GET IT TO GRADE 9: poetr comparions of Climbing my Grandfather and Follower

I have started writing a comparisn essay from the Love and Relationships GCSE cluster and I was hoping someone could look at it and mark it for me. Thank you.



In the poem Climbing my Grandfather and Follower they both idolise a family relative and look up to them. This is seen physically in Climbing my Grandfather because of how he is looking up to his grandfather. This is seen through the extended metaphor of climbing and distance which effectively creates a vivid image of him looking up to his grandfather as a young child. This is similar to Follower as an extended metaphor is also used to emphasise how he looked up to his father as a child. This is done with the use of nautical imagery like where he is described as a ‘full sail strung’ which enforces his strength and skill in his job as a farmer which Heaney is impressed with. Although he looks up to his relative like in Climbing my Grandfather he has more negative emotions about himself, which is shown through the past tense idea which emphasises how he is looking back at a memory almost in disappointment as we know through the negative verbs of ‘stumbled’ and ‘falling’ compared to how he describes his father as ‘dipping and rising’ like a ship would which is very positive on the other hand. Contextually, although the poems are quite similar, they were written in very different times: 1966 for Follower and in 2000 for Climbing my Grandfather. This emphasises the large difference in the style the authors had: of the single verse, no rhyme scheme and free flowing modern Climbing my Grandfather compared to the structurally steady, ABAB rhyme scheme of Follower which shows the change poetry writing had at this time. This is as Climbing my Grandfather can be interpreted as unusual and authors changing the normal poetry writing and pushing the boundaries in this modern time.

The form of both of these poems also combines to enforce the extended metaphors which highlights how they look up to their relatives so much due to how they are and the joys that come with being an adult. We can see this as the steady rhythm, iambic tetrameter and steady rhythm emphasises the movement of ploughing in a smooth way and almost like an ‘expert’. Both of the poems contain enjambment to mimic the movement, it is seen in Climbing my Grandfather to show the motion of climbing and the steady progress that the grandson is making in climbing his grandfather as he says ‘I change/direction’ and learning more about it as well as the decrease in line size and syllabic length representing the ‘summit’. As well as this it shows the breathless climb through the breaks and stops to make the lexical field of climbing even more vivid. It also seen in Follower to show the movement of the plough as well as to emphasis the narrator’s clumsy persistence to be like his father. This other interpretation of the enjambment shows the negative and sad side to the poem as the son so desperately wants to be like his father but fails to reach it. This contrast can be seen in the third stanza where it moves from the father as the subject to the son and how he is struggling with his identity as a young boy, the combination of the dramatic role reversal of the father being ‘behind me’ at the end is effective as it shocks the audience and drags them back to reality as he ages and ‘will not go away’ like the son previously was. This highlights the connection between the father and son and how they still have a very close relationship with the large age difference. This is combined with caesura at the end to show the change as it is the opposite of all the enjambment throughout the poem, it is also shared with the change in tense to present which makes it sudden and unexpected while heightening the impact of the final few lines. This is different to Climbing my Grandfather as in this it has a more positive subject and comes to more of a realisation as the end with the monosyllabic line of ‘the slow pulse of his good heart’ showing the grandson’s steady and warm love for his grandson as he climbs up him, learning new things have his grandfather as he loves gets emotionally and physically closer to him and their connection becomes stronger. We also know that the grandson sees him as a teacher due to the double meaning of the phrase ‘watch a pupil slowly open and close’ which also shows the relatives closeness as well as the idea of him being a student in the noun ‘pupil’ and the grandfather teaching him new things as a wise older man. The steady structure creates more of a steady development rather than the jolting movement created in Follower.

The use of childlike language continues to show the respect and pride the grandson has for his father in Climbing my Grandfather as it emphasises the difference between them and the strong bond they have which develops as he climbs up. This extended metaphor for climbing represents the development in connection and can be interpreted as them just sat together talking but seems like he is exploring and learning new things as he learns more about his grandfather like would learn more things about climbing a mountain. It seems like he is learning his grandfather is more human and normal like him rather than idolising him, this is because as he climbs up higher you begin to see more life in the grandfather as he has moving features which could represent the grandfather opening up to him. However, even though he wants the grandfather to open up to him we can see that there is some care in how he does this as well as caution as he sees the grandfather’s scar and places his feet ‘gently in the old stitches’ and proceeds to ‘move on’. This shows that he knows his grandfather isn’t perfect but how he doesn’t want to learn to much about his grandfather but wants to keep the way he looks up to him and idolises him and not reveal to much that will stop him doing this. The use of the opening metaphor ‘without a rope or net’ shows his confidence even though he is a young child and how he metaphorically feels he can do this by himself as he is comfortable with him which shows they already had a close connection at the start. The use of this natural imagery of the mountain is effective and may have been done by Waterhouse as he can relate to this due to having an interest in the natural world and how he became an environmental campaigner as well as studying environmental science so therefore he could relate to the subject in more ways than just one. The childlike imagery is also seen in the oxymoron and metaphor ‘like warm ice’ as it simple and contradicting as well as creating an affectionate image that the grandfather isn’t cold like ice is as well as the child-like fascination with simple things as he is fascinated with the grandfather’s ‘pupil’. You can also see the fascination with the grandfather through the in depth detail and adjective listing seen in how he notices he likes gardening through the ‘earth-stained hand’ as well as how he works hard with his nails are splintered’ and has ‘loose skin on his neck’ This is similar to the Follower as it contains paternal imagery which shows the father and son’s close relationship through the use of how he ‘rode me on his back’ which is the first interaction between them which emphasises the slight development in Follower but not as much as seen in Climbing my Grandfather as that poem develops to a decisive and concluding ending whereas Follower has a more negative contrasting ending. As well as this there is large amounts of detail which is similar to Climbing my Grandfather; the metaphor and hyperbole in ‘expert’ is effective in showing how highly he sees his father as a professional even though he is just a farmer who ploughs, there is also onomatopoeia in ‘clicking’ which draws attention to his skill as he can control the powerful horses just by clicking his tongue. The use of this intense detail that other people wouldn’t see shows how much he respects and looks up to his father.

Overall, unlike Heaney in Follower who ends the poem frustrated by his father, Waterhouse seems to find great comfort and security when he feels the ‘heat’ of his grandfather.


n:-5.5,x

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