war photographer Flashcards
(11 cards)
message
impossibility of presenting true horror of war. Shows ignorance of british public. Shows attempt to organise chaos of war and its futility
context
poet laureate and published in 1985. Close war photographer friends.
structure
tight and controlled. 4 stanzas, 6 lines, ABBCDD rhyme scheme
Could reflect purpose of war photographers job who is attempting to organise the chaos of war so that it can be more easily digested by those consuming the information on it. Bit of a stretch but 4 x 6 stanzas x lines could represent the very common typical photo size in the uk of 4 x 6 inches representing how this poem too is merely a snapshot of the horrors of war. Juxtaposes the theme which is of the chaos of war shows that what we think and understand about war is not the reality and it is impossible to grasp. His efforts are futile as we cannot realise the extreme nature of war as after viewing it eveyrything carries on as normal just like how the stanzas carry on in the same way they have been.
cyclical structure
from just getting home, “finally alone” to going back to a war zone “from the aeroplane”
Futility of the war photographers job as he attemps to continue to show the horrors over and over but it will be ignored again and again.
caesura
“. Rural England. “ between 2 full stops
Seperated completetly from descriptins of warzone representing how the people perceiving the images can easily seperate thenselves from the horror of it and quickly move on with life.
half rhyme
“prick / with TEARS between the bath and pre-lunch BEERS”
Quickens the pace of line showing they are sad for a second, in the tears, but it is very quickly overcome by the beers they have the privelidge of. The quick pace represents the quick pace at which the horrors of war are overlooked by the british public.
symbolism
“dark room” and “red light” contrasts with religious imagery of “church” and “mass”
A contradiction showing two things that are opposed backing up the point of trying to control the chaos of wawr through the structure.
imagery
“spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
The orderliness of the film camera reels are being compared to the gravestones in a graveyard. This is supposed to make us think of death and the needless suffering involved in war.
biblical allusion
“all flesh is grass”
Fleeting nature of life. Represents the fragility of life. Histoic references: this has been here forever but were still ignoring it.
plosives
“belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.”
quick fire pace like gunfire. Break th epeace of the poem. The ceasura froces us to stop and think about these places as we canot just keep moving and forget about it.
pronoun
“he earns his living and THEY do not care”
Who is they?? Wider world, british public, the reader of the poem? Shows apethtic nature towards the suffering.
