Summary
Summary First Flight
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English Edexcel GCSE Poetry Time and Place Notes
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Aleena IslamFIRST FLIGHT – U.A Fanthorpe
Themes
Fear, wonder, indifference, aloofness, unease, wariness, inauspiciousness
Contextual overview
This poem depicts two people who are travelling by plane; one person is
eminently nervous and worries as this is their first flight, whereas the other (the
italicised writing) is experienced and aloof at the prospect of travelling high in
the air. There is a consistent contrast between the clichéd reactions of the other
travellers and the more nuanced and perceptive reactions of the main speaker.
As the poem progresses, the nervous passenger slowly learns to admire the
wonderous view that flying has to offer. Fanthorpe wrote a great number of her
poems with two distinct voices.
Key features of language, form and structure
- In the second stanza, as the plane beings to move, the nervous poet
states, ‘a sudden swiftness, earth slithers.’ The sibilance emphasises how
uneasy and wary the poet is given that they depict their perception of
their surroundings as threatening and sinister.
- The poet describes the other various travellers as the ‘experienced.’ This
emphatic adjective highlights the contrast between the unexperienced
poet herself and the other much more indifferent passengers. This
contrast is what illustrates the poet and naïve in the world of flying.
- The italicised writing describes the flight as a ‘short hop.’ This gives the
impression to the reader that this person is much more aloof and
nonchalant at the prospect of flying since the noun ‘hop’ sets a tone of
relaxation and comfort. The contradiction of describing the flight as
‘short’ emphasises her impartial attitude, given that, realistically, a flight
is usually more than 6 hours which is a long time for one to sit in a
confined space.
- The poem shifts back to the perspective of the nervous passenger when
she states, ‘I crane for the last of dear Familiar England.’ The reader is
given a lucid image of the passenger craning their necks over the window
to desperately see the sight of England growing more and more distant,
which highlights the poet’s anxiety of leaving her home. The adjective
‘dear’ and ‘familiar’ reinforce the poet’s personal attachment to her
country, thus demonstrating the fact that she feels uncomfortable and
nervous at the prospect of leaving.
- The italicised writing states, ‘I’m doing it just for the sake of doing it.’ This
phrase illustrates an upper-class and condescending character given that
an average person would not travel by aeroplane, a feat which can be
considered as quite expensive, just for the sake of it.
- The nervous passenger, when depicting the amenity she feels as a result
of being in England, describes certain features of the country, ‘motorways,
reservoir, building sites.’ This triplet emphasises how the poet yearns to
be back on the ground given that all of these features are things which are
planted into the land and cannot be moved.
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