Summary & Structure
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Love & Relationships, topic 6.1.1
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Test yourself on Summary & Structure
What year did Maura Dooley write Letters from Yorkshire in?
Summary of Letters From Yorkshire
Did Maura Dooley ever live in Yorkshire?
Which of these are features of the structure and form of Letters from Yorkshire?
What form of poetry does Dooley use in Letters From Yorkshire?