Letters from Yorkshire Flashcards
“Digging” “planting”
L: present-continuous verbs
Shows that they are routine jobs for him and he’s physically active
“His knuckles singing”
L: personification
The effect is positive and suggest that he does a lot of outdoor work
“The first lapwings return”
This symbolises like the lapwings, they will return to each other and be together again
The first two lines of the stanza are end-stopped, why?
There’s no romance in their current relationship
“It’s not romance, simply how things are”
The tone created shows that she’s resigned to them being apart
—>suggest that their letters are not conventional love letters but the fact he wants to tell her about the lapwings shows his love for her
“Seeing the seasons”
The speaker is envious of her partner she wants to be there with him to see it
—> she misses being with him in the countryside and missing the connection with him as well as nature
How does the pronoun change in the second stanza from the first?
From “his” to “you”
3rd to 2nd - gives a direct address which makes the poem feel more intimate
“Heartful of headlines”
L: alliteration
She uses her heart more than her head?
“Because you dig and sow?”
L: rhetorical question
Her partner is more connected with nature; she feels her life is less real so it’s more disconnected
He’s doing more practical work while she is “ feeding words onto a blank screen”
“Feeding”
L: verb
The choice of this verb suggests a practical necessity of words she writes for her job that she doesn’t find fulfilling
“You” in stanza 2 to “me” in stanza 3
The stanzaic break emphasises the physical separation
“You wouldn’t say so”
Her partner is trying to reassure her because her job is valuable and fulfilling as him
“breaking” “clearing”
L: verbs
Suggest her partner does more meaningful things unlike the speaker who does cerebral activities
C: Dooley was a writer and academic
“Sends me word of that other world”
L: metaphorical
She feels distanced from his life like he’s in another world
L: alliteration
Their words link them with each other’s worlds and lives
“Pouring air and light into an envelope”
L: imagery
His words are like a breath of fresh air - implies she’s feels her own life is stifling
There is also enjambment between stanzas 4 and 5 which reflects how the stanzas flow just as the air does
