Technique/idea Key Quotes and analysis
Key themes: What does Travelling The speaker finds comfort in
this poem explore? Adventure travelling, to her it is some sort of
Curiosity ‘destiny’.
The speaker begins the poem
recalling when ‘first I saddled a
rucksack’, which is a symbol for
discovery and adventure.
The speaker lists the numerous
places she’s travelled to, from
‘Krakow’ to ‘Zagreb’ to ‘Siberian…
airports’ to a ‘Lithuaininan’ Western
Union
Language: Any patterns Colloquial language The speaker starts off the poem
of language? Poetic Simile using colloquial language, ‘like most
techniques? Eg: similes, Humour folk’, giving a conversational tone
metaphors, verbs, etc. Alliteration and establishing a connection with
Asyndetic listing the reader.
Metaphor Through the simile ‘my spine curved
under it like a meridian’, we see how
the speaker’s posture mirrors the
globe, the image symbolising how
she is at one with the earth.
The speaker appears brazen,
through the humourful brushing off
of ‘the threats of delirium’. It
suggests that her lust for adventure
obstructs her judgement.
Alliterative ‘h’ sounds give a sense
of being out of breath, highlighting
the stress of ‘stuffing smalls hastily
into a holdall’.
Asyndetic listing of ‘alien pants,
cinema stubs, the throwaway
comment’ symbolises how she has
many relics from her travels.
The metaphor of ‘crushed
valentines’ metaphorically
represents her maturity, and how
she has grown from her idealistic
romanticised past self.
Ideas: What is the poem The poem is about a woman The speaker remembers ‘the first
about? What are the main who goes travelling. time I saddled a rucksack’.
ideas here? What does She visits all these new The speaker goes to ‘Krakow’ and
the poet want you to feel? places in Europe. ‘Zagreb’ and a ‘Lithuanian’ bank.
Finally, she comes back to She looks back on the friends she
Is there a message here?
America and has to deal made and her experience as
with the monotony of life. ‘holidaying briefly’.
Key themes: What does Travelling The speaker finds comfort in
this poem explore? Adventure travelling, to her it is some sort of
Curiosity ‘destiny’.
The speaker begins the poem
recalling when ‘first I saddled a
rucksack’, which is a symbol for
discovery and adventure.
The speaker lists the numerous
places she’s travelled to, from
‘Krakow’ to ‘Zagreb’ to ‘Siberian…
airports’ to a ‘Lithuaininan’ Western
Union
Language: Any patterns Colloquial language The speaker starts off the poem
of language? Poetic Simile using colloquial language, ‘like most
techniques? Eg: similes, Humour folk’, giving a conversational tone
metaphors, verbs, etc. Alliteration and establishing a connection with
Asyndetic listing the reader.
Metaphor Through the simile ‘my spine curved
under it like a meridian’, we see how
the speaker’s posture mirrors the
globe, the image symbolising how
she is at one with the earth.
The speaker appears brazen,
through the humourful brushing off
of ‘the threats of delirium’. It
suggests that her lust for adventure
obstructs her judgement.
Alliterative ‘h’ sounds give a sense
of being out of breath, highlighting
the stress of ‘stuffing smalls hastily
into a holdall’.
Asyndetic listing of ‘alien pants,
cinema stubs, the throwaway
comment’ symbolises how she has
many relics from her travels.
The metaphor of ‘crushed
valentines’ metaphorically
represents her maturity, and how
she has grown from her idealistic
romanticised past self.
Ideas: What is the poem The poem is about a woman The speaker remembers ‘the first
about? What are the main who goes travelling. time I saddled a rucksack’.
ideas here? What does She visits all these new The speaker goes to ‘Krakow’ and
the poet want you to feel? places in Europe. ‘Zagreb’ and a ‘Lithuanian’ bank.
Finally, she comes back to She looks back on the friends she
Is there a message here?
America and has to deal made and her experience as
with the monotony of life. ‘holidaying briefly’.
