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Poppies & The Emigrée - Coggle Diagram
Poppies
&
The Emigrée
Paragraph 1
Similarity
Theme of Memory
The Emigreé
'There once was a country'
reminiscent of a
fairy tale
- this implies the poem will be a
child-like reflection
on the
city she grew up in
this implies the reader is probably reflecting with a
bias
and her
rosy memory
may
not live up to the current reality
sunlight imagery
'branded by an impression of sunlight'
the verb
'branded'
suggests a
permanence to the memory
of the city
it also suggests
ownership
and
control
as if even if she tries
she will never be able to change her idyllic memory
juxtaposes
the
positive connotations
of
'sunlight'
with the
painful connotations'
of
'branded'
'tastes of sunlight'
gustatory imagery
enriches the
motif
with an implication of
synaesthesia
, emphasising the
vividness
with which she remembers
uses an
epistrophe
to end every stanza with a
reference to
'sunlight'
demonstrates the
no matter what she hears
the speaker will
always have a positive view
of her city
'it may be sick with tyrants'
this
modality
in this
subjunctive case
seems to
recognise that her memory may not be the same as the truth
the noun
tyrants
has connotations of
harsh, dictatorial rules
which arguably has a
dark tone
- this
juxtaposes her memories of
'sunlight'
which shows the
fallibility of her memory
Poppies
'Three days before Armistice Sunday'
this
temporal deixis
establishes the
theme of remembrance
from the beginning of the poem
the
memory of her son taking part in Armistice Sunday
and then
being killed in war
seems to suggests the
cyclic nature of war
and the
damage it caused
analepsis
to the
memorial service
sets the scene as the
speaker and her son being victims of war
'I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind'
this memory has a
nostalgic, emotive tone
which makes the
reader emphatise with the loss of life
creates
imagery of childhood memories
which were a time
without war and pain
alliterative
'h'
sound captures how hard she
strains to recapture their intimate relationship
she
knows however this is futile
as his
childhood is like the
'wind'
the
metaphor
'wind'
suggests the
fleetingness of youth
, signifying that both
youth and memory are intangible
Paragraph 2
Similarity
Role of the Civilian
Poppies
maternal language
'graze my nose across the tip'
soft, emotive language
creates a
maternal tone
the
maternal affection
is
juxtaposed
with the
connotations of injury
associated with the verb
'graze'
this reminds us of how
conflict and war has infiltrated her life
'without a winter coat or reinforcements'
this intertwines
domestic imagery
with
military violence
a
lack of protection to the cold
show how
violence has created vulnerability in all parts of her everyday life
show how
war affects societies indirectly
by
harming those who witness the loss
The Emigreé
'banned by the state'
the verb
'banned'
implies a sense of
control
that authorities try to exert over the citizens
the noun
state
somewhat
connotes communist ideas
which reminds us of the
context
of the poem
the poem was released in the 1993 collection
'Thinking of Skins'
which Rumens
centered on political consciousness in Russia and East Europe
the poem's arguable
detachment from language directly relating to conflict
despite this theme seems to
show the indirect consequences of war on the civilians
arguably the
events of the poem
and the
suffering the persona faces
are all an
indirect consequence of war
this is shown by the
subtle references to the military
through
'time rolls its tanks'
'they accuse me of being dark in their free city'
this
continues the idea of her suffering being tied to conflict
her
displacement due to war
leads her to feel
alone
and become
victim to the hostility of others
this
creates more conflict
which seems to -
similarly to Poppies
- imply a
cyclic nature
to conflict that will
never end
Paragraph 3
Similarity/Difference
Structure
The Emigreé
free verse
lack of rhyme or rhythm
may represent the
lack of power she has over her own country
however this
juxtaposes with the positive imagery
within the poem
so a
more likely interpretation
is that the free verse
represents her sense of freedom in identity
regular structured stanzas
this implies the speaker's
need to impose a sense of control due to her unease at the reality of her country
alternatively it also suggests
her view of her city is fixed and regular
therefore
cannot and will not change
caesura
the use of caesura in the
last stanza
which is
centered on her new city
implies a
sense of entrapment
and
control over her freedom
this shows her
unhappiness with her new circumstance
which is too a
consequence of war
Poppies
free verse
the poem has
no rhyme or meter
but lots of
variety in stanza length
this seems to suggest the poem is
the speaker's uncensored thoughts
as she is
forced to make sense of her situation
this creates the impression that it is an
outpouring of emotion or a stream of consciousness
this adds to the
emotive tone
of the poem which
allows the reader to sympathise with the speaker more
the
chaotic structure
of the poem reflects the
narrator's lack of control over her emotions
this shows that the
chaos created by war
reaches
much farther than the battlefield
- again
exploring the role of the civilian