Containers
Since the focus of this poem rests largely on the poppy's petals, they get compared to a lot of different stuff – but most often, Hughes frames the flower in terms of its shape, which is dist...
Heat
Poppies do tend to be most often flame-colored, and so it's no real surprise that there are a fair number of references to heat in this poem – both as a kind of sexual trope (theme) and as a...
The Bee
Oh, the bumblebee. He's only in the poem for the first half, but he's hugely significant in developing the themes of sexual tension and desire and passivity in this poem. Also, he's kind of a baseb...
Fashion (Clothing, Hair)
The multiple references to a woman's body and garments in this poem develop the poppy-as-person motif, as well as add layers significance to the petals of the flower, which have already been descri...