Imagery
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 10.1.3
Images of Innocence
Images of innocence in Poppies emphasise the intense love of the mother for her son. It also reminds the reader of the innocence that is corrupted by war.
Image 1
- “Sellotape bandaged around my hand, / I rounded up as many white cat hairs / as I could, smoothed down your shirt's / upturned collar”.
Image 2
- “I wanted to graze my nose / across the tip of your nose, play at / being Eskimos like we did when you were little”.
Danger
Weir uses these techniques to explore the ideas of the danger of war and children's futures:
Colour and military imagery
- “spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade / of yellow bias binding around your blazer.”
- The colour imagery of “red” and military image of a “blockade” potentially foreshadows the danger that awaits the son.
Juxtaposition
- "I resisted the impulse / to run my fingers through the gelled / blackthorns of your hair."
- The tender image of the mother touching her son is juxtaposed to descriptions of uniform or sharp objects, which remind the reader of the son’s unsafe and uncertain future.
Test yourself on Imagery
Which of these is not an image emphasising innocence?
What types of imagery are being used in this quote?
“Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade / of yellow bias binding around your blazer"Which two words are being juxtaposed in this quote to contrast the mother's affection with the son's future?
"I resisted the impulse / to run my fingers through the gelled / blackthorns of your hair"