The final two lines reflect upon the title, with the idea of each ‘step’ they take on this shared journey (each ‘step’ further away), being one that brings them closer together.

Skirrid Hill’ takes its origin from the proper Welsh name, ‘Ysgirid Fawr’ which roughly translates as ‘shattered mountain’. ‘Skirrid’ can also be interpreted as meaning ‘divorced or separated’ – the common theme here is that the word ‘skirrid’ carries connotations of something that has broken down in some way – which leads us to suspect that one of the overlying themes of this collection is the natural deterioration and breakdown of things. The setting is almost clichéd — the lovers are on holiday in the romance capital of Europe, Paris. Despite this, the setting seems irrelevant; their relationship is not enhanced by the location and they seem isolated from the rest of the world. The ending suggests that their love affair is in the past. Sarah Crown of the Guardian applauds Owen Sheers’ second book, Skirrid Hill, a collection that evokes ruptured terrain in taut and coherent verse. Read the full review…. The extended metaphor of the caged magpie dominates the poem. It begins simply in the first line of stanza one, then increasingly elaborate ideas are woven in; for example, the poet feeding her insects and protecting her from the elements with his wings.Structurally speaking, this poem is one of the few to appear in one unbroken stanza, with uneven line lengths. This could be seen as a reflection of the long, uneven walk to the top of the mountain, or could also been as a rare moment between Sheers and his father where they do not feel any sense of separation. It is also true that they walk together, ‘choosing the long way round’, not only purposely extending their time together, but also walking directly through the ’wood’, embracing their Welsh tradition which links closely to nature. Yet, this idea of ‘the long way’ could also be a reference to the type of relationship the two men have. Instead of being direct with each other, they tend to meander in their conversation, finding it hard to connect directly to one another.

T.S. Eliot (we are going to be hearing a lot about him as we move through this collection) began his most famous poem (The Waste Land) with a quotation from Chaucer. By following in Eliot’s footsteps, Sheers continues to put himself in line with the poetic canon. They are “together against the view” and the speaker is attempting to find some way to grasp the idea that the two of them have taken a step closer. This is not a happy ending, they have not resolved anything on this journey except perhaps made their problems a little clearer. While the son is hoping that they became closer, there is “no handhold” to show that this has truly happened. The farrier is an archetypal masculine, manual labouring figure, creating a contrast with those we see in the industries of service and entertainment later on in the collection (see ‘Services’ or ‘L.A. Evening’. The fact that he is smoking a roll-up suggests an extension of the values of working with hands as well as a rejection of modern innovation and the ubiquitous health warnings on the dangers of smoking; in ‘Wake’ we see a man dying of lung-cancer, as if to create a book-end to this disregard. There is nothing modern about his attire or his physical appearance, the sideburns for example.Here we have our first hint of the uneasiness in male/female relationships in the collection. It is important that it is a female horse – use of the pronoun ‘she’ encourages us to extend the horse as a representation of all females. Sheers has also written for radio, television and newspapers, and has toured extensively. In 2004 he was Writer in Residence at The Wordsworth Trust and was selected as one of the Poetry Book Society’s 20 'Next Generation' Poets. Owen’s second collection of poetry, Skirrid Hill (2005), won a Somerset Maugham Award. Unicorns, almost, his one-man play based on the life and poetry of the World War II poet Keith Douglas, was produced by Old Vic New Voices in 2006, with Joseph Fiennes in the lead role. Father to Son by Elizabeth Jennings– In this poem, the poet portrays the generation gap between a father and his son. The poem presents a father’s illusions regarding his son.

There is however, a suggestion of growing intimacy between horse and farrier during the act of hoofing with descriptions such as ‘a romantic lead dropping to the lips of his lover’ and ‘cutting moon-sliver clippings’.The line ‘they were told to walk, not to run’ is a comment on the emotional reserve often attributed to British people, particularly of the upper classes. The idea of these brave men being lead into battle by leaders who do not care for their safety becomes key to the meanings of later poems such as ‘Tea with Dr. Hitler’ and ‘Liable to Floods’.

Nearby you can find the Skirrid Mountain Inn which is reputed to be the oldest and most haunted pub in Wales. The Skirrid Inn is 900 years old with a fascinating and dark history. The thigh burning climb is soon rewarded by the sight of a trig point which marks the summit. From you can enjoy fabulous views in all directions. Look out for the cone shaped hill of Sugarloaf to the west and the market town of Abergavenny to the south. The final lines are ambiguous, depending on how the reader interprets these final lines, the poem can be negative or positive. On one hand, they are certainly closer before, but yet they still have an incredibly long way to go. But is the gap between the generations too far to cross, ‘farther’ than Sheers imagined?

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It is also interesting to consider that Sheers was taken under the tutelage of Andrew Motion early on in his career. Motion also writes frequently of the war and it is interesting to see how the two poets have influenced each other’s writing. The ‘tipping in the scales of us’ again is an incredibly personal image. Bound together through the linking ‘us’, Sheers explores the intricate change within the pair. The ‘intersection’ of their ages points to both men aging. Whereas during his childhood, Sheers was looked after by his father, it is now Sheers that will look after his father. The ’tipping’ of this relationship is slow, but certain for both men. It seems appropriate that Sheers comes to this realization at the half-point of the journey. It is also an interesting, almost paradoxical, decision to begin things with a poem called ‘last act’. This is perhaps our first clue that Sheers wants his reader to feel uncomfortable and show us that he will be breaking conventions with this collection.