The Thread by Don Paterson

• The Thread is about the relationship Don Paterson has with his son, Jamie.
• Paterson reflects on his son's near-death at birth, saved by doctors who caught “the thread of his one breath.”
• In contrast to Jamie's fragility, Paterson goes on to tell us of how he joyfully runs with his two energetic sons, highlighting their strength and vitality.
• The thread metaphor changes from an image of something delicate and breakable to the idea of a strong bond holding the family together.
• Overall, the poem is optimistic in tone and highlights that the fragility of life contributes to the power and meaning of our most loving relationships.

The Thread looks at themes of father and son relationships, the fragility of life and fate and humanity.

You can read The Thread by Don Paterson on the Scottish Poetry Library website.

This poem is written in the form of a sonnet. It is divided into:

• an octave with an abbacddc rhyme
• a sestet with a efggfe rhyming pattern

This gives the poem a tight structure, which Paterson uses to reflect the resilient family unit portrayed in his poem.

Octave

The octave is divided into two distinct quatrains, each with its own rhyming structure. This creates a sense of balance, with equal attention given to the past and present.

The first quatrain of the octave deals with the difficulty of Jamie’s birth and how his life hung in the balance. It introduces the central image of the thread, which is used to convey the lifeline by which Jamie is pulled back into existence.

The second quatrain moves to the present day. Paterson is grateful that his son is still alive and gives us the image of Paterson clasping his two sons under his arms like the engines of a plane as he runs down a local hill.

Sestet

The sestet comments on the content of the octave. Paterson thinks back to his feelings about his son's near death and marvels at how far he has come.

It begins and ends with images of the present:

• "lungs somehow out-revving"
• "your mother waving"

These images frame Paterson's memory of Jamie's birth and the worry he felt at the time:

All that trouble just to turn up dead / was all I thought that long week.

The metaphor of the thread is extended in the sestet. Here it is no longer fragile. It has become a strong bond that ties the family together.

The poem begins with Jamie’s birth. Paterson describes how "he made his landing in the world" as if his son were a strange being from another planet or a gift suddenly bestowed upon his family. His arrival is an abrupt and violent one:

he ploughed straight back into the earth

While suggesting the child’s sheer energy and zest for life, Paterson indicates how such a force is almost prevented from blossoming. The metaphor "back into the earth" makes us think of a plane crashing to the ground, with connotations surrounding burial and death.

However, the metaphors surrounding death stop as we realise Jamie has been saved:

They caught him by the thread of his one breath and pulled him up

This phrase conveys how the doctors saved Jamie, even though the odds seemed stacked against them. Here Paterson introduces the central image of the thread in the content of the poem, as well as in the poem’s title. The "one breath" Jamie seemed to have whilst being born is compared to a thread, conveying the fragility of the young child as well as reminding us of the thin line on the heart monitor; "one" also suggesting that Jamie only has one chance at survival.

The second quatrain is one of celebration. Paterson considers the ordeal his family has gone through and offers gratitude to the "higher will", whether this be God or Fate, that enabled his son to live. Paterson also presents the family unit which Jamie is now part of:

you and me and Russ.

The final image of the octave compares the poet and his sons to a plane flying down the hill:

the great twin-engined swaying wingspan of us.

The word "great" implies the strength and importance of this formation in Paterson’s life, while "twin-engined" suggests the boys are tucked in on either side of him, driving him forward. It is as if their presence gives the poet energy and strength.

The adjective "swaying" implies fun and playfulness. The final line of the octave says they are "roaring down" the hill. They could be roaring with laughter. The word also highlights the powerful bond that the father has with his sons.

Paterson uses many metaphors to describe Jamie's birth - from "plough[ing] straight back into the earth", like a crashing plane, to the thread itself.

Revise metaphor as a technique with this short revision video for Higher English.

The first sentence in the sestet continues the final sentence and image from the octave - Paterson running with his sons.

The poet uses hyperbole - deliberately exaggerates the sound of Jamie’s lungs, which:

out-revving/ every engine in the universe.

This links back Jamie’s "one breath". It also suggests that Paterson is particularly attuned to Jamie’s breathing and that he celebrates that his once-frail lungs have developed and are now powerful, like engines.

Paterson reflects on the traumatic events of Jamie’s birth once again:

All that trouble just to turn up dead

This phrase is written in italics, as if Paterson is remembering a specific thought from when Jamie was born. The flippant tone, masking pain, conveys his frustration that the wait for his son could have been in vain.

The phrase "long week" confirms the suffering he must have experienced, as time moves slowly during periods of anguish. It also suggests the struggle Jamie himself went through to stay alive.

"Now" moves us to the present. The metaphor of the thread has become the bond that sews the family together. It holds "all of us," implying that it is robust – with the family also having been strengthened by their experience.

The final lines see Paterson and sons looking down on their home from above, presumably the top of the hill. The phrase "tiny house" conveys the distance they have come - both while out playing but also from Jamie's birth. It could also suggest that the ordeal his family has gone through has minimising their reliance on material possession: The house itself is "tiny" while the family unit is "great."

The enjambment that places "son" at the beginning of the last line reminds us that this poem is about Jamie and is ultimately addressed to him and the triumph of his survival.

The poem ends by completing the family unit:

the white dot of your mother waving

Father and sons may form a powerful plane together, but the mother plays a key role too. In contrast to the dangerous crash landing of Jamie's birth, Paterson suggests that she is a light and guide that will lead them home safely.

The relationship between Paterson and his son is the central theme of the poem. He charts its progression from dramatic beginning to the intense joy and energy he experiences as a result of Jamie’s recovery.

Jamie is portrayed as an energetic figure who has an intense impact on his father’s life from day one. When Jamie is saved, his growing strength is portrayed by the poet as being like an engine. Paterson, who has gone through the "long week" of pain and worry, is rejuvenated by his son’s vigour and carried away with his dynamic enthusiasm.

There is a sense in the last lines that there is no stopping Paterson and his healthy son(s). The metaphor of a twin-engine plane suggests the power, energy and strength of this tight relationship.

The love Paterson has for his son and his family as a whole is apparent throughout the poem. The gratitude Paterson has for his son’s survival and the poignancy of the image of the poet and his two sons flying down the hillside like a plane make clear the loving bond between them. The father’s concern for his child is reflected in the expression "long week" as they wait for his recovery.

Overall, the image of the thread is one of love. It is by this means that Jamie is pulled out of illness and the means by which Paterson and his family are held together.

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The Thread and The Circle are both poems about Paterson's relationship with his son, Jamie, and his difficult birth. Imagery is used in both texts to examine how beauty and strength can be found in fragility. In The Circle, this fragility is conveyed through his son's drawing:

he draws around his upturned cup, / his hand shakes, and he screws it up.

The image of the shaky circle that Jamie draws later returns as a "perfect ring". Just as the thread metaphor changes from something delicate and breakable into something strong, the circle metaphor transforms from something "spoiled" into something "perfect".

Both poems also explore the theme of fate and humanity. In The Circle, Paterson refers to trust to Krishna or to fate" and the boy draws a planet that is part of "one great heavenly design". In The Thread, Paterson offers gratitude to the "higher will" that allowed his son to live.

Waking with Russell and Why Do You Stay Up So Late? also explore the bond between father and son - although these poems are dedicated to his other son, "Russ", who is mentioned in The Thread.

The Swing also explores a parent-child relationship and the fragility of life - the titular swing is described as a "frail trapeze." Unlike The Thread, this poem has a much more solemn tone overall. Jamie's birth is traumatic but it ends positively with his "two-year-old lungs somehow out-revving" but The Swing explores the grief of losing an unborn child and the swing remains "empty".

Unlike these other poems, 11:00: Baldovan does not explicitly explore a parent-child relationship but does look at similar themes of childhood, change and loss and ends with a stark reminder of the passage of time and fragility of life: "our sisters and mothers are fifty years dead."

Revise The Thread and other poems by Don Paterson with interactive quizzes for Higher English.