From Long Distance (a.k.a Long Distance II) (CIE IGCSE English Literature)

The poetry anthology for Cambridge International (CIE) IGCSE contains 15 poems. This revision guide focuses on Tony Harrison’s poem 'From Long Distance' from the Songs of Ourselves Volume 1, Part 4 anthology, and includes:

• Overview: a line-by-line breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the techniques and poetic choices that Harrison has used
• Understanding the text: an exploration of the themes and ideas in the poem

To answer an essay question on this poem, you really need to understand it. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell
• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Harrison’s intention and message

'From Long Distance' in a nutshell

'From Long Distance' (also sometimes known as ‘From Long Distance II’) by Tony Harrison is a poem published in 1981 that focuses on grief after loss. The speaker writes of his father’s grief and his own disbelief over his father’s inability to overcome the loss of his wife.

'From Long Distance' breakdown

Lines 1–4
“Though my mother was already two years dead

Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas, 

put hot water bottles her side of the bed

and still went to renew her transport pass.”

Translation

• The speaker mentions the death of his mother and what his father does after her death

Harrison’s intention

• The father’s actions of keeping the mother’s slippers warm by the gas and placing hot water bottles on her side of the bed are symbolic gestures of remembrance and care
• The father’s act of renewing the mother’s transport pass serves as a poignant reminder of his ongoing sense of duty and routine:
• Despite her absence, he continues to carry out tasks that were once a part of their shared life together
• These actions highlight the father’s struggle to come to terms with his loss and the difficulty of adjusting to life without his beloved wife

Lines 5–8

“You couldn’t just drop in. You had to phone.

He’d put you off an hour to give him time

to clear away her things and look alone

as though his still raw love were such a crime.”

Translation

• The speaker reflects on the father’s response to visitors following the death of his wife

Harrison’s intention

• The speaker describes how the father would delay visitors by an hour to use the time to “clear away her things”:
• Perhaps as a coping mechanism, the father is keeping his wife’s things around the house
• The father is clearly ashamed that he still needs his wife’s affairs around
• The phrase “look alone” suggests a sense of isolation and grief, as the father grapples with the loss of his wife
• The speaker implies that the father feels a sense of shame or guilt about his grief, referring to it as “such a crime”:
• This suggests societal expectations or pressures that may stigmatise certain expressions of grief or mourning
• These lines capture the complexity of grief and the ways in which individuals navigate their emotions in the aftermath of loss:
• The father’s actions convey a mixture of sorrow, loneliness and a desire to protect others from witnessing his pain

Lines 9–12

“He couldn’t risk my blight of disbelief

though sure that very soon he’d hear her key

scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief.

He knew she’d just popped out to get the tea.”

Translation

• The speaker reflects on his father’s longing for his deceased wife and his denial over her death

Harrison’s intention

• The speaker describes how his father “couldn’t risk my blight of disbelief”, indicating a fear of acknowledging the finality of his wife’s death:
• The speaker’s reaction is negatively affecting the father as the word “blight” suggests that something is being spoilt and damaged
• The speaker’s father is depicted as clinging to the hopeful delusion that his wife will return soon as he is certain that he would “hear her key”:
• This reflects the father’s longing for his wife’s presence and his desperate desire to end his sorrow
• The “rusted lock” could symbolise the feelings of neglect or abandonment that the speaker’s father has felt, therefore reflecting the decay and stagnation of the father’s emotional state in her absence:
• The “rusted lock” could also imply that the front door is no longer used as the father prefers to live in a space where he is able to keep his wife’s memory alive
• The father’s belief that his wife has “popped out to get the tea” suggests that he is in denial:
• By convincing himself that her absence is temporary and mundane, he can temporarily shield himself from the reality of her death

Lines 13–16

“I believe life ends with death, and that is all.

You haven’t both gone shopping; just the same,

in my new black leather phone book there’s your name

and the disconnected number I still call.”

Translation

• The speaker grapples with the finality of death and the enduring presence of his mother and father, now both deceased

Harrison’s intention

• The perspective has shifted in this stanza and has changed to the present tense with the speaker giving his views on death and grief
• The speaker begins by asserting their belief that “life ends with death”, which reflects a perspective on mortality that emphasises the finality of death:
• The speaker accepts death as the ultimate ending of life, without any possibility of an afterlife
• The use of the phrase “you haven’t both” highlights to the reader that the speaker is now grieving for his father too
• The speaker mentions that their new “black leather phone book” still has their parents’ home phone number written in it, which suggests that they long for a physical reminder of their presence:
• The phone book serves as a tangible connection to the past and a symbol of the enduring bond between the speaker and the deceased
• The mention of the “disconnected number” emphasises the finality of the parents’ absence:
• Despite the speaker’s longing to reach out and connect with them, the number is disconnected, symbolising the impossibility of communication or connection with the deceased
• The speaker acknowledges that his actions are not logical but “just the same” he calls the disconnected number:
• At the end of the poem, the speaker realises that he is grieving in the same illogical way that his father was grieving 

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Harrison’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:

• Form
• Structure
• Language

Form

The poem is a 16-line sonnet that is divided into four quatrains.

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Death and grief	The poem has four stanzas (that are formed into quatrains) and the first three stanzas have an ABAB rhyme scheme, whereas the final stanza has an ABBA rhyme scheme	The rhyme scheme is generally tight and controlled. This could reflect the emotional tension that the grief-stricken father is feeling in containing his grief and emotions
		However, the rhyme scheme changes in the last stanza from ABAB to ABBA. This volta could reflect how the speaker now fully understands how illogical grief is

Structure

The poem is formed of four stanzas, which are four lines long. These stanzas can be referred to as quatrains.

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Death and grief	This poem is a Meredithian sonnet and generally uses the traditional iambic pentameter of a sonnet. However, there are some lines that break away from the iambic pentameter (such as lines one and three, which are eleven syllables long rather than ten)	The poet could have broken away from iambic pentameter to reflect how disordered and sporadic grief can be, especially if you try to contain it
		It could also reflect the uneasy relationship between the two men as they navigate their way through their own grief and try to understand each other
	The third line of the final stanza is also eleven syllables long rather than ten syllables	The final stanza is the speaker reflecting on his own grief and how he is coping. The rhythmic disruption illustrates the speaker’s difficulty in coping with his grief
	Stanza one consists of end-stopped lines, which slow the pace of the poem down	The end-stopped lines emphasise the father’s grief and the slow pace mirrors his mourning
Enduring love	The poet also uses enjambment in stanzas two and three	The enjambment in the second stanza conveys the father’s desire to quickly hide his wife’s things and to “look alone” so that his love does not look like “a crime”. He does not feel that other people would understand why his love for his wife is still as intense and “raw”
		In addition, the enjambment in stanza three quickens the pace to reflects the father’s enduring love and his desperation for her return

Language

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Death and grief	The poet has used the phrasal verb, “popped out”	The use of this phrasal verb  reflects the father’s state of mind. The casual, conversational nature of the phrase reflects his belief that she will return from the shop any minute and the italics in the final line of the third stanza, “knew”, emphasises how his father has convinced himself that this is a reality
	The writer uses a metaphor “blight of disbelief” in stanza three	The poet has used the word “blight” deliberately to suggest that his reaction of disbelief is damaging to the father and his grief
	In the final stanza, the poet reflects on his own grief. The description of his “new black leather phone book” conveys his sadness	The speaker describes his phone book and the use of the word “new” suggests that he has written his parents’ number in the phone book after his father’s death. The colour “black” symbolises his mourning and grief
		The speaker is now mirroring his father’s actions and coping mechanisms as a way of dealing with his grief

It is not enough to just know the poem really well as all questions in the IGCSE encourage an informed, personal response. Therefore, you need to develop a solid understanding of the theme, main ideas, settings, situations and events depicted. Even though context is not explicitly assessed in the IGCSE, it is important that you have an awareness of background information that is relevant to the main themes in the poem as this can help you develop a sustained, critical understanding of the text. This is so that you are able to demonstrate individuality and insight in your answer. To help you do this, the section below has been divided into two main themes that Harrison explores in 'From Long Distance':

• Death and grief
• Enduring love

Death and grief

• Tony Harrison published 'From Long Distance', also known as ‘Long Distance II’, in 1981 in the UK:
• The poem is a continuation of a poem called ‘Long Distance I’ that was written in 1978
• His poem is a personal reaction to the death of his parents and his attempts to connect with them
• In this poem, after his wife’s death, the husband has continued with his routines and life as if she has “just popped out to get the tea”
• The first three stanzas of the poem describe the speaker’s father’s grief and how he is denial over the death of his wife:
• It is evident that the father’s only way of coping with his wife’s loss is to be in denial
• It highlights the illogical and deeply personal side of grief that one experiences and how those observing the grief feel a sense of “disbelief”
• The reference to the “rusted lock” in stanza three highlights how the speaker’s father remains stuck in the past due to his denial, while other people would normally try to move on
• However, the poem’s cyclical structure means we discover that the speaker is now the one grieving over the death of their father and his actions while grieving mirror his father’s earlier actions:
• His father would routinely “renew her transport pass” and the speaker has his parents’ number in his “new black leather phone book”
• The phone is also a symbolic object as it symbolises the distance between the one that is grieving with everyone else:
• In stanza two, the speaker mentions that “you had to phone” before visiting, suggesting a lack of connection, or understanding, between the two 
• The title 'From Long Distance' also reinforces the distance and disconnection between the one that is grieving with the rest of the world

Enduring love

• The theme of enduring love is especially evident in stanza one through the father’s small gestures and actions:
• His actions of warming her slippers and heating her side of the bed are small, tender actions that reflect the father’s love for his wife even after her passing
• The objects mentioned in the first stanza are also significant as each object could be associated with love through warmth and comfort: “gas fire”, “slippers” and “hot water bottles”:
• The poet highlights the comfort that a long, loving relationship would bring and how these actions are gestures of enduring love
• However, it could also be suggested that it is through this enduring love and these small actions that the father’s grief has turned into denial:
• He continues to live as if she has not left and “knew” that she would return
• The lock and key are also symbolic as these everyday items distance the father from everyone else and it is only his wife’s key that will take him out of his grief:
• While this could convey the depth of his grief, it could also reveal the extent of his love as she is the key to his happiness 
• In the final stanza, the speaker mentions that “disconnected number” that he “still” calls:
• Again, while this shows the depth of the speaker’s grief, it also conveys his deep sense of love and longing as he feels the need to speak to the ones he has lost