Out of the Blue

Question 1

Out of the Blue — Context:

Answer 1

• Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in West Yorkshire. Armitage wrote this poem on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 to remember the victims of the attack.

•9/11 was the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City on 11th September 2001, in which 2976 people died. Both towers collapsed, the 2nd one a few hours later, when two planes flew into them.

• The narrator of the poem is based on an individual from one of many news clips that were shown across the world. This individual is one of many people high up in the burning tower, clinging to the windows as they escaped the burning heat inside. Armitage’s narrator is clearly seen waving a white shirt around and around.
• This poem deals with the impact of terrorism.

Question 2

Out of the Blue — Structure:

Answer 2

The short, contained 4-line stanzas create a claustrophobic feeling in the poem and helps convey the speaker’s feeling of being tightly trapped and confined in the building.

•Visually, the poem looks like a tower. Keeping with this idea, it could be said that the speaker is at the top of the tower (“me” in line 1) while his loved one (“my love”) and the emergency services (“Sirens below”) are on the ground at the foot of the tower, as they are mentioned in the last/bottom stanza. This reinforces how out of reach and helpless the speaker is.

•The tight, compact structure could also symbolise how the speaker is trying to contain his fear/emotions and maintain a level of self-control in a heightened situation.