AQA Anthology, GCSE English Literature, Moon on the Tides, Conflict.

1. Poppies
What was the reason poppies grew on
Flanders fields/ no man’s land, after the war
had ended?

3. poppies
• Today we will:
Practise our independent reading of an
unknown poem
Be able to locate and comment on
symbolism/imagery in a poem

4. …out of evil comes beauty?
Because…
The chaotic activity of the war, such as
constant bombing of the fields, had disrupted
the ground-however, this stimulated the
germination of poppy seeds into the sea of
poppies that left their mark on the war land.

5. What type of conflict is present
in this poem?
Internal
Character feelings
External conflict
Worry

6. How does this poem show a
mother’s feelings of conflict?
Structure-look at the start and end of the poem
Language- what devices/ symbolism/ vocabulary
are used?
Images- what image is created of both mother, and
the way she sees her son?
Themes-what are the ideas and messages of this
poem?

7. • What does this mean to you?

8. Poppies
Jane Weir
Jane Weir describes herself as Anglo-
Italian, and grew up in on the outskirts
of Manchester on a council estate. She
is a textile designer, writer and poet who
has lived ‘all over the place’, including in
Belfast, Northern Ireland during the
Troubles (in the 1980s). Weir currently
lives in Derbyshire and Manchester,
where she writes and runs her own
textile and design business.
Weir’s poem ‘Poppies’ was commissioned by Duffy as part of a
collection of ten contemporary war poems which were
published in the Guardian in 2009, as part of a response to the
escalating conflict in Afghanistan and the Iraq inquiry. Weir
describes being surprised by the ‘overwhelming response’ she
had from readers across Europe to ‘Poppies’. Many of the
readers who contacted her were mothers of soldiers killed in
action in recent conflicts. She commented in an interview that,
‘I wrote the piece from a woman's perspective, which is quite
rare, as most poets who write about war have been men. As
the mother of two teenage boys, I tried to put across how I
might feel if they were fighting in a war zone.’
In ‘Poppies’ she tells the ‘story’ of a
mother’s experience of pain and loss as her
son leaves home to go to war. She has
indicated that: ‘I was subliminally thinking of
Susan Owen [mother of Wilfred]… and
families of soldiers killed in any war when I
wrote this poem. This poem attempts on
one level to address female experience and
is consciously a political act.’
The poem is basically about a
mother who describes her son
leaving home to fight in the army
and her emotional reaction to her
son leaving. She feels sad,
lonely and scared for his safety.
She describes helping him
smarten his uniform ready to
leave. After he leaves, she goes
to places that remind her of him,
desperately trying to find any
trace of him.
You should compare this poem with
other poems about the same themes:
effects of conflict: 'The Charge of the
Light Brigade'; sadness and loss:
'Futility’
, 'The Falling Leaves', 'Come
On, Come Back’
.

9. Poppies
Three days before Armistice Sunday
and poppies had already been placed
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.
Sellotape bandaged around my hand,
I rounded up as many white cat hairs
as I could, smoothed down your shirt’s
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
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
with you, to the front door, threw
it open, the world overflowing
like a treasure chest. A split second
and you were away, intoxicated.
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,
skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy
making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without
a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.
On reaching the top of the hill I traced
the inscriptions on the war memorial,
leaned against it like a wishbone.
The dove pulled freely against the sky,
an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hear
your playground voice catching on the wind.

10. Three days before Armistice Sunday
and poppies had already been placed
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.
Sellotape bandaged around my hand,
I rounded up as many white cat hairs
as I could, smoothed down your shirt’s
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
to run my fingers through the gelled
blackthorns of your hair. All my words
flattened, rolled, turned into felt,
There is no regular
rhyme or rhythm in this
poem, which helps to
make it sound like
someone's thoughts
and memories. Long
sentences and
enjambment give an
impression of someone
absorbed in their own
thoughts and
memories.
The poem starts with her
son leaving and then
goes on to describe what
she did afterwards, but
the time frame in the
poem is ambiguous. A
lot of the images could
almost describe a young
child going to school for
the first time.
Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on 11 November
and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World
War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of
hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in
the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month" of 1918. As this is a poem about remembrance of those who
fought for their country, the poet has used this to explore her own
feelings of loss and remembrance.
The ‘bandage’ makes
the reader think of an
injured body or a
mother tending her
injured son. This has
further connotations
suggesting she is
emotionally wounded.
The mothering tone
continues when she
treats him like a child.
Metaphor suggests he's no
longer a child because he's
styled his hair. His prickly
hair suggests he's
unapproachable.
The use of words such as
‘blockade’ suggests that
she feels shut out from her
son's life and the
metaphorical ‘blazer’
which could be a school
uniform as well as an army
one represents her pride
for her son.

11. slowly melting. I was brave, as I walked
with you, to the front door, threw
it open, the world overflowing
like a treasure chest. A split second
and you were away, intoxicated.
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,
skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy
making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without
a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.
On reaching the top of the hill I traced
the inscriptions on the war memorial,
leaned against it like a wishbone.
The dove pulled freely against the sky,
an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hear
your playground voice catching on the wind.
The mother is sad about leaving her
son. She has feelings of anxiety and
fear for her son's safety. The poem
focuses on the bravery and restraint of
the relatives left behind when young
people go to war. The poem shows
the contrasting perspectives between
the loss the mother feels and the
feelings of freedom and excitement
her son experience
There are lots of statements
beginning with the first person
which gives us a strong
impression of the mother's
emotions. The uses of
metaphors create Images of
war and bereavement which
are mixed with domestic
imagery. Birds are used as
symbols of freedom to describe
the son leaving the security of
his home for the excitement of
the wider world.
The simile of ‘treasure chest’ shows the world from the
son's perspective and makes it sound exciting and full
of precious experiences but to the mother this can
seem scary as she is worried he will never return.
The word ‘intoxicated’
could simply suggest the
boy’s excitement or,
alternatively could
symbolise his coming of
age. He is old enough to
drink and fight for his
country signifying he is
no longer a boy and has
become a man.
The bird is symbolic
of her son leaving
and doves are a
symbol of peace but
also mourning.
Sewing imagery conveys
her nervousness and
physical feelings of anxiety.
These can be interpreted to
describe her physical
feelings.
Links leaving to join the army
with leaving to go to school.

12. Writer Jane overwhelmed as war poem touches so many hearts
A POET has been overwhelmed by the response she has had from people
across Europe to a poem she wrote about war.
Jane Weir's piece, entitled Poppies, tells the story of a woman whose son
has gone to war and in it she remembers the times they spent together as
he was a child growing up.
Since the piece was published in a national newspaper, Mrs Weir has been
contacted by mothers of young soldiers killed in action.
One woman thanked the 46-year-old for writing the poem, saying it summed
up perfectly the way she felt about losing her 18-year-old son.
Mrs Weir said: "I wrote the piece from a woman's perspective, which is quite
rare, as most poets who write about war have been men.
"As the mother of two teenage boys, I tried to put across how I might feel if
they were fighting in a war zone.
"From the overwhelming response I have had since it was published, I hope
that I have achieved that."

13. Why may the mother notice the
poppies before her son heads
for war?

14. How does the mother’s
behaviour towards her son
reflect her feelings towards him?

15. What is her son’s attitude
towards war?

16. How does she use imagery of
birds to reflect her feelings
towards her son and war?
How might this imagery relate to,
or reflect, conflict?

17. How does the last line of the
poem relate to the rest of it?