Remains Flashcards
“On another occasion, we got sent out”
The poem begins in media res. It’s a monologue.
This event is one of many, and is the worst, saved till last.
“We got sent out” sounds like a punishment rather than an order. Can infer that war is an exclusion.
“I see every round as it rips through his life-“
This is a Volta. Structurally narrator moves from collective we to I.
“Round” gives us the idea of circularity. This is a memory he keeps coming back to.
“One of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body”
Colloquial language.
Casual action “tosses his guts” juxtaposes the horror of the moment.
The sibilance emphasises the casual action and creates a sinister mood.
“And the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out-“
Powerful repetition suggests that he keeps turning to these substances perhaps due to depression or self medication.
Armitage makes a wider political point, saying that these experiences remain with the soldiers when they return.
“Won’t flush him out” metaphor using the language for exposing the enemy.
“But near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands”
The ending does not rhyme, showing discordance. Emphasises his lack of control.
Literary allusion to the hands of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Suggests that the looters life was just as precious as a king’s.
Changes of personal pronouns “his” and “my” he sees himself as the guilty party. At the beginning it was “we”.
