Furthest Distance Ive Travelled

Question 1

Form and structure

Answer 1

-AABB rhyme scheme forms a connection like a human bond. Some half rhymes suggest incompletion and perhaps personal change as she is so far from her old self

-stanzas very irregular in shape- highlights unfulllment and longing

Question 2

Like many folk

Answer 2

Poem opens emphatically on a colloquial simile, makes the poem an allegory for everyone and shows how this is a shared experience with the many

Question 3

First stanza

Answer 3

-metaphor forr her carrying her bags on a trip is saddling a horse, implies a sense of great adventure and thrill

-tactile imagery in ‘meridian’ emphasises the physical change of travel - suggests it shifts you emotionally as she has become one with her travels (cartographic simile)

Question 4

:yes.

Answer 4

-emphatically placed between two caesuras

-gives the effect of an epiphany and that she has been changed by her travels

Question 5

On the beaten track, the sherpa pass, between Krakow
and Zagreb, or the Siberian white

Answer 5

-enjambement evokes a sense of continuous movement which is reflected in the asyndetic listing- highlighting the extent of her journey

-juxtaposition between more common routes eg beaten track and more niche eg Sherpa pass highlight the breadth of her travels

Question 6

Tannoy/ annoyminity

Answer 6

-irony as they can be difficult to hear- shows how travelling has confused her destiny and she isn’t sure what she wants

-some kind of destiny- very vague

Question 7

Western Union wiring money with six words of Lithuanian,

Answer 7

-lack of communication and connection, shows how whilst she has been changed by travelling she now doesn’t have any real tether to the world

-very anecdotal personal account highlights the struggles of travelling

Question 8

Larium/ delirium

Answer 8

Symbolic of the side effects of travel, how she has lost connection with her previous identity

-it’s suppose to be about remedy but ther are unfortunate side efffects

Question 9

I’m stuffing smalls
hastily into a holdall, I

Answer 9

-colloquial term for underwear

-sibilence implies hastiness- she is back home but her life feels very confused or still travelling

Question 10

some overdue laundry

Answer 10

-highlight the domestic sphere; she is returning back to a normal life bound by ideas of domesticity

-perhaps this is why she left

Question 11

Routine evictions

Answer 11

Dictation of eviction instead of check outs idk shows that travelling for her felt very tiring and that there was no sense of rest

-this has operhpas disturbed her domestic life

Question 12

Alien pants, throwaway comment

Answer 12

-metaphor suggests that she is really unfamiliar with her fleeting past connections on her travels

-in the moment she saw them as rushed and meaningless

Question 13

Presssed flower

Crushed Valentin’s

Answer 13

-suggest a fragile persevered history and reifnroces the nostalgia that her past connections she has made are the real memories

-mepahor symbolises that even though her past relationships are over they are still very important to her development as an individual

Question 14

I know these are my souvenirs

Answer 14

-contrast between past and present ideas of travels (throwaway vs souvenirs)

-clarity back at home has made her realise that its relationships and love that are the true keepsakes- a lot of the listed items are love notes etc

-declarative statement

Question 15

that the furthest distances I’ve travelled
have been those between people

Answer 15

The true beauty of travelling is not the endless listing of events which can be draining and taxing (financially and mentally) but the onnections and experience gained along the way