#1.
Interpret the poem, ‘the loneliness of the long-distance runner’, any way you like.
–> The poem can be interpreted to mean that all human beings are selfish. They love other people for their own sake, not for the sake of their loved ones. The poet loved his poem, not his wife. That is why he was angry with her. He lost his poem because of her arrival.
Although she was the topic of his poem, she was abused silently. The poet wanted to make himself immortal by writing a beautiful poem about his wife. When she disturbed him in doing so, he was angry.
#2.
Would you call the speaker unfeeling or sensitive? Dull or imaginative? (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner)
–> I would not call the speaker unfeeling. He’s quite sensitive. He loves his wife deeply. That is why he is writing a poem for her to express his deep love.
He is not dull but he is imaginative. He has a vision of the distant future in his mind. His wife would be immortal through the poem.
