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Walking Away for SeemIt is eighteen years ago, almost to the day—A sunny day with the leaves just turning,The touch-lines new-ruled—since I watched you playYour first game of football, then, like a satelliteWrenched from its orbit, go drifting away .5Behind a scatter of boys. I can seeYou walking away from me towards the schoolWith the pathos of a half-fledged thing set freeInto a wilderness, the gait of oneWho finds no path where the path should be.10That hesitant figure, eddying awayLike a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,Has something I never quite grasp to conveyAbout nature's give-and-take—the small, the scorchingOrdeals which fire one's irresolute clay.15I have had worse partings, but none that soGnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughlySaying what God alone could perfectly show—How selfhood begins with a walking away,And love is proved in the letting go.20Stanza 1Line 1 & 2 Memory is very _____. Remembers 18 years ago as if it is _____. _________ the weather and the ______ of the leaves.Season was changing: ________ for the relationship between him and his ___ that is ________. Turning point in poet's and his son's ____.Simile line 4 & 5: His son is _______ away from him like a _________ is wrenched out of orbit. The poet is no more the ______ of his son's life.wrenched: reflects that it is a _______ eventtouch-lines: boundary _____ of the football fieldwrenched: tornorbit: usual ____Stanza 2Scatter of boys: way ________ move, shows confusiongo drifting away: ideal of ____metaphor: half-fledged thing=_____________ of the boy. The boy is like a young bird being forced to leave its ____ before it is ready.wilderness: metaphor, the world the boy is ________ is strange and like a __________ to him. Father also feels ________ and alonePathos: picture of the little boy ________ the world that is like a wilderness is sad and _______ could happen.Line 9 & 10: The path is __________ to the boy but familiar to the ______, he is longing to lead his son.half-fledged: not fully grown or ___________pathos: tragedygait: walk, ____Stanza 3simile: Like a winged-seed. The little boy is like a winged-seed ________ from its parent stem and drifting away into the _______. It shows the little boy is _________ in his new situation.eddying away: emphasises _______ of the father that he is losing his boy.nature's give and take: Experiences that _____ us pain actually _______ us and makes us ________. Nature gave the little boy a father but by _______ the protection of his ______, although dangerous, the little boy will ______ stronger.ordeals, fire, irresolute clay: We are the ____, the experiences we have the _______, these experiences ______ us like fire hardens clay. When we _____ our final form _______ can change us _______.scorching: Our experiences may be _______ but what the father is experiencing is also painful.hesitant: _______eddying: ________scorching: burningordeals: difficult timesirresolute: unsure, ________Stanza 4Line 16 & 17: Poet _________ this is not the worst parting he has ever experienced. But it is the one that gnaws at his mind the most.God is the only one who would __________ this lesson, because God gave up His only Son to become human and to be ________. The way to show parental love is to let your child go no ______ how painful it is.gnaws: nags at, persistently _______selfhood: _______ and understanding one's self.Walking Away by Cecil Day LewisThe compiler of this anthology has indicated that this poem would be dedicated to one of Cecil Day Lewis’s four children, Sean. Clearly the emotions that the speaker expresses especially in the last 10 lines of the poem were particularly intense on that day 18 years before he wrote the poem. The scene is set in a matter of fact way in the first three lines, we are given several details of the setting which helps us to visualize the situation and which also emphasises just how the events and emotions of that day have been etched on the poet’s memory. The action is simple, the poet is recalling his young son walking off the football field and instead of joining him, his father, he seeks the company of the other boys. You might note that he went behind the scatter of boys, he still had to make friends and be part of the group hence the young child’s hesitation and lack of assurance.Consider and discuss the implications of the three comparisons that the poet uses in describing that action. Each one captures in a different way something of the child’s attitude as well as the father’s emotion. Two of the comparisons are similes “like a satellite wrenched from its orbit” and “Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem”. One is a metaphor “The pathos of a half fledged thing set free into the wilderness”. All three of these comparisons imply that the child is hardly ready to leave the protective care of his father but that what is happening is a natural and inevitable moment. Consider the connotations of words such as “wrenched” and “half-fledged” as well as the participle that precedes the image of the seed “eddying”. The uncertainty of the young boy as he instinctively moves towards his friends would have made his father even more emotional and anxious although he knew this moment had to happen. In many ways neither the boy not his father was fully prepared or ready for this moment. This made the father more concerned as he watched his son knowing he had to let him find his own way despite the fact that he seemed so vulnerable. He describes this experience in the context of a piece of pottery that has to be fired in a kiln to make it strong. Such incidents are painful but necessary to our growth and development as human being. Such acceptance of a way of life is not without its pain and the choice of the verb “naws” in describing his memory of that day shows how he has battled to forget the pain or realization that he would not could not always be in control of his son or the centre of his son’s life. He had to let him go and establish himself as an individual making his own choices and decisions. It was a learning experience for both father and son. The paradoxical element of this situation is conveyed by the notion of nature’s give and take and is expressed in the last line. The realization and proof of love is shown by letting the object of love go. In allowing this both the father and the son achieve a new selfhood. L ewis, writing as a Christian, uses what he believes is a perfect example: God showing His love through letting His Son Jesus Christ live as a man and die to save mankind. QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the significance of the word "turning" in line 2.2. What would the "new-ruled touch-lines" (line 3) seem to symbolise in this particular situation ?3. Explain the meaning and effectiveness of die simile in lines 4 and 5.4. List the words and phrases the poet uses to describe the young boy's uncertainty and comment on the cumulative effect of these.5. Pick out three words which reflect the speaker's pain as he recalls this parting.6. Explain "nature's give-and-take" in your own words.7. Why do you think the poet feels that "God alone" could perfectly understand this particular situation ?8. What is the tone of the last two lines of the poem ? SUGGESTED ANSWERS1. The word conveys the fact that this event took place in autumn. Just as autumn marks a turning point in the year, this event marked a turning point in the speaker's life. With the ' loss' of his son, as it were, he may be said to have lost the spring and summer of life. Many of the images in this poem are drawn from nature (see line 14, for example) and the image of leaves is in keeping with this theme.2. He now has to live according to the new rules in his relationship with his son. The idea of "Ikes" also emphasises that from now on there will be a measure of separation between him and his son.3. The new experience for the child had a certain forcefulness: the child's comfortable life with his parent is compared to an "orbit" - a fixed, regular pattern. Now, however, he has been "wrenched" from this orbit into a new dimension of experience. It is a most effective simile as it conveys both the force of the change in the boy's life and the emotional, physical pain experienced by the father which resulted from the parting.4. These include "hesitant", "eddying", "like a satellite", "drifting", "half-fledged", "winged seed", "loosened". A clear picture of the boy's vulnerability and insecurity is built up as a result of using so many related images etc.5. "wrenched", "scorching" and "gnaws".6. See last paragraph of discussion above.7. Only God has the compassion/ knowledge/ insight to understand what seems to be such a hard lesson. Also, God made the ultimate sacrifice in giving up His own son, Jesus Christ.8. A reflective tone; one of acceptance. Walking away1.What general feeling is C.D. Lewis expressing in this poem?2.How do you know that this parting bothered him greatly?3.At what time of the year did this event take place? How do you know?4.Try to interpret "the touch-lines new-ruled" on 2 levels.5.How is Scan like a satellite?6.Is he purposeful as he walks away? Explain.7.Why is his father not happy about their parting? Look at stanza 2 - you may quote.8.There is some hope for C.D. Lewis in stanza 3- What is the purpose of seeds?9.What is meant by "nature's give-and-take"?10.1The last 2 lines explain old / common truths. Explain in your own words.10.2What does the reference to God in the third last line mean? Walking awayCecil Day Lewis1.Nostalgia2."gnaws at my mind still" (stanza 4) 18 years later3.Autumn - leaves just turning4. Literal - real lines new-ruled for a new seasonFigurative - new boundaries / lines in their (new) relationship5. Satellite = body orbiting another (planet / body). Son had moved around father till then - father = centre of his world6. No - drifts behind a scatter of boys, hesitant figure7. Feels boy isn't ready, "pathos of a half fledged thing" but father not yet ready "finds no path where path should be" - needs guidance still8. Seeds grow - new plants, new independent life9. Nature gives children to parents but "takes" them away as they grow up and become independent10.1 You have to break away to be independent / your self. If you love someone enough, you'll prove it by giving them their freedom, to be themselves10.2 God proved this great love for us, by giving His son to us, (let him go), lost him to save us ................
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