The furthest distance I've travelled Flashcards
“Like many folk, when i first saddled a rucksack feeling its weight on my back - the way my spine curved under it like a meridian-“
“like many folk” - subordinate clause builds the speakers reflective and nostalgic tone- there is nothing special or unique about the speakers journey howeer it impated her so deeply.
Dynamic verb “saddled” with its equine connantations suggests it is the rucksack that has control not her, portraying the speaker as an unconventional traveler
The speaker throughout the poem seems to be reflecting on her travel experience on weather it was positive or not
Circular simile of “like a meridian” perhaps suggests the futility of travel - it is cyclical and doesn’t result in any meaningful change. Therefore, this simile could be foreshadowing the later parts of the poem where the speaker faces constant movement and travel through eviction and unemployment
“I thought: Yes. This is how to live.”
Assertion - caesura creates a forceful assertive tone. Her youthful confidence contrast the speakers later uncertainty
“Siberian white cells of scattered airports”
“siberian” - connotations of isolations and geographical extremity highlights the nuances of her experience travelling - not always fun
“It came clear as over a tannoy that in restlessness, in anonymity was some kind of destiny”
“tannoy” - an impersonal mundane object that jars with the expected imagery of radical self discovery. - an ironic simile as tannoys actually lack clarity which could symbolize the message for the speaker is clouded
“anonymity” - the word is enjambed and causes a momentary feeling of uneasiness / unsureness as you go down to see the rest of the word.
“with a handful of bills or a giro; and why, if im stuffing smalls in a holdall, I am less likely to be catching a Greyhound from Madison to Milwaukee”
Reveals the unglamourized side of travel
–> regretful tone, volta
” - or a tiny stowaway pressed flower amid bottom drawers. I know these are my souvenirs”
Same kind of assertive tone as “ i thought: yes. This is how to live” but now we are in the present tense.
“bottom drawers” - positional adjective symbolic of repressed memories, dreams and aspirations
“these crushed valentines, this unravelled sport sock, that the furthest distances I have travelled have been those between people. And what survives of holidaying briefly in their lives.”
The pace slows to the measured philosophical thoughts of a now-mature woman. The valentines are ‘crushed’ because they have been distorted and damaged, maybe by her maturity and present-day reality.
Her perspective on travelling has changed from out-of-the-way exotic places to the surviving memories of people she met, albeit briefly. What were once significant travels have less importance now, diminished to ‘holidays’. What does matter, what survives, the most important ‘distances’, are the people she encountered. In stanza two she enthused, ‘This is how to live’. She now thinks not of her own living but the ‘lives’ of people she encountered.
‘holidaying briefly in their lives’ is a memorable final metaphor
which conflates beautifully the two central concepts in the poem – journeys and relationship. It
is a sad note on which to end – acknowledging the fragile, transient quality of our relationships
with others.
Describe the structure of the poem
Towards the end of the poem, the rhymes become more
regular and the lines more even in length, as the poet reaches a rueful, if unsettled, maturity
–> perhaps she doesn’t have the desire or money to travel anymore but she now realises its about the relationships you make, not the places you visit
