Distance

Question 1

UMBRELLA

Answer 1

Umbrella sentence: In ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ and ‘Winter Swans’ both poets explore the effects of different types of distance.

Question 2

TS1

Answer 2

TS1: Whereas the distance between the couple in ‘Winter Swans’ is emotional, in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ it is physical.

Question 3

TS2

Answer 3

TS2: Both poems use natural imagery to convey distance.

Question 4

TS3

Answer 4

TS3: In ‘Winter Swans’ the swans are the catalyst to close the distance between them; in ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ written communication overcomes the distance between them.

Question 5

STRUCTURE

Answer 5

STRUCTURE: Structurally, both poems are written in tercets, however in ‘Winter Swans’ in the final stanza this pattern breaks to reflect their reunion as a couple.

Question 6

‘We skirted the lake, silent and apart,” WINTER SWANS

Answer 6

L/D= verb suggests they are perhaps also skirting around the issue that has divided them emotionally.
Caesura in the line emphasizes their emotional separation and lack of communication.

Question 7

‘word of that other world… pouring air and light into an envelope’ LETTERS FROM YORKSHIRE

Answer 7

L/I= alliteration – links word and world – his words make her feel closer to his world. Alternatively, the physical distance between them means his life feels like a different world to her own. L = metaphor. She romanticises his words as being like light and air, which are both necessary for growth/to thrive.
I = his words come from a natural environment; hers from an implicitly urban environment. Alternatively, she finds his words a breath of fresh air that lift her spirits.
C = Dooley moved from rural Yorkshire to London – reflects her longing for the Yorkshire countryside.

Question 8

‘he saw the first lapwings return’ LETTERS FROM YORKSIRE

Answer 8

C/I= lapwings return to the same place to mate each year. She is envious of his connection with nature; the phrase also implies that she wishes, like the lapwings, that she could return to her ‘mate’.

Question 9

‘our souls tap out messages across the icy miles’ LETTERS FROM YORKSHIRE

Answer 9

L = metaphor & inclusive pronoun emphasizes their deep spiritual bond, which is conveyed through the written word and which connects them despite the physical distance between them.

Question 10

‘our hands…swum the distance between us and folded… like a pair of wings’ WINTER SWANS

Answer 10

L = literally and metaphorically.  Simile  emphasizes the swans are the catalyst for the change in mood of the relationship as swans mate for life. The couple reunites.
C = Sheers message may be that relationships need to be worked at; couples in modern society give up too easily on relationships.

Question 11

‘The clouds had given their all’ WINTER SWANS

Answer 11

L = personification/pathetic fallacy. Reflects the stormy nature of their relationship, tears and arguments. It implies they feel they have nothing left to give each other.