Long Distance II

Poem by Tony Harrison deals with bereavement love after death showing the lengthy journey of grief and the transcendental nature of .

Image of Time

* Time is used as a motive through the poem.
* Harrison alludes to love transcend time those grieving fail to let go of the physical reminders of their past loved ones.

‘Though my mother …’

was already two years dead

‘Though my mother was already two years dead/’

* **Structure** puts emphasis on the time since her death, suggesting that the speakers father should’ve moved on. Developed using the __adverb ‘already’__
* **Enjambment** physically __separates__ the position of the father and the mother __mirroring__ their physical distance
* \

‘Dad kept …. hot water bottles by the side of her bed’

her slippers warming by the gas

‘Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas…’

* Thoughtful gestures presented through the **visual imagery** of domestic tasks. Show the father’s still __passionate love__ for the mother.
* **Imagery** of __warmth and heat__ → passion/ preserving her life force.
* Pathos

\

dead : bed

* **Highlights** the __emptiness__
* **Links** the two sentences which __reinforce denial__

‘ He’d put you off an hour …./ to clear way her things….’

to give him time

and look alone

‘He’d put you of an hour to give him time/ to put away her things and look alone’

* **Imagery** of time.
* **Verb** ‘look’ implies putting on a charade suggesting he still feels her __prescence__ showing the __strength of their love.__
* Pathos

‘as though his still raw love were such a crime’

* **Metaphor** - __raw wound__, unhealed like his grief.
* Noun **‘crime’** suggests external judgment.

‘ though sure that very …./ scraped …… his grief.’

soon he’d hear her key

in the rusted lock and end

‘though sure that very soon he’d hear her key / scraped in the rusted lock and end his grief.’

* His persistent belief in the impossible
* __Adjective__ **‘rusted’** implies abandoned state.
* **Enjambment** emphasis the __hope__ (hear her key) __versus__ the __reality__ (rusted lock)

‘I believe ….’

life ends with death, and that is all

‘I believe that life ends with death, and that is all’

* Blunt absolute statement, acceptance.
* **Caesura** suggest that this is not the case, continuation of death an afterlife. Reinforced by the __rhyme between all and call__.

‘ just the same/ ….there’s your name/ …’

in my new black leather phone book

and the disconnected number I still call.

‘just the same/ in my new black leather phone book there’s your name/ and the disconnected number I still call.’

* Revealing the truth of his denial.
* __Adjective__ ‘**new**’ shows passing of time, it illustrates how he has gone through the __deliberate__ action of __transferring__ his parents numbers into the new phonebook. **Understanding** of his fathers denial.
* __Noun__ ‘**phone**’ suggests a desire to stay connected
* __Verb__ ‘**disconnected**’ separation and impossibility.
* __Verb__ ‘**call**’ in present tense, he is holding on to the memory.

Rhyme Stanza 4

* Shift in regualar abab to abba
* Outer lines shield the inner lines, shielding himself from the reality.

Links

Love after Love ( mourning love )

Arundel Tomb ( eternal love )

Warming her pearls ( longing )

Dusting the phone ( denial )

A Broken appointment ( emotional, denial )