1. Mother, any distance GREATER than a single span
Simon Armitage

2. Title
Look at the word ‘Mother’ in the title. What does this suggest about the sort of relationship being explored in the poem?

3. Read the poem aloud Explain the LITERAL meaning
Explain the METAPHORICAL meaning
There is a central image of the ‘spool of tape, unreeling’. What do you think the spool of tape represents?

4. Stanza 1
There are numerous references to metric and imperial measures in this poem. In the first line, the word ‘span’ refers to hand- span.
What does the phrase, ‘a second pair of hands’ suggest about the relationship between mother and son?

5. Stanza 1 continued
There is a rhyme scheme of aabb in the opening stanza. In addition, there is a range of sibilance through the plural forms and soft sounds such as ‘measure windows’.
What does this suggest about the relationship between mother and son?

6. Stanza 2
In this stanza, the mother is at the zero-end of the tape whilst the son is ‘reporting metres’.
Why does the son return ‘back to base’? Think of the metaphorical meaning of the poem.

7. Stanza 2 continued
Unlike the opening stanza, there is no clear rhyme scheme in Stanza 2. What does this suggest about the feelings of the son?
Who is the Anchor?
Who is the Kite?

8. Stanza 3
In the previous stanzas, the speaker talks about ‘you’ ‘me’ and ‘us’. In the final stanza, he mentions ‘I’. Why?
What is the significance of the ‘empty bedrooms’? How does this relate to how the speaker is feeling?

9. Stanza 3 continued
At the end of the tape, the mother’s ‘fingertips still pinch’. What is significance of the verb ‘pinch’?
What does the endless sky represent?
What decision is being made by the speaker through the phrase, ‘fall or fly’?

10. STRucture
There is a clear rhyme scheme in the opening stanza. There is no rhyme scheme in the middle stanza. Why?
However, by the last stanza, there is some evidence of rhyme. Why?
How can we relate the use of rhyme to the speaker’s feelings?