Poppies by Jane Weir: what it is about, its context, and how Weir uses language, form and structure.
Key quotations and how to analyse them, and the poems in the cluster it compares well with, with similarities and differences.
How to use the lesson's key quotations in an essay, with a short worked paragraph.
Key quotations: 'Three days before Armistice Sunday', 'I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals', 'All my words / flattened, rolled, turned into felt', 'I wanted to graze my nose / across the tip of your nose', 'the world overflowing / like a treasure chest', 'released a song bird from its cage', 'leaned against it like a wishbone', 'your playground voice catching on the wind'.
Form: a mother's voice in free verse, sensory detail, and the structure of a goodbye.
Context: Jane Weir's poem of 2009, written at Carol Ann Duffy's invitation, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Comparisons with Kamikaze, Remains and War Photographer.
