Walking away by Cecil Day- Lewis
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_d8k4n4
1. CONTEXT - the date that the poem was published was in 1962,
height of the space race linking with 'satellite' - this adds
to unease of the father as this space race modernised and
unsettled the world
- his father was a vicar
- Lewis' mother died when he was young so his father
brought him up and raised him which may be why he
values father- son relationship
- about his son Sean's first days of school in the late
1930's. In the poem, he is thinking back to when Sean
started at Boarding school at the age of seven.
2. i have had - animal imagery to show the uncontrollable nature of his
worse partings, sadness
but none that so
Gnaws at my - enjambment
mind still
- repetition of the 's' sound to mimic this gnawing sound
3. OVERALL - ABACA, strict rhyme scheme, shows unease as it is
incomplete
- natural imagery is used to show eventual acceptance
written in four stanzas , each of five lines in length.
- often monosyllabic rhymes ('day', 'play', 'away'). This
lends a melancholic tone to the poem, as if these feelings
are uncomplicated but raw
- Throughout the poem, the poet uses punctuation of dash-
es, to add in extra information to make the description and
narrative more vivid for the reader. It also has the effect
of mirroring the shift in time and setting described in the
poem: seasonal change (one of key themes e.g. 'leaves
just turning')
1/5
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_d8k4n4
1. CONTEXT - the date that the poem was published was in 1962,
height of the space race linking with 'satellite' - this adds
to unease of the father as this space race modernised and
unsettled the world
- his father was a vicar
- Lewis' mother died when he was young so his father
brought him up and raised him which may be why he
values father- son relationship
- about his son Sean's first days of school in the late
1930's. In the poem, he is thinking back to when Sean
started at Boarding school at the age of seven.
2. i have had - animal imagery to show the uncontrollable nature of his
worse partings, sadness
but none that so
Gnaws at my - enjambment
mind still
- repetition of the 's' sound to mimic this gnawing sound
3. OVERALL - ABACA, strict rhyme scheme, shows unease as it is
incomplete
- natural imagery is used to show eventual acceptance
written in four stanzas , each of five lines in length.
- often monosyllabic rhymes ('day', 'play', 'away'). This
lends a melancholic tone to the poem, as if these feelings
are uncomplicated but raw
- Throughout the poem, the poet uses punctuation of dash-
es, to add in extra information to make the description and
narrative more vivid for the reader. It also has the effect
of mirroring the shift in time and setting described in the
poem: seasonal change (one of key themes e.g. 'leaves
just turning')
1/5
