Memory: the first three stanzas focus on a memory of a moment in the past when the couple stood by the pond. The final stanza is a reflection on the lasting power of that memory. ‘Since then, keen lessons that love deceives/ And wrings with wrong, ha
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Card 7
Front
Seasons/nature: many references to weather and the passing of time. The male letter writer is gardening and seems close to nature. 'February', 'the first lapwings', 'seeing the seasons turning', 'breaking ice', 'clearing ... snow', 'pouring air and l
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Card 8
Front
News: two kinds of news – 'daily headlines' and letters 'headlines', 'sends me word', 'the news'. The poet contrasts two kinds of news; the daily news headlines they both know about, even though they are far apart, and the personal news they share in
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Card 9
Front
To the farmer, the relationship with his wife should be functional and uncomplicated. Feelings should not need to be a consideration; the option of taking time to "woo" or encourage love is out of the question. He is full of regret that there is not
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Card 10
Front
Parental love: the parent’s love for his child is shown in the pain he feels when he realises he has to let the child go. ‘love is proved in the letting go’ The final line of the poem is conclusive and shows how the speaker reaches a place of accepta
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Card 11
Front
Oh, papa—this little dude really and truly looks up to his dad. Told through his eyes, his father is the most magnificent plowman to have ever walked the face of the earth, and man, does he want to be like him. The speaker of "Follower" is like a lit
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Card 12
Front
Though the saying, "like father like son" might not perfectly apply to these two (the father seems to be equipped with a set of strengths and skills that the son exhibits no evidence of having), that doesn't mean the bond between them is any less sig
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Card 13
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Follower," the speaker's father is the model of strength and skill. According to his son, he's an absolute expert with the plow. And plowing, especially the horse-drawn kind, is no easy work. It takes an incredible amount of strength to steer the hor
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Card 14
Front
The speaker of "Follower" seems pretty young for most of the poem—he's looking into the past when he was a child, following his dad around the field as he plowed. Although he doesn't show any natural knack for being able to plow (he's clumsy and chat
