6.1.1

Summary & Structure

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Summary of Letters From Yorkshire

Letters from Yorkshire by Maura Dooley contrasts the indoor life of the narrator ‘me’ with the outdoor life of the ‘you/he’ figure. Maura Dooley is contrasting how two very opposite people function in this relationship.

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Background

  • Maura Dooley lived in Yorkshire for several years before returning to London.
  • She published this poem in 2002.
  • The poem is not a traditionally romantic one. Instead Dooley explores the everyday aspects of a relationship that makes it special.
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Summary

  • The poem begins with the narrator imagining her lover witnessing the first lapwings of the season, then running in to write her letter.
  • The poem then goes on to explore how differently the pair function in the world – she is indoors and writing, whilst he is outdoors and active.
  • She wonders if his life is filled with greater meaning as it is more active and closely linked with nature.
  • She is thankful for his letters as they allow for a connection between his outdoor, active world and her internal world of words.
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Romance

  • In this poem, Dooley celebrates smaller, and sometimes more powerful, acts of love.
  • For the narrator, the act of her partner writing her letters is an important act of love.
  • By coming in from his outdoor world and entering her world of written words, he is trying to share something important to him in a way that is important to her.
  • When Dooley states that this isn’t romance – she doesn’t mean that it isn’t a loving relationship. She means that this letter writing doesn’t fit the traditional definition of a grand romantic gesture.

Structure and Form in Letters From Yorkshire

Here are some examples of the ways Dooley uses structure and form in Letters from Yorkshire:

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Form

  • Dooley has chosen to write the poem in free verse, instead of a more rigid poetic form.
    • This gives the poem a conversational tone, more similar to the tone of a letter.
    • This also reflects the less formal act of romance she's describing in the poem.
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Enjambment

  • She also uses enjambment in the several of the stanzas, so there is continuous movement between the stanzas.
    • This could be seen to reflect the continuous changes of the season.
    • It also adds to the sense of the poem being conversational and free flowing.

Jump to other topics

1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)

2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis

5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)

7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)

10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963

12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)

13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)

15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

16Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons

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