1. Poppies
Jane Weir

2. What does this image suggest to you?

5. Read the poem Poppies Three days before Armistice Sunday
Three days before Armistice Sunday
and poppies had already been placed
on individual war graves. Before you left,
I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals,
spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade
of yellow bias binding around your blazer.
Sellotape bandaged around my hand,
I rounded up as many white cat hairs
as I could, smoothed down your shirt’s
upturned collar, steeled the softening
of my face. I wanted to graze my nose
across the tip of your nose, play at
being Eskimos like we did when
you were little. I resisted the impulse
to run my fingers through the gelled
blackthorns of your hair. All my words
flattened, rolled, turned into felt,
slowly melting. I was brave, as I walked
with you, to the front door, threw
it open, the world overflowing
like a treasure chest. A split second
and you were away, intoxicated.
After you’d gone I went into your bedroom,
released a song bird from its cage.
Later a single dove flew from the pear tree,
and this is where it has led me,
skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy
making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without
a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.
On reaching the top of the hill I traced
the inscriptions on the war memorial,
leaned against it like a wishbone.
The dove pulled freely against the sky,
an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hear
your playground voice catching on the wind.
Read the poem

6. The story of the poem
The poem is the story of a woman whose son has gone to war
She remembers the times they spent together as he was a child growing up

7. Poppies – Jane Weir
"I wrote the piece from a woman's perspective, which is quite rare, as most poets who write about war have been men.
"As the mother of two teenage boys, I tried to put across how I might feel if they were fighting in a war zone.
"From the overwhelming response I have had since it was published, I hope that I have achieved that."

8. Have you or anyone you know been affected by war?

9. Reader response…
Since the piece was published in a national newspaper, Mrs Weir has been contacted by mothers of young soldiers killed in action, as well as people from France, Belgium and Germany
One woman thanked the 46-year-old for writing the poem, saying it summed up perfectly the way she felt about losing her 18-year-old son
'Poppies' was one of the poems commissioned by Carol Ann Duffy who invited modern poets to offer a war poem for 'Exit Wounds', published in ‘The Guardian’ at the beginning of the Iraq Inquiry in July 2009.

10. What would a son say about War?
Fearful?
Abominable?
Tough?
Blood?
Pride?

11. What a mother say about War?
Anxious?
Proud?
Worried?
Fearful?
Angry?
Hopeful?

12. The poem makes us think about…
The pain and difficulty of loss
The personal price a family can pay
The value of Remembrance

13. Jane Weir describes herself as Anglo-Italian, and grew up in on the outskirts of Manchester on a council estate. She is a textile designer, writer and poet who has lived ‘all over the place’, including in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the Troubles (in the 1980s). Weir currently lives in Derbyshire and Manchester, where she writes and runs her own textile and design business.
You should compare this poem with other poems about the same themes: effects of conflict: 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'; sadness and loss: 'Futility’, 'The Falling Leaves', 'Come On, Come Back’.
The poem is basically about a mother who describes her son leaving home to fight in the army and her emotional reaction to her son leaving. She feels sad, lonely and scared for his safety. She describes helping him smarten his uniform ready to leave. After he leaves, she goes to places that remind her of him, desperately trying to find any trace of him.
Poppies
Jane Weir
Weir’s poem ‘Poppies’ was commissioned by Duffy as part of a collection of ten contemporary war poems which were published in the Guardian in 2009, as part of a response to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan and the Iraq inquiry. Weir describes being surprised by the ‘overwhelming response’ she had from readers across Europe to ‘Poppies’. Many of the readers who contacted her were mothers of soldiers killed in action in recent conflicts. She commented in an interview that, ‘I wrote the piece from a woman's perspective, which is quite rare, as most poets who write about war have been men. As the mother of two teenage boys, I tried to put across how I might feel if they were fighting in a war zone.’
In ‘Poppies’ she tells the ‘story’ of a mother’s experience of pain and loss as her son leaves home to go to war. She has indicated that: ‘I was subliminally thinking of Susan Owen [mother of Wilfred]… and families of soldiers killed in any war when I wrote this poem. This poem attempts on one level to address female experience and is consciously a political act.’

14. There is no regular rhyme or rhythm in this poem, which helps to make it sound like someone's thoughts and memories. Long sentences and enjambment give an impression of someone absorbed in their own thoughts and memories.
Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of As this is a poem about remembrance of those who fought for their country, the poet has used this to explore her own feelings of loss and remembrance.
The use of words such as ‘blockade’ suggests that she feels shut out from her son's life and the metaphorical ‘blazer’ which could be a school uniform as well as an army one represents her pride for her son.
Three days before Armistice Sunday
and poppies had already been placed
on individual war graves. Before you left,
I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals,
spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade
of yellow bias binding around your blazer.
Sellotape bandaged around my hand,
I rounded up as many white cat hairs
as I could, smoothed down your shirt’s
upturned collar, steeled the softening
of my face. I wanted to graze my nose
across the tip of your nose, play at
being Eskimos like we did when
you were little. I resisted the impulse
to run my fingers through the gelled
blackthorns of your hair. All my words
flattened, rolled, turned into felt, 
The poem starts with her son leaving and then goes on to describe what she did afterwards, but the time frame in the poem is ambiguous. A lot of the images could almost describe a young child going to school for the first time.
The ‘bandage’ makes the reader think of an injured body or a mother tending her injured son. This has further connotations suggesting she is
emotionally wounded. The mothering tone continues when she treats him like a child.
Metaphor suggests he's no longer a child because he's styled his hair. His prickly hair suggests he's unapproachable.

15. Links leaving to join the army with leaving to go to school.
The simile of ‘treasure chest’ shows the world from the son's perspective and makes it sound exciting and full of precious experiences but to the mother this can seem scary as she is worried he will never return.
The mother is sad about leaving her son. She has feelings of anxiety and fear for her son's safety. The poem focuses on the bravery and restraint of the relatives left behind when young people go to war. The poem shows the contrasting perspectives between the loss the mother feels and the feelings of freedom and excitement her son experience
slowly melting. I was brave, as I walked
with you, to the front door, threw
it open, the world overflowing
like a treasure chest. A split second
and you were away, intoxicated.
After you’d gone I went into your bedroom,
released a song bird from its cage.
Later a single dove flew from the pear tree,
and this is where it has led me,
skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy
making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without
a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.
On reaching the top of the hill I traced
the inscriptions on the war memorial,
leaned against it like a wishbone.
The dove pulled freely against the sky,
an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hear
your playground voice catching on the wind. 
The word ‘intoxicated’ could simply suggest the boy’s excitement or, alternatively could symbolise his coming of age. He is old enough to drink and fight for his country signifying he is no longer a boy and has become a man.
There are lots of statements beginning with the first person which gives us a strong impression of the mother's emotions. The uses of metaphors create Images of war and bereavement which are mixed with domestic imagery. Birds are used as symbols of freedom to describe the son leaving the security of his home for the excitement of the wider world.
The bird is symbolic of her son leaving and doves are a symbol of peace but also mourning.
Sewing imagery conveys her nervousness and physical feelings of anxiety. These can be interpreted to describe her physical feelings.
Links leaving to join the army with leaving to go to school.

16. Reflections Why does the poet refer to the dove?
How is Weir making use of perspective?
Explain your ideas.

17. What is the role of women during times of conflict?
Homework
What is the role of women during times of conflict?
Research the role of women in the war.
What role did they play?
How were they important?
Create a collage which explores what you have learnt.
Consider how the poet makes use of gender stereotypes within her poem...