10.1.1

Summary

Test yourself

Summary of Poppies

Jane Weir wrote Poppies as a dramatic monologue, which is a form of poetry where an imagined speaker addresses a silent audience. In Poppies, a mother speaks to her son who is presumably going off to war. Weir herself describes the poem as a “contemporary war poem”.

Illustrative background for SummaryIllustrative background for Summary ?? "content

Summary

  • The mother reminisces about the day he left and the way her memories are brought back on Armistice Sunday.
Illustrative background for InfluenceIllustrative background for Influence ?? "content

Influence

  • With the news filled with stories of conflict – for example, in Iraq and Afghanistan – the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, asked several poets to write on this theme.
  • Weir was interested in the voice of women involved in conflict, which she believed were often silenced. So she chose to focus on the grief of a mother and the pain of letting her child go.

Key Ideas in Poppies

Here are some of the key ideas Jane Weir explores in Poppies:

Illustrative background for Parents and childrenIllustrative background for Parents and children ?? "content

Parents and children

  • This poem is a depiction of a mother’s pain and grief as she sends her son to war.
  • It explores the difficulty parents face allowing their children to become independent and enter the world.
  • There is a contrast between the sadness and nostalgia of the mother and the son’s freedom.
  • The mother tries to preserve the son’s childishness and reminisces about the games they used to play as a child.
  • She is coming to terms with the fact that she can no longer keep him safe in the same way she could when he was small.
Illustrative background for Loneliness and lossIllustrative background for Loneliness and loss ?? "content

Loneliness and loss

  • Loneliness and loss are key themes.
  • There are hints that the son has died as she visits the war memorial on Armistice Sunday, but this is unclear.
Illustrative background for Strength and bravery of war victimsIllustrative background for Strength and bravery of war victims ?? "content

Strength and bravery of war victims

  • Weir celebrates the strength and bravery of those left behind in war - the victims of war who don’t risk their own lives but still suffer.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

Go student ad image

Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring

  • Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home

  • Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs

  • 30+ school subjects covered

Book a free trial lesson