"Walking Away" is a poem published in 1962 by Cecil Day-Lewis, former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. It is an autobiographical poem dedicated to the poet's son Sean. Beginning with a memory of Sean's first football game, it is a meditation on the challenges children must brave on their own in order to grow up and on the pain parents suffer in allowing their children to "walk away" and face those challenges on their own.

• Read the full text of “Walking Away”

• “Walking Away” Summary

• “Walking Away” Themes

  • 

    Growing Up

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-12
    • Line 19
  • 

    Parental Love and Letting Go

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Walking Away”

  • Lines 1-3

    It is eighteen ...
    ... watched you play

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-5

    Your first game ...
    ... go drifting away

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-8

    Behind a scatter ...
    ... thing set free

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-10

    Into a wilderness, ...
    ... path should be.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-12

    That hesitant figure, ...
    ... its parent stem,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-15

    Has something I ...
    ... one’s irresolute clay.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-18

    I have had ...
    ... perfectly show –

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-20

    How selfhood begins ...
    ... the letting go.

    

    

    

    

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• “Walking Away” Symbols

  • 

    Changing Seasons

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “leaves just turning”
  • 

    Walking Away

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “You walking away from me”
    • Line 19: “selfhood begins with a walking away”

• “Walking Away” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “like a satellite / Wrenched from its orbit”
    • Line 12: “Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-9: “half-fledged thing set free / Into a wilderness”
    • Lines 14-15: “the small, the scorching / Ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “drifting away”
    • Line 7: “walking away”
    • Line 11: “eddying away”
    • Line 19: “walking away”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “play / Your”
    • Lines 4-5: “satellite / Wrenched”
    • Lines 5-6: “away / Behind”
    • Lines 6-7: “see / You”
    • Lines 7-8: “school / With”
    • Lines 8-9: “free / Into”
    • Lines 9-10: “one / Who”
    • Lines 11-12: “away / Like”
    • Lines 13-14: “convey / About”
    • Lines 14-15: “scorching / Ordeals”
    • Lines 16-17: “so / Gnaws”
    • Lines 17-18: “roughly / Saying”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “you”
    • Line 4: “Your”
    • Line 7: “You”

  • Aporia

    

    

    

    

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    Where aporia appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-13: “That hesitant figure, eddying away / Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem, / Has something I never quite grasp to convey”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 19-20: “How selfhood begins with a walking away, / And love is proved in the letting go.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “sunny,” “just turning”
    • Line 3: “touch-lines new,” “since,” “watched”
    • Line 4: “first,” “football,” “satellite”
    • Line 6: “Behind,” “scatter,” “boys,” “can,” “see”
    • Line 7: “walking away,” “towards,” “school”
    • Line 8: “With,” “half-fledged,” “set free”
    • Line 9: “wilderness,” “one”
    • Line 11: “away”
    • Line 12: “winged,” “seed loosened,” “its,” “stem”
    • Line 13: “something,” “quite grasp,” “convey”
    • Line 14: “take,” “small,” “scorching”
    • Line 15: “Ordeals,” “fire,” “irresolute,” “clay”
    • Line 16: “have had”
    • Line 17: “my mind”
    • Line 19: “with,” “walking away”
    • Line 20: “love,” “proved,” “letting”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “eighteen years,” “ago,” “almost,” “day”
    • Line 2: “day,” “leaves”
    • Line 3: “lines,” “new-ruled,” “I,” “you,” “play”
    • Line 4: “game,” “like,” “satellite”
    • Line 5: “away”
    • Line 6: “Behind,” “I,” “see”
    • Line 7: “me”
    • Line 8: “free”
    • Line 10: “be”
    • Line 11: “away”
    • Line 12: “loosened,” “parent stem”
    • Line 13: “convey”
    • Line 14: “nature’s,” “take,” “scorching”
    • Line 15: “Ordeals,” “clay”
    • Line 16: “so”
    • Line 17: “my mind”
    • Line 18: “alone,” “show”
    • Line 19: “begins with”
    • Line 20: “go”

• “Walking Away” 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.

  • Touch-lines
  • New-ruled
  • Satellite
  • Pathos
  • Half-fledged
  • Gait
  • Eddying
  • Winged
  • Scorching
  • Ordeals
  • Fire
  • Irresolute
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “touch-lines”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Walking Away”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Walking Away” Speaker

• “Walking Away” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Walking Away”

• More “Walking Away” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Sean Day-Lewis Reflects on "Walking Away" — A reflection on the poem by the poet's son Sean Day-Lewis, to whom "Walking Away" is dedicated.

    • Recitation of "Walking Away" — A recording of the poem "Walking Away" read aloud.

    • Biography of Cecil Day-Lewis — A detailed biography of Cecil Day-Lewis that focuses on the development of his poetry.

    • Cecil Day-Lewis's "Complete Poems" — A Google book edition of Cecil Day-Lewis's "Complete Poems," with extensive previews of the text.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Cecil Day-Lewis

    • A Hard Frost

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