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Poetry > The Manhunt > Flashcards

Flashcards in The Manhunt Deck (5)
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1
Q

Subject

A

From the perspective of the wife, a returning soldier with injuries

2
Q

Unusual language

A

‘Manhunt’ is used as a pun, wife’s search for husband that she knew so well but who seems lost to her after his experiences at war

3
Q

Structure

A

The poem is made up of a series of couplets, mostly unrhymed. This creates a sense of fragmentation, which matches the feelings of the soldier’s wife as she seeks to understand the man her husband has become.

4
Q

Techniques

A
  • Many of the first lines of the couplets have prominent verbs, reflecting the activities of the wife as she conducts her “search”. Words and phrases like “explore”, “handle and hold”, “mind and attend” are all references to careful treatment of her husband’s injured body, as well as suggesting her patient care for his mental state.
  • The speaker refers to parts of the husband’s body metaphorically, comparing them to inanimate objects rather than to living things. His jaw is a “blown hinge”, suggesting that he is no longer open to her, perhaps unable to talk of his feelings and experiences. His collar bone is “damaged, porcelain”, a metaphor that brings to mind something hard but also easily chipped and cold, a reminder of the “frozen river which ran through his face”.
5
Q

Imagery

A

“foetus of metal”