Simon Armitage

 The poem has 14 lines which suggests it is a sonnet.  The traditional theme of a sonnet is ‘love’.  How does this poem differ from some of the other poems we have analysed within the anthology?

 The sonnet is divided into four stanzas. Read the poem again to work out what each stanza is about.

 Stanza 1: the present – looking at a pressed flower in a book  Stanza 2: the past  Stanza 3: the present  Stanza 4: the future There is no clear rhyme scheme but there is a series of half-rhymes. How does this contribute towards the tone of the poem?

 What does the title suggest about the relationship being explored in the poem?  What is the tone of the poem?  Add to the list of adjectives to describe the tone: tender, lyrical…

 How does the use of sibilance in the opening stanza: ‘this book, this page […] these leaves’ contribute towards the tone?  A flower pressed between the pages of a book is fragile. What does this suggest about relationships?

 The harebell is a flower which is symbolic of humility and grief. What does this suggest about the relationship described in the poem?

 What is the significance of the colon (:) on line 4?  How does the rhythm of this stanza contrast with the opening stanza?  Analyse the word ‘inventory’; what does this suggest about their relationship?  Analyse the word ‘infantries’; what does this suggest about their relationship?

 Look at the pronoun in the opening stanza. Contrast the pronoun ‘we’ with ‘your’ and ‘my’ found in the second stanza. What does this suggest about their relationship during ‘those years’?

 Notice how ‘a decade on’ relates to the poem’s title.  What has happened to their relationship between the second and third stanzas? Support your ideas with evidence from stanza 3.

 Notice how the harebell is repeated in stanza 4.  What does the speaker mean by ‘Let’s give it now/in air, with light, the chance to fade, to fold’?

 What does the speaker suggest about relationships?  What is your personal response to the poem?