Tool · Flashcards
Card 1 of 39 · 0 of 39 marked known
Every card
Characters · 3
C. Day-Lewis (Implied Autobiographical Voice)
C. Day-Lewis acts as the implied autobiographical voice in "Walking Away," bridging the gap between the poem's first-person speaker and the poet.
character
The Child (Son)
The Child (Son) is the focal point of C. Day-Lewis's reflective lyric poem "Walking Away," though he never speaks and is seen solely through the father-speaker's memories and observations.
character
The Speaker (Father)
The Speaker is the heart of the poem—a father reflecting on the moment, eighteen years earlier, when he watched his young son walk away on his first day of school.
character
Key quotes · 10
“It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day –”
"Walking Away" is a deeply personal poem by Cecil Day-Lewis, written for his son Sean.
Cecil Day-Lewis (poetic speaker/father)
“A sunny day with the leaves just turning, / The touch-lines new-ruled”
These opening lines are from Cecil Day-Lewis's poem "Walking Away," which first appeared in The Gate (1962) and was later included in The Complete Poems.
Cecil Day-Lewis (lyric speaker/father)
“I can see / You walking away from me towards the school”
"Walking Away" is a well-known poem by Cecil Day-Lewis (C. Day-Lewis), first published in The Gate and Other Poems (1962).
Cecil Day-Lewis (the poet/father)
“Like a satellite / Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away”
This lyric is from "Walking Away," a song by Craig David, released in 2000 on his debut album Born to Do It.
Craig David (narrator/first-person voice)
“With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free / Into a wilderness”
This powerful image comes from C. Day-Lewis's well-known poem "Walking Away," which he wrote for his son Sean and included in The Gate (1962).
C. Day-Lewis (poetic persona / father)
“Behind a scatter of boys”
"Behind a scatter of boys" kicks off Walking Away by Cecil Day-Lewis (C. Day-Lewis), a deeply personal piece from his 1962 collection The Gate.
Cecil Day-Lewis (the poet/speaker) · Walking Away
“I have had worse partings, but none that so / Gnaws at my mind still”
These opening lines come from C. Day-Lewis's poem "Walking Away," written as a heartfelt reflection to his son Sean, recalling the moment he saw his boy walk away on his first day of school.
The poet / speaker (C. Day-Lewis)
“How selfhood begins with a walking away, / And love is proved in the letting go.”
These closing lines are from "Walking Away" by Cecil Day-Lewis, published in The Gate (1962) and dedicated to his son Sean.
Cecil Day-Lewis (poetic speaker/father) · Walking Away
“Nature's give-and-take – the small, the scorching / Ordeals which fire one's irresolute clay”
This couplet is from Cecil Day-Lewis's poem "Walking Away," which reflects on the moment he watches his young son walk away after a school football match.
Cecil Day-Lewis (poetic speaker/father)
“I find / No path that wholly leads me from my pain”
This couplet is from C. Day-Lewis's introspective poem "Walking Away," which he wrote for his son Sean and included in The Gate and Other Poems (1962).
C. Day-Lewis (the poet-speaker/father)
Symbols · 4
Autumn Light
In Walking Away, autumn light represents a bittersweet transition and the inevitability of change.
The Path / Walking Away
In Walking Away, the path and the act of walking away symbolize the unavoidable separation, personal growth, and the difficult yet necessary process of letting go.
The Playing Field
In Walking Away, the playing field represents the painful but necessary journey of letting go — particularly, a parent’s gradual process of allowing a child to become independent.
The Satellite / Winged Seed
In Walking Away, the satellite and the winged seed serve as powerful symbols of a difficult but necessary release.
Literary devices · 12
Simile
Day-Lewis constructs the poem's emotional framework through a series of vivid comparisons.
Imagery
The poem begins with a vivid scene: "an autumn day" set on a school playing field, grounding an abstract emotional experience in sensory details.
Extended Metaphor
The central idea of natural separation — seed from stem, fledgling from nest, satellite from orbit — isn’t just a one-time concept but is woven throughout the entire poem.
Volta
The poem's key structural shift happens in the final stanza, where the tone changes from mourning to a hard-won acceptance.
Elegy
Though no one has died, "Walking Away" serves as a subtle elegy for a father-son relationship that is irretrievably past.
Personification
Day-Lewis gives agency and a kind of moral weight to abstract forces in the poem.
Symbolism
The playing field on an autumn day serves as a powerful symbol of transition: a space between home and the larger world, and between times of growth and dormancy.
Enjambment
Day-Lewis employs enjambment to illustrate the very process described in the poem—something that moves forward and away, despite a desire to hold it back.
Paradox
The poem presents a paradox at its emotional and philosophical center: to love a child completely means to allow and even encourage their departure.
Repetition
The phrase "walking away" shows up at important points, acting like a refrain that builds in significance each time it appears.
Rhyme Scheme
"Walking Away" features an interlocking rhyme scheme (about ABACA across its quatrains) that is noticeable yet subtle, providing the poem with a sense of structure without being overly rigid.
Motif
The theme of natural departure—represented by seeds, young birds, and celestial bodies—runs throughout the poem as a recurring pattern of meaning.
Vocabulary · 10
satellite
An object that orbits a larger body in space. Here the word describes a child who has been flung free of the parent who once held him close, now moving on his own path.
noun · Chapter 1
wrenched
Pulled away suddenly and with force, as if torn loose. The word stresses how painful and violent the separation feels to the parent, even though it happens quietly on a playing field.
verb · Chapter 1
orbit
The fixed circular path a planet or satellite travels around a larger body. In the poem it stands for the safe, close relationship the child had with his father before stepping into independence.
noun · Chapter 1
spinning
Moving rapidly in a rotating or drifting way through open space. The word suggests the child is now loose and unguided, finding his own direction without the parent's pull.
verb · Chapter 1
hesitant
Moving slowly and uncertainly, as if unsure of each step. It captures the child's nervousness as he crosses the field toward his new, unfamiliar school life.
adjective · Chapter 1
selfhood
The quality of being a distinct, independent person with one's own identity. The poem argues that a child can only develop this by separating from the parent.
noun · Chapter 1
put forth
To begin to grow or emerge, the way a plant sends out new shoots. Here it describes a child's individual identity starting to develop and take shape.
phrase · Chapter 1
letting go
The act of releasing someone you love rather than holding them back. The poem presents this as the truest and most difficult expression of parental love.
phrase · Chapter 1
retrospective
Looking back at something that happened in the past. The speaker is recalling a scene from eighteen years ago and reflecting on what it meant.
adjective
parting
A moment of separation when two people go their different ways. In the poem it refers to the ordinary, quiet goodbye on the playing field that the father has never been able to forget.
noun · Chapter 1