Long Distance
Tony Harrison
Tony Harrison in long distance writes about how loving his parents were and how his father still loved his deceased mother and did things he would have done if she were still alive.
The poem consists of four stanzas, each of which describes fully and effectively the state of the anguished father who lives lonely unable to overcome the sorrow of his deceased wife's memory inspite of the fact that she has been away for 2 years.
Verse one gives details of what the father did/does for his wife. This shows what a loving relationship they had as he was doing things to make her life more comfortable because he loved and cared about her which would make it harder for him to accept it if anything ever happened to her. The opening word "Though" is a remarkable device made by the poet that takes the reader straight away to the main subject of the poem and allows the reader to familiarize himself with the main characters here. The poet continues to draw a very moving picture of that agonized father who seems to be alienating himself from the whole world in order to live with this deceased mother. The warmth of the feelings is established exquisitely and explicitly through "warming slippers", "hot water bottles" ,"renew transport pass" these phrases emphasis the father's passion that exists and survives despite death and abandons. The first stanza manifests a soft use of rhythm that sounds appropriate to the subject matter. The run-on-line device is another positive point in order to identify the reader with the father and the speaker.
Stanzas two and three communicates how ashamed he feels about what he is doing and how the only way for his grief to end is for her to return to him. It's almost as if he feels his love for her is a crime that needs to be concealed from anyone who might disapprove. He can't risk anyone knowing about his actions and telling him that she is dead because it would make it so much harder for him to cope. The use...