The furthest distance I've travelled

• Themes


  • Value and difficulty of relationships
  • Adventure v settling down
  • Society and culture
  • Past and present
• Structure


  • For most of the poem, lines are often short, such as only having the one word “however” on the third line of the sixth stanza. The final two stanzas transition to all the lines being consistently longer than the rest of the poem, it indicates that a transition and development in thought and communication.
  • The irregular line length, with the one word lines substantially breaking the flow of the poem. “mity” in the second stanza, deliberately splitting the word “anonymity” across two lines to create enjambment
• "Like many folk, when I first saddled my rucksack..."

  • The poem begins with the subordinate clause, which builds tension as the reader anticipates the main clause, which doesn’t come until stanza two.
  • The imagery of saddling a horse/rucksack like a cowboy is clever, suggesting that this is an unconventional traveller.
• "hastily into a holdall, I am less likely to be catching a Greyhound from Madison to Milwaukee"


  • The ‘phrase 'hastily in a holdall’ is neatly alliterative, but she doesn’t explain why she is in a hurry — could she be slipping away leaving unpaid bills?
  • The ‘greyhound from Madison to Milwaukee refers to a 'greyhound’ bus, the company synonymous with the cheapest possible form of travel in America. The alliterative ’M’s give this line a rhythmic feel.
• "However, when, during routine evictions, I discover alien plants, cinema stubs, the throwaway comment - on a post-it..."

  • The ‘routine evictions’ are the periodic clearing out old cupboards, during which she finds the detritus from her travels. Some neat, humorous rhyme, for example, ‘laundry’ and ‘beyond me’, and ‘throwaway’ and ‘stowaway’, and ‘drawers and souvenirs’
  • In this part, the rhyme is perfect — ‘throwaway’ and ‘stowaway’ are examples of rhyme riche, which contrasts with themore relaxed half-rhyme of, for example, ‘likely’ and ‘Milwaukee’.
• "that the furthest distances I've travelled have been those between people. And what survives of holidaying briefly in their lives."

  • Her perspective on travelling has changed from exotic places to the surviving memories of people she met, albeit briefly. What were once significant travels are, diminished to ‘holidays’. The most important ‘distances’, are the people she encountered. In stanza two she enthused, ‘This is how to live’.
  • more regular rhythm of the last stanzas, and the two pairs of rhyming couplets that provide the conclusion and resolution.