War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy

Who is the speaker?

A photographer who is scarred from what they have witnessed whilst working on the battlefield

What is the form?

Equal stanzas/regular rhyme (contrast with chaos of war, reflecting him trying to stay detached and find control)

'he is finally alone'

IRONY

- Sense of finality/relief before poem has begun

ENJAMBMENT

- Suggests that he carries with him what he has seen

'spools of suffering set out in ordered rows'

METAPHOR, SIBILANCE

- For what is hidden from the public

- Emphasises suffering

JUXTAPOSITION

- Between 'spools' and 'ordered' could reflect contrast between chaos on battlefield and his structured job

'light is red and softly glows'

- Connotations of danger/violence/bloodshed

- Creates image of dying light, linking to death of soldiers

'a church and he a priest'

- Suggests his work is sacred

- Necessary to preserve/respect their lives

'Solutions slop in trays'

SIBILANCE, ONOMATOPOEIA

- Dehumanising

- Reflects how war is uncontrollable

'running children in a nightmare heat'

- Reference to famous Vietnam war photo makes poem more engaging/poignant

- 'children' evokes pathos

- 'nightmare' emphasizes the horrors of war

'blood stained into foreign dust'

- 'stained' reflects the permanence of the impact of war on him

- 'foreign' could suggest how the English public fail to feel a connection

'A hundred agonies in black and white'

EMOTIVE LANG.

- Reflects vast extent of suffering

- Loss of colour gives sense of hopelessness

- Soldiers are reduced to a photo, they do not have a voice

'pick out five or six for Sunday's supplement'

- Critical tone

- 'pick out' is dehumanising/diminishing

- 'supplement' reflects how it is not the main story/is only what the people want to hear rather than the truth

'they do not care.'

END STOPPING

- Pessimistic tone reflects his fustration

- Demonstrates futility of war