Poppy (Symbol)
As the title suggests, the poppy is central to the poem’s message, as it symbolizes remembrance and war. In the opening lines, the bright red poppy is juxtaposed with the chilling imagery of “individual war graves”: the reader realizes that this flower is being used as a symbol of sorrow and as a means of honoring those who lost their lives in war. In Britain, the poppy is specifically linked to World War I and is worn annually on Armistice Day as a symbol of remembrance.
The mother then describes the poppies that she pinned to her son’s uniform as “spasms of paper red,” a vivid description that evokes spasms of pain or muscle spasm and the red color of blood. This imagery further symbolically links the poppy to warfare through these connotations. The poppies’ “crimped,” or compressed, edges further suggest that the natural beauty of the poppy has been constrained and compressed by its current function as a marker of the horror and pain of war. Notably, a less-common definition of the word "crimp" is as a verb used to refer to the entrapment of someone into a military or navy service. This again subtly reinforces the symbolic connection between the poppy and the harms of war.
Song bird (Symbol)
The song bird symbolizes the mother letting go of her son’s physical presence. The song bird is now free, but in danger. Like the son, it has been released from its environment, and is likely “intoxicated” by the ability to explore a new, much broader world. However, also like the son, the bird has exited the domestic environment and is now in a more dangerous, open setting. It is ambiguous whether the song bird is literal or completely symbolic. In fact, the release of the songbird may refer to the mother simply releasing her own emotions—symbolically describing the departure of her son by depicting him as a songbird. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the songbird is specifically located in the son’s bedroom and is closely connected to the son in space.
Dove (Symbol)
The dove is an ambiguous symbol; while doves are traditionally a strong symbol of peace, they can also represent mourning (the “mourning dove” gets its name from its mournful, somber-sounding call). Thus, the dove represents the mother’s hopes for peace and safety, but at the same time represents her somber reckoning with the graveyard. Like the poem itself, the dove balances between hope or optimism, and ominous realism. As with the song bird, the dove is also symbolically connected to the son: the dove flew “freely” in the sky, just as the son is “intoxicated” by the “treasure chest” of his perceived freedom from domestic life. The mother also follows the dove, representing her longing for her son. Given this connection, the separation between the mother and the dove (the mother solemnly watches as the dove flies freely and beautifully ahead) represents the emotional distance between the mother and son. The dove is ultimately a complex symbol that carries multiple meanings within the poem.
Pear tree (Symbol)
The dove that the mother sees is in a pear tree, which recalls the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” This song includes a reference to another bird, a “partridge in a pear tree.” Notably, the partridge is a bird which will readily sacrifice itself for its young. The mother partridge is known for feigning injury to draw predators away from her nest and protect her young, even if it means that she becomes prey. The reference to the pear tree thus subtly reinforces the mother’s love for her son and her concern for him. Like the bird perched in the pear tree, she is willing (but unable) to sacrifice herself for her son.
Fabric (Motif)
The poem makes multiple symbolic references to fabric and textiles, which contribute to the multisensory experience of the poem. The son’s lapel, including its yellow pattern, is described in detail in the first stanza; the son’s mother’s words “turned into felt”; her stomach makes “tucks, darts, pleats” and the dove is described as an “ornamental stitch.” This motif contributes to the sensory details and imagery of the poem by calling attention to texture. As a designer herself, Weir often draws on references to fabric in order to blend the genre of poetry with the genre of fashion. By describing emotions in the language of fashion, Weir renders internal states of being into visible, external ones, allowing the reader more concretely to imagine the mother’s experiences. For example, the mother’s stomach makes “pleats”: this reference to a fold or doubling of fabric that is creased into place creates the image of fabric moving up and down, thus physically depicting the sensation in the mother’s stomach of rising and dropping, which is associated with intense emotion. Similarly, the mother does not simply fall silent; her words “turned into felt,” which allows the reader to visually imagine the softness and quietness of the mother. By using fabric metaphors to describe a mother grieving, Weir creatively blends her professions to create a multifaceted experience for the reader.
Cold (Symbol)
The mother makes note of the cold air as she walks to the graveyard, as well as her lack of a coat or other warm winter clothes. This coldness represents the mother’s emotional vulnerability. Just as she lacks protection from the harshness of the environment, she lacks emotional barriers to separate herself from her fears about her son. Instead, she experiences the full and painful extent of her fears as her son exits the home. The use of the word “reinforcements” adds a subtle military connotation to this description, as reinforcements are often used in the military context when additional troops are needed. Here, the mother lacks the “reinforcements’ of a scarf or gloves, and thus experiences the full extent of the cold air as well as her emotional suffering.
