"Climbing my Grandfather" is a poem by British poet Andrew Waterhouse. The poem is told from a first-person perspective and sees its speaker climbing up their grandfather, as though the latter were a mountain. It's a treacherous, unpredictable climb, but the speaker is attentive and observant, eventually making it to the summit—the grandfather's head. It's here that the speaker can sense the "slow pulse of [the grandfather's] good heart," suggesting that the poem is about reclaiming a certain memory or feeling of emotional connection and warmth. It is one of a number of Waterhouse poems that takes a look at family relationships—though unfortunately his total output is rather small given his death by suicide at the age of 42 (in 2001).

• Read the full text of “Climbing My Grandfather”

• “Climbing My Grandfather” Summary

• “Climbing My Grandfather” Themes

  • 

    Childhood, Adulthood, and Familial Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-7
    • Lines 10-12
    • Lines 18-27
  • 

    Memory

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-27

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Climbing My Grandfather”

  • Lines 1-4

    I decide to ...
    ... get a grip.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-10

    By the overhanging ...
    ... like warm ice.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    On his arm ...
    ... and move on.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-20

    At his still ...
    ... open and close.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 20-27

    Then up over ...
    ... his good heart.

    

    

    

    

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• “Climbing My Grandfather” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “o,” “o,” “i,” “i”
    • Line 2: “o,” “o”
    • Line 3: “a,” “a”
    • Line 4: “i,” “i,” “i”
    • Line 5: “a,” “a”
    • Line 7: “a,” “ai,” “a,” “ai”
    • Line 8: “i,” “i”
    • Line 9: “i,” “i,” “i,” “i,” “i”
    • Line 10: “i,” “i,” “i,” “i”
    • Line 11: “ee”
    • Line 12: “y”
    • Line 13: “i,” “i”
    • Line 16: “i,” “i”
    • Line 17: “ee”
    • Line 18: “e,” “ee,” “ee”
    • Line 19: “i,” “i”
    • Line 20: “o,” “o,” “o,” “o”
    • Line 22: “i,” “i,” “a”
    • Line 23: “a,” “i,” “a,” “i”
    • Line 25: “i,” “i”
    • Line 26: “o”
    • Line 27: “o”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “,”
    • Line 2: “,”
    • Line 4: “,”
    • Line 6: “,”
    • Line 7: “. ”
    • Line 10: “.”
    • Line 11: “,”
    • Line 13: “,”
    • Line 15: “,”
    • Line 18: “,”
    • Line 19: “,”
    • Line 20: “.”
    • Line 21: “,”
    • Line 22: “,”
    • Line 23: “,”
    • Line 26: “,”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “d,” “d,” “d”
    • Line 2: “d,” “s,” “d,” “s,” “d”
    • Line 3: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 4: “t,” “t,” “g,” “g”
    • Line 7: “n,” “n,” “d,” “n,” “d,” “n”
    • Line 8: “n,” “n,” “g,” “g”
    • Line 9: “s,” “k,” “n,” “n,” “s,” “th,” “th,” “c,” “k”
    • Line 10: “k,” “r,” “r,” “s,” “r”
    • Line 11: “ss,” “s,” “c”
    • Line 12: “n,” “n,” “n,” “n”
    • Line 13: “r,” “sh,” “r,” “r,” “r”
    • Line 14: “sh”
    • Line 15: “n,” “n”
    • Line 16: “l,” “l,” “k,” “ck”
    • Line 17: “m,” “m,” “n,” “m,” “n”
    • Line 18: “R,” “r,” “cr,” “ss,” “s,” “cr,” “k”
    • Line 19: “t,” “st,” “t,” “p,” “p,” “l”
    • Line 20: “l,” “l,” “p,” “l,” “p”
    • Line 21: “s,” “c”
    • Line 22: “h,” “h,” “t,” “t”
    • Line 23: “t,” “t,” “t”
    • Line 24: “r,” “r,” “l,” “l”
    • Line 25: “l,” “ds,” “d,” “ds,” “l”
    • Line 26: “l,” “ng,” “h,” “h,” “ng”
    • Line 27: “s,” “l,” “l,” “s,” “h,” “h”

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-27

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “change”
    • Line 6: “direction,” “belt”
    • Line 7: “to,” “nails”
    • Line 8: “are ”
    • Line 9: “thick”
    • Line 10: “like ,” “discover”
    • Line 11: “the,” “feet”
    • Line 12: “gently”
    • Line 13: “ while”
    • Line 14: “in”
    • Line 15: “pull”
    • Line 16: “myself,” “neck”
    • Line 17: “to”
    • Line 19: “ pupil”
    • Line 20: “slowly,” “over”
    • Line 21: “the,” “well-spaced”
    • Line 22: “and,” “ white”
    • Line 23: “at ”
    • Line 24: “ lie”
    • Line 25: “watching”
    • Line 26: “knowing”
    • Line 27: “the”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “.”
    • Line 2: “;”
    • Line 3: “,”
    • Line 4: “.”
    • Line 8: “,”
    • Line 12: “.”
    • Line 14: “,”
    • Line 17: “.”
    • Line 18: “,”
    • Line 23: “,”
    • Line 25: “,”
    • Line 27: “.”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 3: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 6: “s,” “s”
    • Line 7: “s”
    • Line 8: “s,” “s”
    • Line 9: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 10: “c,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 11: “ss,” “ s,” “c”
    • Line 12: “s,” “s”
    • Line 13: “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 15: “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 16: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 17: “s”
    • Line 18: “sh,” “ss,” “s”
    • Line 19: “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 20: “s,” “s”
    • Line 21: “s,” “s,” “c”
    • Line 22: “s,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 23: “s,” “s”
    • Line 24: “s”
    • Line 25: “s,” “s,” “c”
    • Line 26: “s”
    • Line 27: “s,” “s,” “s”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Line 10: “like warm ice”

• “Climbing My Grandfather” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Brogues
  • Scramble
  • Trousers
  • Weave
  • Traverse
  • Ridge
  • Screed Cheek
  • Summit
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “brogues”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Climbing My Grandfather”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Climbing My Grandfather” Speaker

• “Climbing My Grandfather” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Climbing My Grandfather”

• More “Climbing My Grandfather” Resources

  • External Resources

    • More Thoughts on Waterhouse — Libby Brooks talks about Waterhouse's life, work, and death. 

    • Thoughts on Waterhouse and His Poetry — A thoughtful piece about Waterhouse and his work by Helena Nelson. 

    • A Reading of "Climbing My Grandfather" — "Climbing My Grandfather" read aloud.

    • Waterhouse's Obituary — A piece on Waterhouse in the British newspaper The Guardian.  

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