letters from yorkshire

• title: "letters from yorkshire"

  • alludes to the place the letters are coming from rather than the person
• "in february, digging his garden, planting his potatoes"

  • active verb "digging" shows speaker's respect for the person they are addressing - active character
  • "digging his garden" shows he is connected to his land
  • "planting potatoes" - alliteration shows that this is a regular action for the character
• "he saw the first lapwings return and came indoors to write to me"

  • allusion to springtime through "first lapwings return"
  • shows hope and cyclicity of nature
  • they have a mutual appreciation of nature
  • spring is coming ; new beginnings, hope, new life
• "his knuckles singing"

  • personification of "knuckles"
  • colloquialism shows their familiarity
  • usually would expect pain from being in cold but the knuckles are "singing" - joyful connotations
• "as they reddened in the warmth"

  • colour imagery creates sense of warmth
  • angry connotations of red are subverted; the pair take something negative (living far from one another) and turn it into something more positive
  • the cold "knuckles" meet the "warmth" shows the antithesis between the two personas as well
  • "warmth" shows that spring is coming
• "it's not romance, simply how things are"

  • switch to present tense
  • matter of fact tone shows the speaker's role as journalist
  • ambiguous - is their relationship "not romance" or is the contents of his letter not a romanticisation of his life?
• "you out there, in the cold, seeing the seasons turning"

  • "in the cold" - he is at one with nature despite the bitter cold
  • "you out there in the cold" - monosyllabic words show the simplicity and regularity of his life
  • contrast with "seeing the seasons turning" - polysyllabic, alliterative phrase; juxtaposition shows disconnect
  • switch to 2nd person instead of 3rd; more intimate
  • he experiences the changing of seasons at first-hand
  • enjambment shows bridging the gap; like bridging the distance between them
• "me with my heartful of headlines"

  • contrast of head and heart could create sense of inner conflict?
  • although she loves the other character, she also loves her separate life
  • alliteration of "heartful of headlines" and "seeing the seasons" in previous stanza shows the pair are connected
• "feeding words onto a blank screen"

  • "feeding" is something you are generally required to do (you don't choose to do it) which could show she doesn't like her job
  • "blank" shows artificiality of her own life
• "is your life more real because you dig and sow?"

  • rhetorical question; questioning whether her life is less "real" because she constructs life through words on a "blank" computer screen?
  • reflects the ongoing communication between the characters
• "you wouldn't say so"

  • homophones "so" and "sow" in previous stanza create cohesion
• "breaking ice on a waterbutt, clearing a path through snow"

  • could be metaphor for fixing an argument - "clearing a path"
  • relationship was once frozen - "breaking ice"
  • internal rhyme of "snow" and "so" from previous line - continuity
• "still, it's you who sends me word of that other world"

  • alliteration of "word of that other world" with words between the alliterative words shows contrast between speaker's urban and recipient's rural surroundings and distance too
• "pouring air and light into an envelope"

  • metaphor showing joy they give one another through their letters; also creates idea that speaker feels trapped in urban life
  • reinvigorating experience of reading his letters
• "so that at night, watching the same news in different houses"

  • connection despite distance; "same news" implies same country
• "our souls tap out messages across the icy miles"

  • metaphor showing how they aren't letting distance disconnect them
  • "icy miles" could be pathetic fallacy for something negative but here it seems more appropriate for it to link back to the idea of seasonal change
  • spiritual connection across distance
• what is the semantic field in the poem?

  • communication; "letters", "singing", "heartful of headlines"
• what message could maura dooley be trying to portray?

  • the idea that demands of modern technology and life disconnect us from what is real - link to rhetorical question
• how is continuity maintained through the poem?

  • no end-rhyme or formal base meter
  • however, internal rhyme, assonance and alliteration maintain cohesion
• how does maura dooley reflect the idea of the people being connected over distance in the poem?

  • enjambment across stanza breaks connects ideas over space and distance
  • the stanzas are separate yet connected, just like the characters in the poem
• what are the themes of letters from yorkshire?

  • distance
  • desire
  • nature
• state three other poems letters from yorkshire could be compared to:

  • sonnet 29
  • the farmer's bride
  • mother any distance
• what are the similarities between letters from yorkshire and mother any distance?

  • unconventional means are used to maintain a healthy, loving relationship
  • in mother any distance, the mother is allowing more freedom for the child to become a better person
  • similarly, in letters from yorkshire, the speaker maintains a close relationship with the recipient who informs her of "word of that other world". their means of maintaining communication is shown to be successful by the metaphor in "our souls tap out messages across the icy miles"
• what are the differences between letters from yorkshire and mother any distance?

  • in letters from yorkshire, dooley presents a gap closing between two people through the enjambment, "pouring" of "light and air into an envelope" and the antithesis in "watching the same news in different houses"
  • conversely, in mother any distance, armitage depicts two people growing further apart through the metaphorical tape measure