War Photographer Flashcards
Carol Ann Duffy
context
Duffy wrote this poem to reflect on her thoughts and feelings about a friend of hers who was a war photographer. The photographer traveled to some of the worst conflict zones in the world and recorded the horror in photographs, which would appear in newspapers and news bulletins back at home.
stanza length + rhyme
care that the photographer takes when reporting war
punctuation
enjambent- overflowing emorion of death as well as gradual revealing of photo.
summary of each of the 4 stanzas
1 & 2: his work and what he does
volta
3: a certain death haunts him
4: how his work is received
setting; ‘d——–’
darkroom
on face value shows where he works but the use of ‘dark’ reveals the distrubing nature of what the photographer is working on- foreboding atmosphere
‘sp—- of s——– set out in ——– r—’
spools of suffering set out in ordered rows
how nothing can be compared to war and it is unimagineable as the chaos of war reduced to rows
‘as though this were a —— and he were a ——- preparing to —— a m—’
As though this were a church as he were preparing to intone a mass
shows the solemn as well as widespread destruction he witnesses during his work
‘B——. B——. P—– P—’
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh
plosive sound mimics the sound of gunfire
‘All f—- is g—-‘
All flesh is grass
biblical allusion saying that life is temporary
‘R—- E——’
Rural England
soft place name contrast with plosive in stanza 1
‘r——- c——- in a ———- h—’
running children in a nightmare heat
this photo, historically, is credited with ending the war- shows the importance of the photographer’s work historically, juxtaposed with the fact that no one cares now. but also alternatively shows the pain he has to go through to do his work as he has to capture such emotive photographs.
‘a half-f—– g—-‘
a half-formed ghost
specific death
on face value just suggests a photograph that is still developing but alternatively suggests that the person was mutilated and totally deformed and unrecogniseable- memory
‘to do what s—— must’
to do what someone must
despite the gruseomeness of the work, it is vital- like poppies where she lets her son free- duty.
‘A ——– a—— in b—– and w—-‘
A hundred agonies in black and white
metaphor shows extent of suffering by describing each case as an agony inidcating the pain that every person has gone through but the colour scheme also alternatively shows that there is no life in the photos
‘S——— s——–’
Sunday’s supplement
sibilance indiactes the photographer’s disgust that they can’t make the main newspaper
