A Winter Visit by Dannie Abse

This poem by Dannie Abse shows a relationship between Dannie himself and his mother. I can see within the poem the affection that he has for his mother and the relationship that they share. 'A Winter Visit' is about him visiting his mother and taking her for a walk through the park in which she believes may be one of the last moments she shares with her son.
One of the things that I found interesting about this poem was the representation of peacocks throughout the poem. Peacocks are colourful, vibrant and bright which suggests that they are full of life. This compared with the representation of his mother such as "so aged and so frail" shows an antithesis with the peacock as there is not much life left in his mother which can be seen in "This winter I'm half dead, son". Another thing that I found interesting was the rhyme scheme that Dannie Abse chose to use throughout 'A Winter Visit'. The rhyme scheme is regular as he uses A, A; B, B; C, C; D, D; and E, E. This could suggest that he is trying to portray through the rhyme scheme that the relationship he shares with his mother is quite respected and loving. This can be supported with "And because it's true I want to cry".
One of the main themes in this poem is relationships. This can link in with Larkin's poems about relationships such as 'Home Is So Sad' and 'Reference Back'. 'Home Is So Sad' is about the emptiness that not only the persona feels but also their home after losing a loved one which can link to 'A Winter Visit' as it is his mother who he is scared to lose. 'Reference Back' is about the connection that Larkin and his mother share through a piece of music which can link to 'A Winter Visit' through the connection that Abse and his mother share.