‘Poppies’ is a poem by Jane Weir.

It is a modern poem but draws upon the idea of the poppy flower that
has become synonymous with remembrance. The poem is set in the present day but flashes back to the
origins of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance at the end of World War One – Armistice Sunday. Jane
Weir also runs her own textile business and often ‘weaves’ some of those ideas into her own writing.
Armistice Sunday is still used to remember and honour any soldiers who have died in the line of duty.

1.
‘Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer’ – The
imagery of a poppy, the typical symbol of remembrance, is unusually violent. ‘Spasm’ has
connotations of an ill or dying soldier and contrasts sharply with the domestic and gentle and
touching gesture of a mother pinning a poppy onto her son’s lapel. This is further emphasised
by the poet’s use of ‘blockade’, an example of war terminology, perhaps hinting that the
speaker’s relationship with her son is put on hold by the presence of war. The use of ‘blazer’,
an item of school uniform, makes the son sound younger and more vulnerable.
‘Three days before Armistice Sunday and poppies have already been placed on
individual war graves.’ – Weir immediately foregrounds themes of war, death and
2.
personal loss. The enjambment of the first two lines allows the idea to be cut short via
the caesura in line 3, just like the lives of the soldiers in the ‘individual war graves.’
Perhaps this reflects the understandable concerns and fears of the speaker as she
sends her son to war.

3. Poppies by Jane Weir

‘Sellotape bandaged around my hand’ – Once again, the poet alludes to the brutal
consequences of war. ‘Bandaged’ suggests injury and the fact the speaker is tending to her
son with a hand which is ‘bandaged’ shows her maternal duty to take care of him.
‘Bandaged’ is juxtaposed with an everyday item like ‘sellotape’ shows the writer
contrasting domestic images with those of war to highlight the different paths that mother
and son will tread. The son is obviously old enough to go to war, yet he is never old enough
to be taken care of. This is her life’s purpose.
‘Steeled the softening of my face… I wanted to graze my nose across the tip of your nose’ –
‘Steeled’ has connotations of coldness which goes against the speaker’s maternal instincts. She
must be strong as she willingly lets her son go. This image is tender, affectionate and vulnerable.
It is a very quiet moment, one the mother yearns for against the looming threat of war. This in
itself is tragic; the mother is stripped of her maternal duties now the son is off to war. Not only
can she show the affection she wants to but she is no longer able to protect him from the evils
of the world.

4.
‘…hoping to hear your playground
voice catching on the wind’ – A
sombre and nostalgic line.
‘Playground’ hints at a bustling,
noisy atmosphere, something
tucks, darts, pleats…’ Once again, Weir references domestic language and
which is completely at odds with
sewing. This would usually highlight the mother’s role to nurture and look
the melancholic tone of the poem.
This contrast highlights and
emphasises the speaker’s great
loss and the silence which presses
on her. Weir uses her final
sentence to evoke intense feelings
of loss and pity as her speaker
desperately wishes to hear her
son’s voice again. It is unclear
whether the speaker’s son is
actually dead, yet if Weir’s use of
foreshadowing is to be taken as
fact, it is likely that the speaker will
never hear her son’s voice again.
5.
6.
‘the gelled blackthorns of your hair’ – Weir includes yet another image to
‘a single dove flew from a pear tree’ – A dove, usually associated with
highlight the son’s young age. The speaker is familiar with the spikey, gelled
peace, flies away, perhaps suggesting there will be no more peace where
hair of a young boy yet alludes to the ‘crown of thorns’ worn by Jesus when
the speaker’s son is going. The speaker says her stomach is busy ‘making
he was put to death. Perhaps Weir is foreshadowing the potential sacrifice
of life the narrator’s sound could be forced to make; if this is the case, Weir
could also be presenting the speaker’s son as some sort of saviour. He, and
after her son. Here, it is used to demonstrate anxiety.
others like him, die in war so that others may live in freedom.
8. 7.
‘the front door, threw it open, the world overflowing like a treasure chest’ – ‘Treasure chest’
has connotations of adventure and exotic locations, emphasising the speaker’s son’s
naivety. It implies the son lacks life experience as he has always been protected by his
mother. Suddenly, he has the opportunity to explore. Could the ‘treasure chest’ also be
seen as an allusion to the mythology of Pandora ’s Box? In Greek mythology, Pandora, out
of curiosity, opens a box she is told not to open, releasing sickness, death and other
unspecified evils. In this case, the speaker’s house is the box, safe and secure. Once opened,
nothing can stop her son from facing danger and evil.