The Cinder Path – Andrew Motion

1) Some of the poems in this collection are very conversational in tone – almost prosy – what effect does this have? Did you like it?
2) In some of the poems Motion uses very long lines, does this work? Did you like dislike it? Why?
3) Motion makes direct allusion (by name) to other poets (ie Robert Frost, Rupert Brooke) and he also echoes other poets like Andrew Marvell in poems like The Mower – did these poems work? Do you think footnotes or endnotes might have been beneficial or do they stand alone successfully?
4) There is an epigraph at the beginning of the book taken from Cinkante Balades by John Gower – why do you think there was no translation of this? Did you want one?
5) The last part of the book is made up of elegies to Motion’s father. How did you feel about these poems? Did you like them? Did they fit in with the general tone of the collection?
6) Did you notice anything about the form of the poems?
7) Did you notice any rhyme schemes? How did they work with the subject matter?
8) How did you feel about the group of sonnets about Harry Patch? Did they fit the subject matter? Would you have liked to know more about Harry Patch?
9) It has been said that some of these poems sound like poems written by a poet laureate – that they were written specifically to mention particular people or places. Did you notice this? Does it matter?