One page, carefully chosen

North and South

Margaret Hale approaches the industrial town of Milton through air changed by smoke. Elizabeth Gaskell layers cloud, frost, lost fragrance, streets and a strange factory comparison until arrival becomes something seen, smelled and felt. The description carries social meaning without turning the town into a simple emblem; unfamiliarity shapes Margaret’s first impression. Read for the materials that thicken or clear the scene, and for motion inside what initially looks fixed. Your poem can follow colour, labour, displacement or another thread in the language. Keep the words that form a truthful route for you while Gaskell’s setting and perspective stay attached to their source.

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North and South

Chapter VII: New Scenes and Faces · Project Gutenberg English transcription

In Chapter VII of Gaskell’s 1855 novel, Margaret Hale approaches the industrial town of Milton for the first time.

Read North and South at Project Gutenberg
How to choose words

Keep the words that speak. Your poem will always follow their order on the page. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys to move through words.

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North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855) · Project Gutenberg English transcription · Chapter VII: New Scenes and Faces

Transcription produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

Read North and South at Project Gutenberg