A really interesting point is the part where 'a single dove flew from a pear tree.' This is because the word 'pear' is also said like pair (as in two people). This could suggest that the single dove that flew away was her son- he went to war- and left the close-net pair that the son and the narrator (the mother) had. If you look at it this way, it would suggest that, because it was dove that flew away also pulled at the sky, the son leaving the narrator is the sole reason for the deconstruction of herself- and also the reason why her life has fallen apart. You could also say that the 'ornamental stitch' is representative of her and bring in context for her love of textiles. This would support the point that loved ones going away to war impacts the people at home very much (just an idea, a little far fetched maybe).
The ornamental *stich* could also reflect the mark that has been creater in her life due to her son who she closely loves taken from her creating a stich which sticks with her But here again, ornamental love which relates to context to to be textiles is still with her
im not sure if this idea is too ambiguous but its a language idea i noticed on the quote "sellotape bandaged around my hand" i came up with two ideas about this. idea 1:The idea of the sticky sellotape that is surrounding her hand gives the sense of chlostrophobia and suffocation ,whereby she feels strange in her own domestic life knowing that she has to say goodbye to her son.Similarly, when we think of the sellotape, we think of a tackiness and its almost as if her life is closing in around her, like the sellotape is on her hand that forces her to become so detached and distressed with the aftermath of conflict. idea 2:One could argue that the stickiness of the sellotape was the final bond that held the mother to her son and now, once she removes the last cat hair, their is no longer a metaphorical sellotape bond that holds them together, it seems that now, the only way she can connect herself back to her son is if she physically removes the hairs from him and tries to create a sticky barrier that would hopefully bring them closer. just a few ideas i thought were interesting, love your videos, this holiday I've been compiling a booklet of analysis based solely on your videos, some of the ideas are fantastic, especially the ideas on london by william blake in terms of structure and the dactylic dimeter in charge of the light brigade! Thankyou, From Zoe
The word "Blackthorn" in "blackthorns of your hair" could link back to when Jesus was crucified and sacrificed himself for humanity(which is what the soldier is doing for his country) and had to wear thorns on his head which reminds his mother of Jesus and could suggest that his mother is sending him to his death.
mrbruff I am currently doing a comparison worksheet on "poppies" and "remains." What would you put for analysis for somebody else from remains" for structure?
The quote “spasms of paper red” also may suggest the unwillingness of the mother to let go of her son. This is shown through the use of the word “spasms” which is an involuntary muscle contraction which causes pain - reflecting the involuntary action of the mother letting go of her son (whether it be to war, to school etc) as she know it will cause her some kind of pain. Another meaning of this could be how she regrets her decision to let her son go as the mental pain is far too strong for her to cope with (the loss of her son). The ambiguity generates sorrow due to the fact that us as the reader are left confused as to what has happened to her son. The word “red” has negative connotations of blood and conflict which creates a dreary tone.
could you infer that the idea of 'a split second' is actually a few years, he has returned with ptsd / depression - two common mental health issues for those who have fought in the war. the idea of him being 'away' could mean literally not there or just so different he hasn't really come home as he is so detached from himself and how he was prior to going into the war. i would therefore infer the 'intoxication' to be his only way of dealing with the after effects of war and all of a sudden he is gone which could be suicide. this would help us to talk about the confict readers have of understanding whether he is dead or alive in this poem. there is also the juxtaposition of treasure chests being seen as child like and intoxication - a very adult thing. from this analysis we can read the poem as he has died or potentially her reminiscing over his death and these are her rituals that she does to try and force herself into believing she still has her son. this would also explain the chaotic structure and her inability to compose sentences and stanzas or even herself as the mother.
sounds crazy but: a single dove by a pear tree; doesn't it remind you of 12 days of Christmas? again a song she could have sang with her child.But the 2 two turtle doves is only one, making it seem like the son has left her and things are abnormal making her feel isolated ""top of the hill" jack and Jill child's rhyme constant reminder of her son,
“All my words flattened, rolled,turned into felt slowly melting” Metaphorical use of “felt” To represent her psychological state Which is quite literally “slowly melting” also the use of commas in the previous stanza slows it down which emphasis the slow and miserable pain.also she uses a different stanza to again emphasise the length of suffering as it rolls over to the next stanza Is this feasible or am i just making up garbage
Felt is used by Jane Weir as a contextual reference since she was a designer and she believed that embedding the process of creating felt describes very well the grief one would feel if they lose their son
The use of "spasms" seems to me like it has a dual meaning in spasms caused mentally and spasms caused by war wounds, just as her son's potential pain causes her deep mental pain
spasms of red could also mean literal gunshots and the spasms or red blood that shoot out, which is very vivid imagery - but also ambiguous, and therefore shows the conflict and struggle with her emotions.
This might be a bit ambiguous, but the simile about the treasure chest could also indicate that the mother feels as though she is losing her child to the world. Normally, treasure is lost for centuries before it is found by people (or sometimes never found at all) - taking that into consideration, with the son going off to war, the chances of him coming back is 50/50, and therefore she describes his departure like that of a treasure chest and therefore shows the emotional effect of conflict on those left behind through the feeling of loss. (I can't really explain it very well)
My interpretation of "Later a single dove flew from the pear tree" (This might sound a bit far fetched but oh well) 1) This is reflective of the song 12 days of Christmas, a song the mother may have likely sung with her son previously when he was younger. This shows her desperation to cling onto her happy memories with her son which could suggest that she wishes that her adult son was still a child; a time when she had complete control over her sons actions as her son was too naive and innocent to make his own decisions independently. Furthermore, as there is a direct link to Christmas time, the idea that she may no longer have a Christmas with her son or that she may lose a few Christmas periods with him as he participates in war is constantly on the mother's mind. This empathises her feeling of dread as she anxiously awaits her son's arrival from war. 2) Additionally, within the song 12 days of Christmas, the lyrics are "two turtle doves". The fact that Weir specifically mentions that the dove is singular reflects how the son has departed from this mother's life and now the mother is trapped within this feeling of isolation and loneliness as she feels as though she has lost a part of herself when her son left her to participate in war.
Everytime I read this poem, I always believe that the dove is a symbol of a memory - at the beginning I feel as though the dove ends the memory of the mother saying goodbye to her son then when the dove is mentioned again near the end, I feel as though she is entering a memory since she is wanting to hear his playground voice catching on the wind. At the beginning I think the dove represents hope, I think the mother is hoping that her son will be okay but at the end I think it represents the end of denial and freedom; when she touches the memorial I think she is brushing her finger over her sons name (I believe that he is dead not missing or lost at war) and then the dove shows, I believe that the mother was grieving and in denial that her son was dead, she wanted him to be okay, to be alive. I think the dove is a symbol that shes admitted that she has lost her son and doves also represent freedom, this could be that she feels relieved a little that she has now stopped lying to herself about her loss but it could also be that her sons soul is now free, if you believe in the afterlife you could say that his soul is now free and is ready to move onto the afterlife. Also, she isnt wearing a winter coat - I think that she didnt forget them but instead she was so distraught about losing her son that she didnt even think to bring them with her. I dont think she even realised it was cold outside because her mind was elsewhere, she was thinking about her son. One more thing is that her child is the song bird, she has let her son out of a bubble and allowed him to see the world, the treasure chest, she opened the safety cage for him and allowed herself and her child to see new things. She tried to keep him safe and look after him but she knew that it was time to let him go and say goodbye, he then went to war so the beginning was a final goodbye, not just to allow her son to see the world but also a final goodbye because he had died (unless you believe that he is lost at war or something else.) Neither of them knew that he would never come back and that makes the poem even more real. If you have other suggestions please do tell me what you think - I'm 15 and read poetry often but if you think I've read it differently to you please tell me how you read this poem and how you interpreted it! 🖤🤞
Yes i agree about the symbolism of the dove and freedom from her guilt. She seemed to have trapped her guilt and sorrow within her, in the “cage “ of the “Songbird”(maybe the cage represents her trapped son and her trapped feelings about him). When she lets out her feelings that were repressed she realises that it wasn’t her fault to let him leave. I think maybe adding on to the thing you said about freeing his soul - that her revisiting all these memories of him when he was younger showed how her view of him was always the same, as being a naive child who she has responsibility for, making her blame herself for letting him go. Maybe when she wanted to hear his voice “catching on the wind” she finally let his ‘soul’ go, the voice being ‘playground’ suggesting again it was the fixed point of view of him being a helpless child. You have great ideas
I've accepted it, I've only just started revising and I'm gonna fail. I'm just gonna have to find an oap, care for em until they peg it and then just have everything they own
'Blockade' could also be a reference to the geographical barrier about to be placed between them: as if the enemy is forcing a blockade on her to stop her from seeing her son.
when she describes his feelings as 'intoxicated' could that be a possible reference to the way he dies? Maybe there's a hidden meaning behind it and although it represents his overwhelming feeling of joy it could also be a metaphor for his death, these two possible meanings juxtapose with each other, furthermore showing the conflicting feelings the mother felt.
can't believe how clever you are! your interpretation has really changed my view on this poem and I'm now re-evaluating all of my revision methods!!!! I'm gonna show this to all my friends btw! hope you do well tomorrow xxxxx
the fact that she had to climb the hill could be refering to the mental/ emotional journey she had to take to pull herself together to visit the memorial. This shows the impact this had on the mother and how desperately she was searching for his name on the memorial to convince herself that he is not yet dead.
The use of wishbone to symbolize the way she stood at the war memorial could be linked to her remembering good memories with the son who went to war. The wishbone is a bone from a chicken which is snapped in two and the one with the largest piece gets to make a wish a tradition the they may have upheld together. Also the wish could also reflect how the mother wishes her son back home.
Sorry if this has already been said, but when she says "I went into your bedroom,/released a songbird from its cage" (lines 23 and 24) isn't it a metaphor for her joy/everything beautiful leaving her, when her son leaves?
I always thought the fact that the poppies are paper against the blockade of a military blazer shows that our effort to stop war (e g armisticeday) are futile against the miltery and people thirst for power and the conflict that come along with it. I have no idea if that made any sense 😂😂
the line "I wanted to graze my nose against the tip of your nose" is really interesting to me, because it's an action that they did together, but weir deliberately chose to use separate pronouns, indicating that the mum is trying to feel separated from her son but she's struggling to, or she's trying to stay connected and her son is not
VIDEO NOTES!! Jane Weir - Born in 1963 - Grew up in Italy and England - Lived in Northern Ireland during the 1980’s, experiencing The Troubles - Textile designer and poet - About her as a poet: o The principle motive is language itself; its mutability in representing both the abstract or the real - Ann Duffy: “Today, as most of us do, poets largely experience war - wherever it rages - through emails or texts from friends or colleagues in war zones, through radio or newsprint or television, through blogs or tweets or interviews. With the official inquiry into Iraq imminent and the war in Afghanistan returning dead teenagers to the streets of Wootton Bassett, I invited a range of my fellow poets to bear witness, each in their own way, to these matters of war.” - Jane Weir: “I wrote the piece from a woman’s perspective which is quite rare…as the mother of two teenage boys I tried to put across how I might feel if they were fighting in a war zone. ‘I wanted to write a poem from the point of view of a mother and her relationship with her son, a child who was loved, cherished and protected… and it had led to this… heightened and absolute fear that parents experience in letting their children go, the anxiety and ultimately the pain of loss…I hoped to somehow channel all this, convey it into something concise and contemporary, but also historically classic, in terms of universal experience.” - Form: dramatic monologue - Free verse - Difference in stanza length - Enjambment - Caesura - Dove is symbol of peace, and also mourning - ‘treasure chest’ suggests son’s excitement - Conflict is not just experienced by those at war, in literal conflict zones. It is also experienced by those at home in the civilian world
could you say the image of 'crimped petals' that the mother pins on the son's blazer could symbolise how the mother fears her son's innocence is going to be ruined by the horrors of war? and maybe the image of 'the world overflowing like a treasure chest', treasure chest, being sort of mythical, could symbolise how the mother thinks her son is being naive and how she thinks her son does not know the true horrors of war?
In relations to the “white cat hairs” it could suggest the the domestic cat could mirror the mother’s domestic role and habits. As she attempts to “round up” as many hairs as she can, however ultimately her child and herself will never be able to loose that close bond that they have always had. However her love cannot be eternal and will eventually be brushed off by her son and will fall away.
Whilst not being an overtly political poem, i thought the 'sellotape bandaged around my hand line' offered another insight into how war affects the lower/domestic class as perhaps more well of families would have launders press their suits and they would have other people lint roll their clothes. This makeshift lint roller represents the experience of less privileged people as a result of the war. They don't have the luxury of upscale distractions and objects to ease suffering. It is a completely raw experience that the upper class enable, perpetuate and encourage, yet they can never experience in its truest form. Not that it necessarily touches on classism but it is prevalent.
English teacher: walks into vans. "Hey, I'm looking for some shoes..." sees a sign, reads it. Studies it. Thinks about it. Says: Hmm, Vans off the wall - may have connotations of being out there but controversially may imply that they are being literal and solely saying that their shoes are worn by skaters that skateboard off walls. Furthermore- Shop owner walks out.
When the poet says 'yellow bias' she doesn't mean the blazer was yellow. Have you ever seen a yellow military blazer? The bias of a blazer is the contrasting stitching around the collar and down the sides, you get me? Xx
Mr Buff thank you very much for all the videos you have done. All the poem videos have been really helpful. I understand the poems now thanks to you :)
The conflicting semantic fields of textiles and war/military symbolize the mother's grief in her everyday life as a battle in itself.“ornamental stitches” is a metaphor for how, as a mother, she tries to hold on to the memory of her son and hold everything together, but the adjective “ornamental” implies that this is superficial: underneath, the fabric is fraying. Readers are encouraged by the caesura to reflect upon this, just as the speaker reflects upon the loss of her son.
+mya Jackson I agree- I didn't really go into the sewing imagery much. I didn't realise it was there until my dear mother pointed it out after the video
The blazer isn't yellow - it is the bias binding which is yellow - bias binding is a tape which is used in sewing to finish a raw edge or make a seam - this is the blockade - the line of yellow tape. She is pinning the poppy on the yellow tape and 'disrupting' its line
Small note, as someone who sews a lot, the yellow bias is likely not the whole lapel, but the edges with bias tape which is often used to cover raw edges and seams that would otherwise show on the outside. Do with that information what you will
The pining quote in my opinion symbolises death and the grief that war creates, and how the mother is seen to be pinning a poppie onto her sons blazer who is going to war and meant to see that grief and death he is destined to see
Could it be that the speaker is talking to her son about how she fared after he got back from the war zone? I really hope so because I really love happy endings.
Well no. Happy Endings almost NEVER happen in the GCSE literature books. In this poem, her son has been sent of to war and he is dead. (This didn't actually happen, this is just a Mother imagining what would happen if her sons went of to war, Idea came about because her sons were always fighting)
Where it mentions 'war memorial' and wanting to hear their 'playground voice catching on the wind' perhaps what they mean is that they hope to receive the company of their ghost
Hi mr duff when you was speaking about the yellow blazer , you said bias but you didn’t talk about bias binding, which is what we ,school children’s wear as we show bias binding through our uniform. For example the edging of it not the whole lepel. I wear it on my navy blazer which is a blue line going around the edge of the blazer
not sure if this is too far fetched but the caesura on line 21 "like a treasure chest." means that the sentence ends prematurely (before the end of the line), perhaps reflecting the mothers fear that her son's life will end prematurely?
The quotation “spasms of paper red” could portray the sons death. “Spasms” could represent his body convulsing in a military hospital or being shot by rounds of bullets
Could the sellotape suggest a certain fragility, as if she is barely holding herself together. This would be reinforced by the word bandage as it is another image of being wounded which could relate to the emotional turmoil she experiences as a result of the potential physical and emotional wounds her son will suffer from the war
this isn't fully developed but you can agree or disagree. spasms of paper red could suggest the random nature of bleeding, and with the poppy being pinned on his chest could suggest that its a bullet wound to the heart which could say how the mother feels like she is sending her son to death?
You can always relate it to humans turning to religion when confronted with a difficult situation. Then you could talk about nihilism and existentialism. Everyone is gonna say something about war, emotions etc, so why not do something differently
'without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves' suggest how the thought of losing her son is slowly swallowing her. She's becoming a bit insane and she's in the winter which you can say pathetic fallacies her emotions and how she feels empty ad not a slight part of warmth is left within her.
I think it's quite interesting that every analysis of this poem assumes that the person going away is a male. Nowhere in the poem does it specifically say that the soilder was her son.
'a poem from the point of view of a mother and her relationship with her son,' explained here www.sheerpoetry.co.uk/gcse/jane-weir/poppies-jane-weir-interviewed-by-luca-brancati
does the constant blending of domestic and war imagery also suggest how the mother, though she is staying at home, is also going through a 'war' of her own. I don't know if that makes a lot of sense but it could be that she has all these emotions about her son leaving to war but "steeled the softening" of her face, fighting to not show those emotions. the war for her could also just reflect the pain she is going through?
Mahir Tahseen I had a practice question about how poppies represents personal loss in war and I talked about how her of life is lost and her new life is full of the terrifying thoughts of her son. I also compared it to remains about how he has lost a part of himself
The "disrupting a blockade" could imply that either; one, she is trying to disrupt the blockade of him blocking her opinions out or two, the actual literal meaning of disrupting the war blockade of protection
I was wondering, as in Bayonet Charge from the Power and Conflict theme, where yellow is describing the soldier being coward, wouldn't the yellow blazer have the same effect? I might be wrong, but I'd like to know what you think.
Hi mrbruff! Your videos have been extremely helpful. I would like to question what you mean by: "This poem forces us to think about the impact of conflict on those who aren't even there" ? Are you referring to the Dramatic monologue?... Or the son?... Apologies for the stupid question, many thanks.
Pedantic point - I don't think the son is wearing a yellow blazer. There is a 'yellow bias binding' as part of his blazer probably something like this: www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/487866572104055867/ . These blazers are classically worn by school children. I think it's a nicer image to imagine him wearing this type of blazer, but completely take Mr Bruff's point that the poppy being pinned is an intersection of domestic life by the troubles of war.
