1. Walking Away- Day- Lewis 18 February, 2019
What is the event described in the poem? (Be specific)
How does the writer feel about the event?
Mini Starter
Explode these lines into your book, use the questions as a prompt or devise your own.
It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day-
A sunny day with the leaves just turning,
The touch-lines new ruled- since I watched you play
What type of relationship are you expecting to find in this poem?
Be tentative- suggest multiple possibilities giving clear reasons.
CHALLENGE
How do you expect this poem to differ to others we have studied?
Background Image:
Must:
Understand and be able to thoughtfully explain the meaning and main themes of the poem.
(AO1)
Should:
Explore and consider multiple interpretations of the poem.
(AO1/AO2)
Could:
Analyse the language, form and structure of the poem.
(AO2)

2. Read through the poem WALKING AWAY.
Make a list of three to five things you can say about the poem.

3. Context
Cecil Day-Lewis is best remembered as Poet Laureate of Great Britain. ‘Walking Away’ is one of his best known poems, and is about his son Sean’s first days of school in the late 1930’s. In the poem, he is thinking back to when Sean started at Boarding school at the age of seven.
Why might a father be reflecting on his son’s first day of school eighteen years later?

4. Create a summary of each stanza of the poem.
Example:
The poet recalls the day he saw his son play his first game of football and how his son began to move away from him. The tone is positive but slightly maudlin in the last line.
CHALLENGE
How does the tone develop change in each stanza?
Father Son Image:

5. What is the poem about?
A father remembers watching his son play his first game of football, possibly on his first day at school. The father feels worried about his son as he watches him walk uncertainly away from him.
The memory of that day still deeply affects the father eighteen years later. However, he comes to an understanding that this is a natural process that all children and parents must go through-every child has to experience the difficult process of gaining independence, and every parent has to let go.

6. Reading Skills
AO’s
Reading Skills
Sentence Starters
AO1
Understanding:
Understanding is a grasp of the basics of what the poem is about, which could be people, events, situations or places.
The writer is reflecting upon…
The writer recollects…
The event taking place is…
The setting of the poem…
AO2
Interpreting themes, ideas, attitudes and feelings:
when you interpret, you move from your understanding of the poem, to show what your understanding means to you or someone else.
The writer is feeling… this is because…
The theme of… is explored….
The description of the …. Implies….
The effect of this creates a sense of…
Exploring implied meaning:
this is where you understand more than is obviously stated and you ‘read between the lines’.
From his description of the boy leaving, I think the poet depicting…
On the other hand, it could suggest…
Write an extended summary of one of the stanza’s from the poem using the reading skills outline above.

7. New boundaries are also being drawn between father and son, with the son’s newfound independence
He remembers the exact day-it’s an important memory.
Transition from summer to autumn reflects the transition in the son’s life.
It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day –
A sunny day with leaves just turning,
The touch-lines new-ruled – since I watched you play
Your first game of football, then, like a satellite
Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away
Negative simile – a satellite isn’t meant to fall out of orbit, and to drift away makes the son sound helpless and in danger. The simile also emphasises how the father has stopped being at the centre of his son’s life.
Enjambment puts the unexpected word “Wrenched” at the start of the line, which emphasises it. This reflects how the father found the separation sudden and painful.

8. (Away) Enjambment highlights the way the boy turns away from his father to follow the other boys.
Bird metaphor used to show the father’s concern that his son isn’t ready.
Behind a scatter of boys. I can see
You walking away from me towards the school
With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free
Into a wilderness, the gait of one
Who finds no path where the path should be.
Suggests a hostile place-father worries his son won’t survive without his protection.
Repetition of “path” emphasises that the father is desperate for his son to find the right way in life and that he sees him as helpless

9. Natural simile contrasts with the satellite simile in stanza 1 – “loosened” is less painful and forced than “wrenched”. This shows how the father is coming to terms with what happened and understands that it’s natural.
“eddying” is a natural image that compares the son to something moving in a current of air or water – this reflects his uncertainty and lack of control.
That hesitant figure, eddying away
Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,
Has something I never quite grasp to convey
About nature’s give-and-take – the small, the scorching
Ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay.
Experiences of growing up are painful.
Fire turns clay into a pot – difficult experiences of growing up turn children into independent people

10. “Gnaws” is animalistic and vicious- the father is still affected by seeing his son go through the tough process of growing up.
Religious imagery – in the Bible, God let go of Jesus, his only son, when Jesus came to Earth and was crucified. He did this to show humans that he loved them. That “God alone” could do it, shows how difficult it is.
I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly
Saying what God alone could perfectly show –
How selfhood begins with a walking away,
And love is proved in the letting go.
The change to a more steady rhythm underlines how the father has come to a philosophical understanding- the son has to walk away from his father to find his own identity, and the father proves his love for his son by letting him go.

11. Dictionary Pathos - something that creates feelings of pity
Half fledged - describes a young bird that doesn’t have all its adult feathers. A bird that isn’t fully fledged is unable to fly
Gait - the way someone walks
Eddying - air or water moving in a circular motion

12. Feelings and Attitudes
The father sees his son as vulnerable, but understands that he can’t protect him forever- he now has to show his love for his son by letting him gain some independence.
There’s a feeling of loss and sadness throughout the poem, but also the understanding that “walking away” is a natural part of growing up. It’s not a permanent parting, their relationship is just being redefined.

13. Why do you think the speaker addresses his son directly (e. g
Why do you think the speaker addresses his son directly (e.g. “I watched you play”)?
How is natural imagery used to show that father’s feelings about his son walking away?
The father says the memory still “Gnaws” at his mind? Why do you think this is?
Key Themes
‘Climbing My Grandfather’ also features a close, significant family relationship. The poems ‘Mother, Any Distance’ to consider how children growing up affects their parents.

14. ANALYSING YOUR POEM Voice Ballad Tone Sonnet Symbolism Free verse
Structure
How is the piece organised on the page?
Can you identify the topic of each stanza?
Are the stanzas equal or unequal?
How many stanzas/verses?
Is there rhythm/repetition/enjambment?
What is the line length/rhyme scheme?
Effect
What effect on the reader is the poet aiming to achieve?
(How is it intended to make you think/feel?)
What opinion is conveyed by the poet?
What is the purpose of the poet’s choice of language/opinion/theme?
Meaning
What is the poem about?
Can you discover more than one meaning of the poem?
What ideas and themes is the poet portraying?
What is the poet’s point of view?
Voice
Tone
Ballad
Sonnet
Free verse
Dramatic monologue
Symbolism
Alliteration
Assonance
Juxtaposition
Oxymoron
S.M.I.L.E
Simile
Extended Metaphor
Personification
Rhyming Couplet
Enjambment
Emotive Language
Repetition
Language
Which words has the poet used to convey meaning?
What are the connotations of the language used?
Is there more than one meaning of the word/phrase?
Has the poet used figurative language? (onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance…)
How has the poet used language to infer meaning?
Imagery
Which images are conveyed to the reader?
Does the poem contain metaphors, similes or personification?
Why do you think the poet has included the images in the poem?

15. Reflection: SMILE Paragraph
Point:
Topic sentence with an adjective.
Evidence:
Quotation- try to embed it in the sentence.
Explain:
Select a keyword- why does it stand out?
What is the effect on the reader?
Language Analysis-
Analyse what the word suggests &
how it links back to the adjective.
This suggests…
The use of the word… implies that…
This infers… The poet was trying to convey
The writer wanted to suggest…
The connotations of this word are…
Word Bank