1. *1This creates the sense of a journey, but the title suggests that it will be a journey to his death.
Her father *1embarked at *2sunrise with a flask of water, a samurai sword in the cockpit, a shaven head *3full of powerful incantations and enough fuel for a one-way journey into history
*4but half way there, *5she thought, recounting it later to her children, he must have looked far down *6at the little fishing boats strung out like bunting *7on a green-blue translucent sea
*2Japan is known as ‘The Land of the rising Sun’, so this may be a reference to the location.
*3This suggests that the pilot was under a kind of spell, which hints at the influence of patriotic propaganda that kamikazes were exposed to. They were told that it was great honour to die for their country.
*4Second stanza changes direction – the plane is still flying, but it’s going to turn around.
*5These are the daughter’s thoughts and explanations – the pilot has no voice and his real reasons are never heard.
*6The simile is homely and pretty – a far cry from war. Bunting is associated with celebration, which makes the image ironic – there’s no victorious return for the pilot.
*7Beautiful image of nature.
Level 3 –Identify what the poem is about and select evidence to confirm this
Level 4– Identify what the poem is about and select poetic devices, considering the impact
Aspiring level 5-Identify what a poem is about, selecting poetry devices, exploring their impact and considering alternative viewpoints.

2. Be a collaborative learner
*8Flags are a symbol of national identity, but here the simile hints at the way that flags can be used to stop or direct something.
and beneath them, arcing in swathes *8like a huge flag waved first one way then the other in a figure of eight, the dark *9shoals of fishes *10flashing as their bellies swivelled towards the sun
*11and remembered how he and his brothers waiting on the shore *12built cairns of pearl-grey pebbles to see whose withstood *13longest the turbulent inrush of breakers bringing their *14father’s boat safe
*9 Repeated sibilant sounds. What might these represent?
*10This hints at the movement of the samurai sword from line 2. It’s an ironic reference, because the pilot is turning away from combat.
*11What does the focus switch to? Why?
*12These are innocent childhood activities, which contrast with the pilot’s job in the war.
*13Enjambment and lack of punctuation in this stanza may hint that the pilot got caught up in his childhood memories.
Be a collaborative learner
*14Repetition of ‘safe’ (see next line) hints at the pilot’s mind-set – he doesn’t want his children to go through the pain of losing him.
Level 3 –Identify what the poem is about and select evidence to confirm this
Level 4– Identify what the poem is about and select poetic devices, considering the impact
Aspiring level 5-Identify what a poem is about, selecting poetry devices, exploring their impact and considering alternative viewpoints.

3. Be a collaborative learner
Interjection of direct speech – it sounds like the pilot’s daughter is answering a question from her children.
– *15yes, grandfather’s boat – *16safe to the shore, salt-sodden, awash with *17cloud-marked mackerel, black crabs, feathery prawns, *18the loose of whitebait and once *19a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.
*20And though he came back my mother never spoke again in his presence, nor did she meet his eyes and the neighbours too, *21they treated him as though he no longer existed, only we children still chattered and laughed
All the sea creatures are given extra description. What is the effect?
The colours used in this line “pearl-grey” in line 21 – make nature sound like what?
What does this remind us about nature? Can you think back to the Prelude here?
We hear the daughter’s voice in direct speech again. She speaks in a more factual, less descriptive way about her father’s subsequent life, which hints at her pain and empathy with him.
Irony – he survived, but he is still treated as if he’s dead.
Be a collaborative learner
Level 3 –Identify what the poem is about and select evidence to confirm this
Level 4– Identify what the poem is about and select poetic devices, considering the impact
Aspiring level 5-Identify what a poem is about, selecting poetry devices, exploring their impact and considering alternative viewpoints.

4. Become a Holgate Challenger
What does this line suggest?
There is ambiguity here. What does the last line suggest?
Can you offer an alternative viewpoint?
till gradually we too learned to be silent, to live as though he had never returned, that this was no longer the father we loved. And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die.
Become a Holgate Challenger
Level 3 –Identify what the poem is about and select evidence to confirm this
Level 4– Identify what the poem is about and select poetic devices, considering the impact
Aspiring level 5-Identify what a poem is about, selecting poetry devices, exploring their impact and considering alternative viewpoints.