PLASTIC Poetry Notes – GCSE English Literature Past and Present: Poetry Anthology – Love and Relationships – Letters from Yorkshire P.12

Poetic devices and their effects – form (ballad,

sonnet, free verse, dramatic monologue),

alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia,

‘planting potatoes’ – plosive alliteration Echoes the harsh realities of working on the land – the p sounds are like placing something into the soil

Dramatic monologue – written in the first person Shows the raw emotions of separation and difference between the speaker and the man

Free verse Unrhymed – a lack of organisation, again a rawness and frankness to the communication

Language and its effects – what sort of words

are in the poem? Violent, loving, colloquial,

archaic, semantic fields, diction, religious, romantic

language

Active verbs – digging, planting, singing Suggests the man’s world is one of constant movement and physical exertion which is in contrast to the speaker’s simple ‘feeding’ of words

Words to do with communication – ‘sends me word after word’ ‘news’ ‘tap out’

It is a poem about understanding and maintaining communication. The ‘word’ turns to messages which the souls ‘tap out’ which mirrors telegrams, which have a sense of urgency.

Words to do with weather and seasons – ‘warmth’ ‘cold’ ‘seasons’ ‘ice’ ‘snow’ ‘air’ ‘light’

The man comes into the ‘warmth’ but ironically there is no emotional warmth due to the distance between himself and the speaker. The ice perhaps represents the difficulties and emotional coldness felt due to the separation.

Alternative interpretations – Can quotations be

read in two ways for different meanings?

‘His knuckles singing’ He exalts in the physical work and his body is filled with joy or his knuckles are ‘singing’ in pain due to the physical exertion.

‘My heartful of headlines’ Her heart is full of short and sharp information which demands attention or her heart has no room for him

PLASTIC Poetry Notes – GCSE English Literature Past and Present: Poetry Anthology – Love and Relationships – Letters from Yorkshire P.12

due to her need to work‘blank screen’ Her work isn’t productive or enjoyable/ She is

distracted from her work due to the emotional separation

Structure and its effects – tonal shifts, pace,

caesura, what rhyme stresses, beginning, middle,

end, repetition, dialogue and where it happens,

enjambment

Contrast between the two lives Sense of nature versus technology; outside versus the inside.

The end seems to have a sense of urgent connection – ‘tap out messages’

One last desperate attempt by each other to communicate across the vast distances

Caesura of snow. Suggests a sudden breakthrough in communication, as this path being cleared metaphorically allows him to send word

Tone and its effects – talking about moods which

are evoked and where, narrative voice

‘icy miles’ Suggests hopeful tone as they are only ‘icy’ miles not iced.

‘pouring air and light into an envelope’ Has a restorative tone like the man’s words can bring nature to the speaker

‘You wouldn’t say so’Defiant and co-operative. Suggests that his lover/the speaker’s work has value.

Imagery and its effects - metaphor, simile,

personification, visual sense

‘Pouring air and light into an envelope’ Magical feel – the man has power over nature to save his lover/the speaker from being trapped at her job

‘reddened in warmth’ The home can restore the man’s physical coldness

‘breaking ice’ A sudden and violent attempt at breaking down barriers of communication. A desperation/frustration

Context – authorial, social and historical Maura Dooley was born in Truro, Cornwall in 1957 and grew up in Bristol. She worked in Yorkshire for a time and has lived in London. 

She has known both rural and city life and potentially values country life more because it’s natural and life affirming.