8.1.2

Themes

Test yourself

Natural Imagery

Throughout the poem Lewis uses images from the natural world to show the transition in his relationship with his son.

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Pathetic fallacy

  • The poem begins with pathetic fallacy, as the ‘leaves just turning’, suggesting transition of the season.
  • This reflects the state of transition the father is witnessing in his son, and the changing nature of their relationship.
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Simile

  • Lewis also uses natural imagery as metaphor for the natural process of growing up and letting go.
  • For example, ‘like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem’ is a powerful simile that embodies the sense of loss Lewis feels but also the inevitability of the process of growing up.

Separation in Walking Away

Lewis' poem explores the feelings of a parent as he realises that he must allow his son to move on and grow up. Here are some examples of how he develops that theme in the poem.

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Abrupt verbs

  • The narrator’s use of abrupt verbs such as ‘wrenched’, ‘scorching’ and ‘gnaws' helps to describe the process of growing up.
  • There is a sense that the father is struggling to let go of his son, yet knows he must in order to let him grow up.
  • These verbs show how painful the process is, despite its necessity.
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Repetition

  • The word ‘away’ is repeated throughout the poem, which emphasises their separation
  • Lewis' use of the phrases, ‘loosened from', ‘set free’, and ‘wrenched from’, also helps show the process of separation as his son grows up.

Jump to other topics

1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)

2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

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

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

4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis

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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