A grade 9 answer comparing The Emigree and Poppies for AQA GCSE English Literature.
This is not guaranteed a full mark answer as it is written by a student but has grade 9 ideas, context, interpretations, which may help as a source for knowing what a grade 9 essay looks like.
In both Poppies and The Emigree both poets convey the complex emotion with come as a result of
the speaker experiencing loss due to conflict in different ways. ‘Poppies’ explores the strong mother
and son relationship and the subsequent, inherent emotions of their relationship being disrupted by
a ‘blockade’, war. Whereas in ‘The Emigree’ Rumens deals with trying to retain a false memory which
has been disrupted by conflict in the speaker’s original country. However, both find comfort within
their memories in attempts to attach themselves to the past.
In both poems, Weir and Rumens use free verse to represent the inner emotions of each speaker. In
‘The Emigree’, Rumens uses free verse to depict the internal discord of emotions and the cities true
nature- ridden with dissaray. The repeated use of enjambment emphasizes the chaotic sense that
she lacks power in her original country physically because it’s too dangerous as ‘time rolls its tanks’-
referring to the tanks used by the Soviet Union to invade countries such as Hungary to regain
communist power. The contrasting use of regular structure and enjambment implies the speakers
need to impose an sense of control but underlyingly there is a sense of unease and discord of reality
in her present country- Britain-that she attempts to reject through her use of language, although it
permeates throughout the poem’s structure therefore suggesting she refuses any form of change
which makes her deal with the reality of the country she is in. Contrarily, in ‘Poppies’ Weir uses free
verse to represent her lack of control she yearns for over her son as a result of her maternal instincts,
similarly Rumens however in Poppies it is evident that the speaker has reached a resolution as she
says she ‘released a song bird from its cage’ symbolising that she is now able to let go of her son
from his mothers clutches and let him into the ‘world overflowing like a treasure’- essentially
freedom. Alternatively, this can symbolise a sense of relief in her emotions as previously she wanted
to ‘run her fingers’ through ‘black thorns’ of his hair, showing that any attempt she tried to make a
connection with her son through memory only caused her to suffer further pain. This could also be a
religious allusion to Jesus’ crown of thorns when he was on the cross signifying that he died for the
greater good. The poet does this to show that a great loss can also be for the greater benefit, as
every person throughout their life will inevitably deal with change therefore it is better to accept
change rather than dwell on past memories.
In ‘The Emigree’ Rumens portrays the power of memory and imagination which surpasses the power
of conflict and war- shown through the use of the extended metaphor of “sunlight” throughout the
poem- connoting the warmth, comfort and hope she experiences within this ‘city’ of birth. Rumen
employs an epistrophe, closing each stanza with the noun “sunlight”, characterizing the irrepressible
force which this city holds which will always triumph over anguish and tyranny that plagues her
home city in the present; but she nevertheless immortalises the state of the old city. The strength of
this memory is further exemplified through employing synasthesia in the phrase “it tastes of
sunlight” suggesting it is as if an immersive experience, it encompasses all her sense. Similarly in
‘Poppies’ the poet conveys a continuous power of this memory despite she has emotionally moved
on which is evident in ‘hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind.’. This line is
placed at the end of the poem; although the mother has moved on from her loss, the alliterative the
‘h’ sound captures how hard she strains to recapture their intimate relationship which she knows is
futile because in reality because his childhood is like the ‘wind’. The use of the wind metaphor
suggests the fleetingness of youth, signifying that both youth and memory are intangible.
Furthermore, in ‘The Emigree, Rumens depicts the inner conflict she experiences subsequently due
to war and tyranny, resulting in her being exile from her present country. This is apparent in the line
“my shadow falls as evidence as sunlight” showing the oxymoronic nature between the idyllic city of
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