Power And Conflict Poetry - Remains Flashcards
Who wrote Remains?
Simon Armitage
What is the big idea?
The poem looks at conflict in a direct way as well as the after effects of conflict and the long term consequences of PTSD. It explores the soldiers power over life as well as the power of memory
What is the structure?
8 stanzas - last is a couplet
No rhyme - internal rhyme - numb
Monologue - conversational tone shows realism
On another occasion
Anecdotal language
Suggests this is one of many events
Legs it
Colloquialism gives a realistic time
Probably armed, possibly not
Aside - undermines the severity of what happened. He has the power
Three of a kind
Soldiers described as cards in poker
Everything about war is chance
I see B-road daylight on the other side
Graphic hyperbole - lack of honour in this killing
Sort of inside out
Dehumanising
Making the victim an object
Mates
Colloquialism
Appears like a night out
Tosses
The nature of what is happening
A violent murder juxtaposed with a relaxed conversational tone
His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrol
Metaphor of the memory of the man’s death
probably armed, possibly not
Repetition from the start showing how guilty and powerless he feels
the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out
Colloquial cliche
Part of everyday life
Dug in behind enemy lines
Memory like a hostile soldier
