Climbing My Grandfather by Andrew Waterhouse - AQAContext

The context in which a poem was written can sometimes tell you more about its themes, message and meaning.

Some questions you might ask include:

• are aspects of the poet’s life reflected in the poem?
• is the time or place in which it was written reflected in the poem?

You will need to research the poet’s background to discover answers to these questions. But if you do write about a poem and its context, be careful to include only details that reveal something about the poem.

Context of 'Climbing My Grandfather'

Waterhouse’s interest in the natural world is reflected in this poem. He also wrote a series of walking guidebooks. Perhaps this interest, too, helped to inspire the mountaineering theme of Climbing my Grandfather.

Waterhouse wrote verse which explored relationships between parent and child. This poem about a grandfather can be viewed as part of a series on the theme of family.

More about commenting on context.