Follower

Introduction: In "Follower," we have a boy (persona) who follows his farmer dad around
while he ploughs the fields. He shows real admiration for his father and wishes to grow up
and follow in his footsteps. But instead of "following" in his dad's footsteps, he grows up to
find his own path. By the end of the poem, his dad, in his old age, spends most of his time
following his son around.
Point 1 Imagery showing admiration for his father
Strong/manly
- globed like a full sail strung This simile is linked to Greek mythology suggesting
that his father is physically strong enough to pick up the whole world with his
muscles looking like a sail
- he rode me on his back despite his son being a bit of a nuisance, and the plough
not being heavy enough, he also carried his son
- sweating team emphasises hard work
Skillfull
- An expert caesura emphasises his point
- Technical terminology, shafts, furrow shows expertise links to Digging
- Entire second stanza shows how farming is not just something that you need muscle
for/not just back breaking work but it requires real skill from his father.
- This allows the reader to acquire respect for the father.
- He looks at the ground precisely focused
2. How the tone changes with the boy/persona not being able to follow in his fathers
footsteps
Desire to be like his father Wanted to
Where he failed
- Hob hailed wake unable to follow even with his father providing a smooth path
- polished sod literally fell on his fathers footsteps
- Idea of regret stuck in his shadow literally + metaphorically
- Acknowledges that he was useless tripping, falling, yapping tricolon of active
verbs whilst yapping portrays him as an excited puppy who has no real use but is
sweet nevertheless
Role reversal
- Father is stuck behind him appears to be an annoying tone at first but I believe that
his admiration towards his father means it is light hearted possibility that his
fathers work ethic is what drove him in what hes doing today
- Diminishing importance of agriculture
- stumbling exact same verb as previously used.
3. Structural impact
Title simple and informs the reader of the poem
Iambic Tetrameter
- Matches the up and down rhythm
- Emphasises the repetitiveness of farming his father did the same thing all day
every day for years.
Regular stanzas mirror the repetitive ploughing with the way that they look on a page
Enjambment shows movement without punctuation mirroring the skill that the father has
with a plough eg lines 8-9
ABAB rhyme scheme is consistently changing where the half rhymes are until final two
stanzas subtle change emphasises change in tone to reflection.