expresses his love has to change as his son grows up – including allowing his son to metaphorically walk away from him.
  • His pain at this 'loss' is lessened by his awareness that this is, in itself, an act of love. His son needs freedom to thrive and grow up.

Structure and Form in Walking Away

Here are some of the features of structure and form in Cecil Day Lewis' poem Walking Away

First-person narrative

First-person narrative

  • The poem is a first-person narrative, from the perspective of a father remembering his son’s first football match.
Real speech

Real speech

  • The poem attempts to create a sense of real speech with the use of enjambment and caesura.
  • The use of words such as ‘perhaps’ and ‘roughly’ gives the sense that the poet is struggling to put into words how he feels.
  • The use of dashes makes the reader feel like the narrator’s thoughts are interrupting the flow of the poem.
Development of narrator's thoughts

Development of narrator's thoughts

  • As much as the poem is about development and growth, the poem itself reflects the development of the narrator’s thoughts.
  • He begins focusing on memory in the first two stanzas.
  • In the middle two stanzas, he reflects on these memories and the raw pain he feels.
  • In the final stanza, he comes to the painful conclusion that while this is difficult for him – it is an act of love to let his son go.
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1

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2

Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

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3

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

3.1

Porphyria’s Lover Analysis

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Neutral Tones Analysis

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Letters from Yorkshire Analysis

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7

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

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The Farmer's Bride Analaysis

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8

Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

8.1

Walking Away Analysis

8.1.1Summary, Structure & Form8.1.2Themes8.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons
9

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Eden Rock Analysis

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Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

10.1

Follower Analysis

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‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born 1963

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'Mother, Any Distance' Analysis

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

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Before You Were Mine Analysis

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Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

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Winter Swans Analysis

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14.1

Singh Song! Analysis

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15.1

Climbing My Grandfather Analysis

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16

Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1

Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1.1Grade 9 - Comparisons
17

Recap: Main Quotes

17.1

Recap: Main Quotes

17.1.1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)17.1.2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley17.1.3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)17.1.4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (17.1.5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)17.1.6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)17.1.7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)17.1.8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)17.1.9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)17.1.10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)17.1.11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963)17.1.12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)17.1.13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)17.1.14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)17.1.15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

Practice questions on Summary, Structure & Form

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  1. 1
    What memory does Lewis begin the poem with?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    What type of poet was Cecil Day Lewis?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Features of _Walking Away_:True / false
  4. 4
    Structure and form of _Walking Away_:True / false
  5. 5
    Development of the Narrator's ThoughtsPut in order
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Exam-Style Questions - The Farmer's Bride

Themes