carol ann duffy poems Flashcards
the only light is red and softly glows as though this were a church
simile, religious imagery
he sees himself as a priest because they spread news and change peoples lives and he does the same with photos
dark room
word choice, metaphor
suggest he literally is in a dark room it takes him to a dark place literally
finally alone
word choice, inversion
inversion is to emphasise
“finally” suggests he’s been longing for solitude
“alone” reflects the loneliness of his job
spools of suffering set out in ordered rows
alliteration, word choice
the harsh “s” and the “o” is marked out
the ordered rows brings the image of tombstones or ranks of soldiers linking to the horror of war
the only light is red and softly glows
“only” builds on the idea of solitude and loneliness
“red” symbolises danger/blood what be deals with taking photos
“softly glows” idea of safe,lonely, quiet
as though this were a church and be a priest preparing to intone a mass
extended imagine
the developing room is compared to a church
comparable to spreading the word of god
beirut. belfast. phnom panh
list, single word sentences
sounds like roll call like they’re from a longer list
the places have suffered from civil war genocide
all flesh is grass
biblical, juxtaposition
bible quotation used to illustrate that god is eternal
photographer is spreading an important message in his photos
mass graves where the bodies decompose and turn into grass
he has a job to do
simple sentence
refers to him developing photos that he literally has a job to do
solutions slop
alliteration, word choice, onomatopoeia
“solutions” means literally the liquid used to develop the pictures also suggests the solution to the problem
the solution to the problem is sloppy
contrasts between the messiness of war and the order at home
hands which didn’t tremble then though seem to now
his hands were steady when taking photos when he’s home he suppress his stress
rural england
word choice
shifts to the photographers home rural connotes a perfect country side life
green grass, peaceful, calm
Ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel
word choice
The oxymoron “ordinary pain”, then, makes the reader consider what is meant. The kind of pain experienced in “rural England” is not really pain at all, but unhappiness which can be solved by more sunshine.
Fields which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat
word choice
These lines emphasise the terrible contrast between this life, and the “nightmare” life in a war zone (which might contain minefields.)
Something is happening
simple sentence
The “something” is ambiguous: literally a photograph is developing, but something else is happening too – the photographer is experiencing all the associated feelings and memories that the photo holds for him.
A stranger’s features/slowly start to twist before his eyes
word choice
The photograph begins to develop. The word “twist” is a verb with connotations of pain, anguish, horror or shock. This may be because the man in the photo is dying or in pain, it may reflect the anguish of the photographer himself.
A half-formed ghost
metaphor
The man in the photo has become a ghost. This suggests his death. Perhaps too, the photographer is “haunted” by memories of it.
He remembers the cries/of how this man’s wife, how he sought approval/without words to do what someone must/and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
As the photograph begins to come to life, so too do the photographer’s memories of the incident.
Extra senses are described: the sound of the wife’s sorrow and the colour/texture of his blood soaking into the earth.
The incident highlights the moral dilemma faced by the war photographers. They have a job to do but they are intruding on other people’s misery.
A hundred agonies in black and white
metaphor
In this metaphor the photographs have become physical manifestations of pain and suffering: each one tells a story
the pictures are literally monochrome. Alternatively, there is no doubt or uncertainty about the agony in the pictures:
the suffering is there to see in black and white
From which his editor will pick out five or six
word choice
In contrast to the “hundreds” of pictures of suffering available, the editor only has room for a few. The word “pick” and the vagueness of “five or six” suggests a criticism of the editor for being casual/off-hand when dealing with these pictures.
For Sunday’s supplement
alliteration, word choice
There is perhaps an implicit criticism here: the photographer’s pictures aren’t considered important enough to be part of the main news section, but are relegated to the “extra bits.
