“Poppies” appears in Exit Wounds, a collection commissioned by U.K. poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy in 2009 to gather poetic perspectives on the British conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Duffy asked the poets who contributed to the volume to “bear witness,” each in their own unique style, to the effects of war.
In “Poppies,” Weir bears witness to the emotional shocks and suffering caused by warfare, through emphasis on the perspective of soldiers’ parents. Duffy specifically noted the removed and isolating nature of the modern British wars; many British citizens experienced these conflicts only through radio, television, email, or other remote media. While “Poppies” does not directly reference any modern conflicts, allowing for a timeless and universal quality to the poem’s scenes, it captures the isolation that Duffy raised in her call for the collection. The mother is removed from the direct battle or conflict that it is implied her son may participate in, yet she still feels the emotional effects of sending her son to war and worries about the dangers of war more broadly as she visits the graveyard.
While “Poppies” builds on a long and rich tradition of British war poetry, it also innovates in many ways. First, the poem is told from the first-person perspective of a woman, the mother. Traditional British war poetry has focused more directly on the male soldiers and men who were affected by the war, often including poetry that was actually written on the frontlines. Weir's domestic perspective adds a unique and haunting quality to this tradition by coupling the universal theme of parental love and loss with the more specific genre of war poetry. Additionally, “Poppies” uses hallmarks of contemporary poetry, such as free verse, varied stanza length, and frequent enjambment. These stylistic components lend a contemporary feel to a poem that is timeless in terms of its thematic focus on the parent-child relationship.
While “Poppies” focuses closely on the mother’s specific experience, it also contains broader references that deliberately connect the poem to the specific genre of British war poetry. Most directly, it references Armistice Sunday, also known as Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War II and is a commemoration of soldiers’ sacrifices. The poem’s opening lines also deliberately use the passive voice to create the image of numerous anonymous mourners, all of whom have been affected by war. Similarly, the memorial at the poem’s conclusion again expands the poem’s focus from the mother and son to the British public more broadly. The many inscribed names on the memorial bear witness to the many individuals who lost their lives in battle. By weaving these concrete references to British wars into the poem, Weir fulfills Duffy’s call for poetry that bears witness to the impacts of modern war.
