Walking Away by Cecil Day Lewis

Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-72) is best known for being Great Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death and for being the father of renowned actor Daniel Day-Lewis. However, one of his most memorable poems, “Walking Away”, is about Sean, Day-Lewis’s son from his first marriage. Sean was born in 1931 and “Walking Away” was written in 1956, the year before Daniel Day-Lewis (son of Cecil’s second wife, the actress Jill Balcon) was born.

“Walking Away” is a poem that considers an intensely private time in the poet’s life – his son’s first day at school. We can wonder why the poet would choose to share these emotions and can only assume that either he felt comfortable writing it, so long after the event or because he is aware that every parent experiences similar emotions and can read his work with empathy. Whatever his reasons, C Day Lewis has created an exceptionally emotional poem and this emotion is at the very heart of its appeal.

The Title The title renders the poem immediately intriguing because of its ambiguity. It is not clear who is Walking Away or why.

A first-person voice is used, and the persona speaks directly to his child using the personal pronoun ‘you’ which gives the poem a very intimate and moving feel. The overall all mood is one of MELANCHOLY as the poet recounts this separation. “with the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free” – lots of those fricatives give it an airy, light sound reminiscent of flight. Even if you don’t think all those sounds echo the subject perfectly, you can’t argue that they are gentle and breathy, making it a very wistful, melancholic line The pace of the poem adds to this thoughtfulness as the father recounts the inevitable parting. MOOD

Walking Away is written in four stanzas, each of five lines in length – regular/measured. Thoughtful. The pace of the poem is measured, reflecting the thought processes of the parent. This separation hasn’t happened in a hurry. It is gradual and slow-paced like the poem. The rhyme scheme abaca uses simple, often monosyllabic rhymes (‘day’, ‘play’, ‘away’). This lends a melancholic tone to the poem, as if these feelings are uncomplicated but raw. FORM AND STRUCTURE

The imagery of 'a winged seed' refers to a child parting from a parent The poet uses images from nature to show this parting of parents and children. He refers to the ‘leaves just turning’ to ‘a half-fledged thing’ and to ‘a winged seed’. These images suggest that this parting is natural, even if it is difficult. There are several words used to refer to the separation - ‘wrenched from its orbit’, ‘eddying away’, ‘walking away’ (which is repeated) - showing that this movement away of child from parent is steady and considered. The word ‘away’ is repeated three times, emphasizing the parent’s concern. LANGUAGE

Theme EXPLANATION Parental love the parent’s love for his child is shown in the pain he feels when he realises he has to let the child go. Separation the child begins to move away from the parent when he is young, and the process takes years. Nature the poet uses images from nature to show that this process of movement and change is played out and echoed all around us.

EVIDENCE Theme Parental love Separation Nature Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,/ Has something I never quite grasp to convey I have had worse partings, but none that so /Gnaws at my mind still love is proved in the letting go Separation like a satellite /Wrenched from its orbit You walking away from me The hesitant figure, eddying away Nature leaves just turning half-fledged thing set free About nature’s give-and-take

Choose a poem which explores feelings of loss or separation (theme:human concern/relationships/parent-child) Discuss with reference to appropriate techniques, how the poet explores the subject

INTRODUCTION: TARTS + explain who the speaker is and the context of the poem. TIME: reference to ‘eighteen years’ shows the age of child now and also time during which speaker has had to come to terms with feelings. It has been a long slow process. SIMILE: examine the similes used to show the separation e.g. ‘satellite’ and ‘seed’. VOCABULARY: the poet uses words that have connotations of pain and difficulty. IMAGES OF NATURE: leaves in first stanza are changing – images of birds leaving nest – seeds leaving parent stem – “nature’s give and take.” FAITH: refers to God in final stanza – speculation whether this is how love is really shown. CONCLUSION: feelings of loss shown through whole of poem.