Month: May 2015

The poppy has a long association with Remembrance Day. But how did the distinctive red flower become such a potent symbol of our remembrance of the sacrifices made in past wars?

Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe’s heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later conflicts. It was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed Forces, after its formation in 1921.

How does the poet create desperation in the poem?
This poem is written from the perspective of a man who is stuck in the twin towers during the 9/11 bombing, the man in the poem is talking got those who watching him. The man in the poem is captured on film twirling a white cotton shirt trying to gain attention so somebody could find him, in the poem it says ‘you have picked me out, through a distant shot of a building burning’ the need of desperation occurs when he says ‘i am trying and trying, because he is stating that he is trying his best and he is currently out of options and the only other option would be to kill himself or just stand there and burn in the sweltering heat.

HOW HAVE STRUCTURAL CHOICES MADE BY THE POET ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE THEMES EXPLORED IN THE POEM?
1. The poem centres around the hawks actions and it describes the hawks thoughts and movements in great detail, The hawk is seeing the world as its playground, the hawk mentions that he holds playground, the hawk mentions the holds creation in his foot and that give me an impression that he feels even more powerful than god. The hawk is portrayed as a careless, violent and a fixed figure, the hawks describes in details the way he slaughter his pray and the way he says it shows him having no remorse in taking another creatures life. The hawk is portrayed as a man in battle with another man and describing how the man thinks,performs actions and what he does when he kills.