Page 2: Reflection and Acceptance

The second page of the Walking Away poem analysis delves deeper into the father's perspective on letting go in the parent-child relationship. Day-Lewis continues to use natural imagery to describe his son's departure, comparing him to water and air, emphasizing the boy's uncertainty and fluidity as he moves away from his father's influence.

The poet acknowledges that this separation, while painful, is part of nature's "give-and-take." He reflects on the "small, the scorching / Ordeals which fire one's irresolute clay," suggesting that these challenging experiences are necessary for shaping and strengthening his son's character.

Definition: Irresolute - Uncertain or hesitant; not firmly determined.

Day-Lewis admits that while he has experienced more significant partings, this particular moment continues to affect him deeply. He suggests that this separation represents a fundamental truth about human development and love.

Example: The poem uses the metaphor of clay being fired to represent how challenging experiences shape and strengthen individuals, much like how heat transforms soft clay into durable pottery.

The poem concludes with a profound realization about the nature of love and identity:

Quote: "How selfhood begins with a walking away, / And love is proved in the letting go."

This powerful statement encapsulates the central theme of the poem: that true love involves allowing the loved one to develop their own identity, even if it means watching them walk away.

Highlight: The poem's final lines introduce religious imagery, comparing the father's act of letting go to God's love for humanity, elevating the personal experience to a universal truth about love and sacrifice.

Page 1: The Moment of Separation

The first page of the Walking Away poem analysis introduces the pivotal moment when the father witnesses his son's growing independence. The poem begins by setting the scene of a sunny autumn day, 18 years in the past, when the father watched his son play his first football game.

Day-Lewis uses powerful imagery to describe the son's departure from his father's sphere of influence. He compares the boy to a satellite "wrenched from its orbit," emphasizing the sudden and painful nature of this separation. The father observes his son walking away towards school, describing him with "the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free into a wilderness."

Vocabulary: Half-fledged - A young bird that doesn't have all its adult feathers yet, used metaphorically to describe the son's state of incomplete development.

The poet employs enjambment and similes to convey the father's concern for his son's readiness to face the world alone. The repetition of "path" in the line "Who finds no path where the path should be" underscores the father's anxiety about his son's ability to navigate life independently.

Highlight: The poem's structure, with its four five-line stanzas, reflects the poet's attempt to organize and make sense of this emotional experience.

Quote: "That hesitant figure, eddying away / Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem"

This simile compares the son to a seed detaching from its parent plant, beautifully capturing the natural yet uncertain process of a child growing away from parental protection.