The Manhunt : Poem Anthology

The title

“The Manhunt”

“Man” is a collective term showing the impacts portrayed can impact everyone to some extent in war.

Yet, the open will specifically focus on one man - highlighted through “the”, its a personal account.

“Hunt” links to prehistoric instincts of violence when people used to hunt for animals, suggests war is primal and lacks progression.

The violent imagery becomes ironic as the poem focuses on the emotional impact of war.

The wife is hunting to find her husband again after the war - he is unrecognisable physically and mentally.

“The fr…”

“The frozen river.”

Graphic metaphor referring to a scar.

A frozen river is unsafe showing the man may never feel safe again due to the trauma he has faced.

“River” gives imagery of tears representative of the pain he faced during the way.

“Frozen” suggests the impacts of the war are embedded within him and will be lifelong.

“The parachute…”

“The parachute silk of his punctured lung.”

A damaged parachute is useless magnifying how the speaker feels usually following his injures.

Personal pronoun of “his” reflects the title and that the impacts are specific to him.

The physical affects of war hinder him mentally.

Dehumanisation of war and graphic metaphor for mental impacts.

“Feel the…”

“Feel the hurt of his grazed heart.”

Shows how is love and relationship were also impacted by the war.

Refers ton both physical and mental pain marked by his experience.

It’s a part of his identity as he has gone through this.

Metaphor to show how the implications he faced impact every aspect off his life, even love,

“Sweating, unexploded…”

“Sweating, unexploded mine buried deep in his mind.”

Referring to trauma and PTSD.

He is unable to come to terms with what happened and is trying to suppress the memory.

“Buried deep” refers to death and how within his mind he feels his old self before the war has died.

A metaphor for how the war has forever altered him.

Tension and stressful imagery symbolic of his suffering during the war and the constant stress he was under there.

“Closed. Then, and….”

“Closed. Then, and only then, did I come close.”

The only line that sits by itself in the poem showing her realisation that his mental scars are worse than his physical ones.

She has found the source of his trauma.

“Closed” and “close” almost rhyme suggesting deposite how close she comes she can never fully understand what her husband has gone through.

While he survived, he will never be the same.