The Furthest Distance I've Travelled

Question 1

What are the themes in this poem?

Answer 1

Youth, experiences

Question 2

What can be inferred about the title?

Answer 2

Literal/metaphorical - distances travelled in search for escape/freedom

Question 3

‘my spine/curved under like a meridian’

Answer 3

Simile - travel becomes an inherent part of the speaker
Enjambment symbolic of life without adult restriction

Question 4

‘Yes. This is how/ to live’

Answer 4

Monosyllabic phrase conveys complete certainty about her destiny

Question 5

‘Krakow’ ‘Zagreb’ ‘Siberian’

Answer 5

Exotic place names convey a world of mystery/excitement

Question 6

‘it came clear as over a tannoy/that in restlessness, in anony/mity:’

Answer 6

Simile conveys how the speaker gains complete clarity about how she wanted to live. Word broken across lines (highly unusual) represents the break from traditional norms/idea - a break from labels/definition of mainstream society

Question 7

‘handful of bills’ ‘stuffing smalls’ ‘overdue laundry’

Answer 7

Domestic life is defined by chores and dull adult responsibilities

Question 8

‘tiny stowaway/pressed flower’

Answer 8

Metaphor for her past self- which is now buried beneath the chores of her everyday life symbolic of her innocent, pre-adult life

Question 9

‘alien pants, cinema stubs, the throwaway comment’

Answer 9

Syndetic listing to emphasise speaker’s nostalgia and perhaps her endless search for identity

Question 10

‘unravelled’ ‘travelled’ ‘survives’ ‘lives’

Answer 10

Regular rhyme scheme /full rhyme symbolise structured regularity of her domestic life, contrasted with previous irregular line length /half rhyme that describes former life of travel/exploration

Question 11

What is the final conclusion of the poem?

Answer 11

Speaker realises that the most important journeys are those in life which are with people, not with travel