Choose a poem which features an encounter or an
incident.
By referring to appropriate techniques, show how
the poet’s development of the encounter or incident
leads you to a deeper understanding of the poem’s
central concerns.
Intro sample: “Long Distance“ is a
touching poem by Toni Harrison
where the narrator experiences a
series of tragic events which will
alter his personality and his
relationship with his beloved
father. The poem deals with the
human inability to deal with the
loss of a loved one and Harrison
effectively adopts word choice to
emphasise the narrator’s grief thus
gaining the reader’s sympathy.
The main theme of the poem is the human
inability to deal with the loss of a loved one.
The narrator’s grief and his father’s
subsequent rejection of the concept of death
cause them both a greater pain: an unexpected
fracture in the relationship between father and
son. The narrator’s intimate revelations allow
the reader to access and sympathise with their
emotional ordeal.
“You could not just drop in”
Despite the father’s resilient and “still” hope,
the mother’s death marks, in fact, the
beginning of the family’s end. The narrator is
unable to visit his dad without prior warning.
Something is missing: the mother’s presence
and his father’s strength to accept her absence.
The onomatopoeia “drop” is here almost a
secret reminder of the many muffled and
sorrowful tears shed by the narrator who is
also unable to communicate his grief to his
parent.
Another effective poetic technique used by Tony
Harrison is irony. In the last stanza the poet reveals his
weakness and lack of confidence. This new weaker
condition causes the reader to feel even greater sympathy
for a man who is now facing a further challenge. A
challenge which he will now have to face on his own.
“I believe life ends with death and that is all”
The poet who is now trying to contact his dad’s
disconnected number. He is also admitting his new faith
in a place elsewhere. A place where anything is possible
and where family members can be reunited. The grieving
poet almost shocks the reader with his change of heart.
Harrison tries to disguise his ideas until the very end
when his humanity is revealed for the reader to behold
and fully comprehend.
Tony Harrison also adopts rhyme scheme to emphasise a
profound change in his approach towards
bereavement. The rhyme scheme in the first three stanzas
does not vary from its ABAB structure. This reflects the
poet’s strong reaction to his mother’s death and his
reproach towards his father’s weakly immature
pantomime.
The rhyme scheme eventually suffers an abrupt change:
from ABAB to ABBA. This change mirrors the
devastated older son who has now also lost his beloved
father. The poet has become an orphan without any
parental support. Tony Harrison demonstrates his need
for something which can give him hope. The same hope
or faith which will allow him to believe that his calls are
not being unanswered. This hope is acquired by the
reader who learns how death can be overcome by simply
going beyond the limits of the strictest and cynical logic.
The word choice used by Tony Harrison is highly emotive. It
also helps the reader to fully understand the incident which
causes the narrator’s personal struggle with his loss and his
father’s contagious vulnerability.
It is highly effective in suggesting the unity of the family and the
consequent tragedy following his mother’s dismembering
death. The language in the first stanza features a series of
actions and items which refer to a time now gone forever.
Furthermore, the language honours the humble family’s social
status. A working class family struggling to make ends meet.
The word “knew” in stanza three accentuates the father’s
irrational approach towards his wife’s death. Here the word
“knew” is intended as an ironic statement which in fact informs
us that, deep down, the father was indeed aware of the
unbearable truth.
In addition, the metaphor “his still raw love were such a
crime” suggests that the father’s feelings towards his wife have
not been affected by her death and consequent absence.
The word “still” effectively conveys the image of a man who is
refusing to move on with his life and the word “crime” also
helps the reader to sympathise with the father and son as they
are the victims of an adverse family destiny.
(Conclusion)
Long Distance effectively describes a poignant incident
where the narrator and the reader are immersed in a
learning experience through the toughest challenge posed
by the loss of a loved one.