Poppies (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Each poetry anthology at GCSE contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem - printed in full - and asked to compare this printed poem to another. As this is a closed-book exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will have to know it from memory. Fifteen poems are a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem

• The ideas and messages of the poet 

• How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods

• How do these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Jane Weir’s poem Poppies, from the Power and Conflict anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods

• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes

• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Weir’s intention and message

Poppies in a nutshell

Poppies was written by the poet Jane Weir in 2005 when Carol Ann Duffy asked Jane Weir and other poets to compose poems which would raise awareness of the sacrifices made by British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Weir’s poem Poppies presents the sacrifice made by families involved in war, to raise awareness of the wide-reaching impact of conflict.

Poppies breakdown

Lines 1-2

“Three days before Armistice Sunday

and poppies had already been placed”

Translation

• The poem begins reporting an event

• The mention of Armistice Sunday raises themes of conflict and remembrance of peace 

• Poppies are used to remember the day peace was declared at the end of World War I

Weir’s intention

• Weir chose to write a poem which details the remembrance of soldiers whose lives have been lost in war, in order to raise awareness of their sacrifice

• She begins the poem using reported speech to alert readers to the theme of conflict and remembrance: her poem focuses on remembering those who fell in battle 

Lines 3-6

“on individual war graves. Before you left,

I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals,

spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade

of yellow bias binding around your blazer.” 

Translation

• Weir refers to an event of commemoration; here she highlights the image of each soldier’s grave 

• The theme of remembrance is continued as the speaker reflects on the day their loved one left for war, describing in vivid detail their memory of pinning a poppy on his collar

Weir’s intention

• Weir’s speaker addresses the son directly: the change in tone moves from the generic to the personal to highlight how war affects individuals

• Weir’s first-person voice conveys the perspective of the loved ones of fallen soldiers:

  • This raises awareness of the consequences of war for those left behind 

• Weir brings to life a childhood moment to convey the intimacy of the relationship

Lines 7-9

“Sellotape bandaged around my hand,

I rounded up as many white cat hairs

as I could, smoothed down your shirt's”

Translation

• The speaker remembers little details which reflect typical behaviour between a parent and child

• The reference to mundane, familiar activities (here, cleaning a jacket of cat hairs) help a reader relate, remembering similar intimate moments of their own

Weir’s intention

• Remembering childhood moments before the child grew up and went off to war, evokes a feeling of sentimentality and nostalgia associated with remembrance

• The poem narrates past, familiar memories in order to show personal loss after a soldier’s death:

  • This illustrates the impact of war as individual, yet wide-reaching

Lines 10-14

“Upturned collar, steeled the softening

of my face. I wanted to graze my nose

across the tip of your nose, play at

being Eskimos like we did when

you were little. I resisted the impulse”

Translation

• Here, the speaker hides powerful emotion: “steel the softening”:

  • To “steel” yourself is to make yourself strong and determined against a challenge

  • “Softening” refers to tender emotion 

• The poem refers to a personal and physical moment shared when the son was young:

  • An Eskimo kiss is an endearing term used to describe touching noses

• The speaker refers to the need to contain their emotion, presumably as the son is now grown up: “resisting the impulses”

Weir’s intention

• The lines convey a tone of nostalgia in an emotional, free-flowing memory 

• The speaker indicates the tension of the parent containing their emotion with the words “steeled” and “softening”:

  • Here, Weir alludes to the powerlessness of parents after a son’s death in conflict

  • This suggests the parent’s desire to protect their child from the parent’s pain, alluding to self-sacrifice made by parents during war

• The speaker remembers physical moments of love and intimacy:

  • This evokes images of childhood, evoking empathy

Lines 15-18

“to run my fingers through the gelled

blackthorns of your hair. All my words

flattened, rolled, turned into felt,

slowly melting. I was brave, as I walked”

Translation

• The speaker refers to missing physical moments between parent and child

• The speaker refers, symbolically, to their past words as’ folded up’, compressed

• The speaker describes the son’s childhood as “melting” and disappearing as he leaves

Weir’s intention

• These lines present a sense of the parent’s powerlessness when their son is gone:

  • Their past words are compared with the material being flattened and rolled up, suggesting they are no longer necessary 

• Weir uses the adjective “brave” to show the challenge of letting a son go:

  • This subverts the stereotypical image of a brave soldier by describing a brave parent, thus showing a different perspective

Lines 19-22

“with you, to the front door, threw

it open, the world overflowing

like a treasure chest. A split second

and you were away, intoxicated”

Translation

• The speaker describes the emotional and dramatic moment when the son leaves 

• The speaker uses the image of a treasure chest to indicate the son’s hope for adventure

• The word “intoxicated” has a double meaning:

  • Intoxicated by war could suggest patriotism is poisonous

  • It could refer, too, to the son’s excitement to leave

  • This links with “split second” showing the son’s desperation to go

Weir’s intention

• These lines depict the exuberance and pace of the moment the son leaves

• Weir shows the innocent excitement of the soldier:

  • Here, Weir may be implying patriotism is a naive concept

• Weir compares the way the son sees his future with a treasure chest:

  • This reflects the son’s attitude, not the parent’s, highlighting the opposing experiences of the parent and the child

  • Here, Weir could be making a veiled critique of war propaganda on youth

Lines 23 - 26

“After you'd gone I went into your bedroom,

released a song bird from its cage.

Later a single dove flew from the pear tree,

and this is where it has led me”

Translation

• The speaker uses a metaphor of a dove released to symbolise letting go of the son

• The speaker explains that the “dove”, representing the son, led them to the graveyard

Weir’s intention

• The poem separates here with a full-stop to divide the ‘before’ and the ‘after’ of life with their son:

  • This suggests the parent’s life changed definitively after the son’s death

• The metaphor of a dove alludes to peace, perhaps signifying the parent’s hope for peace, and that the son would return

  • The image of a dove released from a cage connotes to the parent’s need to let the son go, suggesting the individual agony of a soldier’s parent

  • Weir gives an implicit message about war, showing a parent hoping for peace

Lines 27 - 29

“skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy

making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without

a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves,”

Translation

• The poet continues the semantic field of clothes-making to compare it with parenthood, perhaps related to the forming of something new

• The speaker describes the unsettling, physical feelings in their stomach, metaphorically comparing it to folding material

• The poet mentions a lack of warm clothing using a military term “reinforcements”: this term refers to back-up personnel sent to increase the strength of an army

Weir’s intention

• The disrupted rhythm creates an unsettled tone, signifying the parent’s emotions: 

  • This conveys Weir’s message about the impact of grief on soldier’s parents

• The list relating to clothing suggests a sense of being overwhelmed by the physical discomfort of grief:

  • The words “tucks, darts, pleats” connote to the containment of material 

• The speaker’s use of military terminology ironically implies the parent’s lack of strength and support without the son, applying ideas of military strength to a parent

Lines 30-32

“On reaching the top of the hill I traced

the inscriptions on the war memorial,

leaned against it like a wishbone.” 

Translation

• The poet persona narrates a sensory experience at the graveyard

• The speaker compares the way they lean against the memorial to a wishbone, which is known for its connections with good luck

 Weir’s intention

• The speaker uses evocative imagery to highlight the commemoration of soldiers:

  • This evokes empathy, in order to raise awareness of parental grief caused by conflict

• The speaker compares the bent body to a curved bone symbolising good luck:

  • Weir shows the parent’s physical pain and frustrated wish

  • The ironic use of a symbol connected with luck suggest a cynical tone

Lines 33-35

“The dove pulled freely against the sky, 

an ornamental stitch, I listened, hoping to hear

your playground voice catching on the wind.”

Translation

• The speaker uses the image of a stitch coming loose to symbolise how the image of their son is coming apart in their mind

• The speaker listens for his voice, remembering him as a child

Weir’s intention

• Weir’s metaphorical description of a stitch coming loose continues the semantic field of clothes-making used throughout to symbolise parenthood:

  • This conveys the parent’s feelings of loss and frustration, perhaps that her son died without reaching his potential

• Weir leaves the parent stuck in the past, unable to resolve the grief:

  • This ends the poem with a lack of resolution, and suggests the parent will always mourn their son

  • Weir alludes to the inevitability of war, and of the resulting grief

Writer’s Methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections - form, structure and language - it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes ’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

The poem is a free-verse, first-person dramatic monologue. The speaker, the parent, uses a second person narrative to directly address their son, in order to depict the speaker’s personal experience of grief and highlight a different perspective on conflict.

Structure

The poem follows a time sequence which depicts the experience of the parent at the graveside of their son. As time progresses the rhythm changes along with the narrator’s emotions, which reflect the complex nature of their grief.

Language

Weir weaves imagery connoting the comfort of home and family through the poem to describe the emotional suffering of a parent’s grief due to conflict. She contrasts this with brutal imagery related to injury and war to highlight the connections. 

Context

Examiners repeatedly state that context should not be considered as additional factual information: in this case, it is not random biographical information about Jane Weir or historical facts about World War I that are unrelated to the ideas in Poppies. The best way to understand context is to the ideas and perspectives explored by Weir in Poppies which relate to power or conflict. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Weir explores:

• Loss due to conflict

• Powerlessness due to conflict

Loss due to conflict 

• Weir grew up in Ireland during the conflicts of the 1980s, exposing her to the consequences of war on home and family

  • This could be why she chose to show the perspective of a grieving parent in Poppies

• Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom between 2009 and 2019, asked Weir to contribute a poem to an anthology which raised awareness of the deaths and suffering of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan

  • War broke out in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003, when the United States of America invaded after 9/11 

  • Both wars led to years of battle which resulted in many deaths, as well as ongoing mental health problems amongst survivors

  • Weir chose to highlight the loss a parent feels remembering their son’s childhood, highlighting the impact of conflict on individuals left behind, particularly parents

• Weir uses the symbol of poppies, as they represent remembrance of those killed in war

  • Poppies represent remembering military personnel killed serving in war 

  • Small artificial poppies are pinned on collars in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the lead up to Remembrance/Armistice Day

  • The poppy as a symbol of remembrance was inspired by the World War I poem. In Flanders Fields, which describes how poppies grew in the fields where soldiers died

  • Weir explicitly titles her poem Poppies to raise awareness of the theme of remembering

  • The experience of remembering, however, is shown as painful and powerfully emotive, raising awareness of suffering due to conflict

• Armistice Day is mentioned in the poem to connect ideas of conflict and peace

  • It took place on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 

  • This highlights the individual experience of remembrance

  • Here, Weir connects the idea of peace with the painful memory of a soldier

  • Armistice Day is celebrated every year on 11th November

  • It is a day which commemorates peace or Armistice signed by the Allies of World War I

  • Weir’s poem begins by referring to an event which traditionally commemorates conflict

  • However, Weir’s poem goes on to show a parent alone at a graveside

Powerlessness due to conflict  

• Weir’s poem depicts the powerlessness of a parent to recover from grief associated with conflict 

  • The speaker of the poem conveys their frustration and strained emotions 

  • The end of the poem shows the parent as powerless to heal from grief 

  • The speaker highlights the bravery and sacrifice required by the parent

• Poppies highlights the powerlessness of a soldier in the face of propaganda

  • The poem presents the soldier as innocent to the horrors of war

  • Weir’s monologue shows the soldier as injured and silent, their life stunted

What to Compare it to

The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about power, or conflict, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that Poppies explores the ideas of loss due to conflict and powerlessness due to conflict, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

• Poppies and Kamikaze

• Poppies and War Photographer

• Poppies and Remains

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• The comparison in a nutshell

• Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem

• Differences between the ideas presented in each poem

• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

Poppies and Kamikaze

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Poppies and Kamikaze convey personal and individual loss due to conflict by presenting the perspectives of family members. The poems explore ideas related to bravery and honour, and how these values can lead to a sense of powerlessness for all involved in conflict.

Similarities:

Differences:

Poppies and War Photographer

Comparison in a nutshell:

This is an effective comparative choice to explore the impact of conflict on those other than soldiers themselves. Both Weir’s Poppies and Duffy’s War Photographer present unconventional perspectives and descriptions of the experience of grief due to war.

Similarities:

Differences:

Poppies and Remains

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Weir’s Poppies and Armitage’s Remains highlight the unrelenting nature of grief as a result of loss. The poems present speakers who feel powerless in the wake of war, due to haunting trauma.

Similarities:

Differences: