Theme of Motherhood
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 10.1.2
A Mother's Grief
The poem is a depiction of a mother’s pain and grief as she sends her son to war. Here are the techniques used to emphasise her grief:
Metaphor and rule of three
- “All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt”.
- This indicates that the mother’s grief and fear has left her speechless.
Metaphor and simile
- “On reaching the top of the hill I traced / the inscriptions on the war memorial, / leaned against it like a wishbone”.
- Climbing to the top of the hill could be a metaphor for her struggle to deal with the grief of sending her son to war.
Caesura
- "I listened, hoping to hear / your playground voice catching on the wind."
- The caesura (breaks in the line) in the last stanza could indicate her faltering voice as she is on the verge of tears.
Parents Letting Children Go
The poem explores the difficulty parents face of allowing their children to become independent and enter the world and all the dangers it brings. Weir explores this idea through symbolism and similes:
Opening the door symbol
- “to the front door, threw / it open”.
- You could argue that this is symbolic of the mother accepting her son’s choice.
Freeing a song bird symbol
- “Released a song bird from its cage”.
- This could reflect her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her son’s desire for freedom and independence.
Flying from the pear tree symbol
- “Later a single dove flew from the pear tree”.
- This could reflect her acknowledging and trying to come to terms with her son’s desire for freedom and independence.
Treasure chest simile
- “the world overflowing / like a treasure chest”.
- This simile indicates that the mother recognises her son’s excitement and is understanding about the opportunities that await him.
Maternal Love
The mother's love for her son is emphasised throughout the poem through these techniques:
Possessive pronouns
- Use of possessive pronouns “I” and “your” throughout the poem give a sense of the close bond between mother and son.
Tactile images
- “run my fingers through the gelled / blackthorns of your hair”.
- “I traced / the inscriptions on the war memorial".
- Tactile (relating to touch) images emphasise the mother's desire for closeness.
Test yourself on Theme of Motherhood
What techniques are being used in this quote showing the mother's grief?
“All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt”“On reaching the top of the hill I traced / the inscriptions on the war memorial, / leaned against it like a wishbone”.
What might the mother climbing to the top of the hill symbolise in this quote?Which of these quotes are symbolic of the mother letting her son go in Poppies?
What techniques does Weir use to emphasise the mother's love for her son?
"I" and "your" are used frequently throughout Poppies. What are they examples of?