FARTHER - SHEERS

Autobiographical relationship between Father and Son

It is personal but also evokes a wider sense of the importance of tradition and affinity with Welsh landscape (they are taking the famous walk of the 'Skirrid')

STRUCTURE

All in a single verse paragraph

Holds a conversational rhythm of the son recounting a time of when himself and the Father walked the Skirrid

The poem simply follows that movement of that journey and its narrative and only ends when the pair reach the top of the climb

As the poem structurally appears as a large block of jagged lines, it feels suitable for a rocky hill climb (the reader can see the harshness of the climb on the aging Father)

There are 6 sentences

First sentence: describes the route of the journey and indicates the main theme of Father and Son by using an allusion to the local legend of a "cleft of earth" that was "split they say by a Father's grief" - using ultimate love of Father and Son (Jesus and God)

3rd sentence: highlights moment of realisation as to his Father's age and needs

5th sentence: describes the remainder of the journey in which a sense of closeness between the pair is implied

Last sentence: holds view from the Skirrid as they share their love of the Welsh landscape

IMAGERY

The poem conveys a sense of the Father's age and this is significant in the middle of the poem (the turning point) as the pair is "half way up" when the hill puts his Father under strain

The image of his Father's head "bent" suggests thoughts of failure at the realisation of his age and his breathing being "short and sharp" could be seen as a reminder to the speaker of how one day he shall have to see his Father pass and he is reminded of the mortality of man in the ancient Welsh landscape that will never die

The pair are feeling together by the end of the poem and hold the same values as they are pitched against the backdrop of the ancient country (a love of…