Key Quotes & Comparisons
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Love & Relationships, topic 11.1.3
Key Quotes in Mother, Any Distance
Here are some examples of key quotes in Mother, Any Distance:
‘You at the zero-end...'
- ‘You at the zero-end, me with the spool of tape’.
- The fixed position of the mother at the 'zero-end' shows the contrast between the security of childhood and the narrator's feelings of instability as he approaches adulthood.
‘Line still feeding out...'
- ‘The line still feeding out, unreeling years between us. Anchor. Kite’
- The reference to the measuring tape 'unreeling years' suggests it symbolises the passage of time as the son grows up.
Key Comparisons: Mother, Any Distance
Here are some suggestions for poems you could compare Mother, Any Distance to. Remember, there are endless options!
Follower
- Contrast the changing positions of the parents:
- Armitage seems to be still holding onto his mother as support in Mother, Any Distance.
- The complete opposite is seen in Follower.
Walking Away
- Similar themes of growing up and letting go.
- But Walking Away is from the perspective of the parent. It is useful to consider how the different perspective changes the tone.
Test yourself on Key Quotes & Comparisons
Who is at the 'zero-end' of the measuring tape in Mother, Any Distance?
Which poem explores similar themes to Mother, Any Distance, but from the perspective of a parent?
Themes to compare or contrast in Walking Away and Mother, Any Distance