Poem - Remains Flashcards
Simon Armitage, poet of Remains, was named…
Millenium Poet
Armitage uses adjectives reinforced with sibilante to convey the speaker’s impression of the country he was in.
sun-stunned, sand-smothered
Armitage presents the dead man as physically being with the soldier
He’s here
The first seven stanzas are?
Quatrains which don’t rhyme
Simon Armitage creates a semantic field of urban references
“Bank”, “road”, “lorry”
Like soldiers in war we don’t understand what’s happening
On another occasion
War metaphors are used at home, showing their normality to the soldier. For example
Dug in behind enemy lines
Flush
Linked to Macbeth “a little water”
What does myself and somebody else and somebody else show?
Myself takes up little of the line. Deflection of blame
My bloody hands
Final line, final thought
Armitage uses repetitive phrasing and ideas to show how the soldier is haunted by…
His own sense of responsibility for the life he contributed in taking
Tone is set up with this colloquial phrase. This engages the reader with the poets words
Legs it
Verses one to four describe the killing while the rest of the poem describes the next four describe of the incident on the narrator.
This could show how the actual killing is only half of the story
This could reveal the soldier’s feelings of doubt. He is disturbed by the fact that the man he killed might have been innocent.
Probably armed, possibly not
The language of the poem is conversational and uses slang and colloquial language such as…
‘mates’ and ‘legs it’
Why is soldier relaxed (colloquial talk)?
War is everyday for him
This quote suggests that this isn’t the only time that the soldier has experienced traumatic events
On another occasion
Armitage creates a symbolic afterlife for the victim by using an…
Internalised and more poetic voice when describing the effects of war. This contrasts with the anecdotal and colloquial recounting of the initial event.
Cyclical structure : probably armed, possibly not
Inescapable consequences
“Remains” is a title with various connotations
Human remains; persistent memories; what is left of the soldier
The pace and rhythm of the poem gives the poem a…
Conversational tone
The soldier’s inability to escape what he’s done is evident in the line…
he’s here in my head when I close my eyes
This phrase is ironic, as the speaker continues to suffer the effects of war.
End of story
What does “then I’m on home leave.” show?
Leave followed by a full stop shows finality
Despite three soldiers being involved in the killing, the speaker leaves the reader with the recurring image of…
His bloody life in my bloody hands
How is disrespect shown to the body?
Tossed
Gap between “I swear / I see every round”
Broken sentence shows a broken man
This structural technique further shows someone speaking about a very personal experience.
Enjambement
The final stanza is different as it consists of only two lines. This change in structure could convey…
the narrator’s traumatic state of mind and that the soldier cannot ‘flush’ away the memory of the killing.
