Remains

• Remains in a nutshell

  This poem was written by poet laureate Simon Armitage as part of a collection of poems inspired by a Channel 4 documentary called “The Not Dead”, shown in 2007. The documentary was about the impact of war on soldiers returning home and the poem was created in order to raise awareness of PTSD and encourage better recognition of the condition in society.

  The first person narrator is a soldier fighting during the Iraq war, who is haunted – even after he returns home – by his involvement in the shooting of a bank looter. Armitage uses a conversational style and vivid imagery to offer a realistic portrait of a person hugely affected by grief, guilt and trauma. The poem, therefore, explores the effects of trauma both during and after active duty and suggests that the effects of war linger long after the soldiers leave the battlefield, leading to inner conflict and turmoil.
• Remains breakdown

  Lines 1-4

  “On another occasion, we get sent out

  to tackle looters raiding a bank.

  And one of them legs it up the road,

  probably armed, possibly not.”

  Translation

  • The poem starts with the speaker in the middle of a conversation, implying that he has been talking about his experiences for quite a long time
  • The phrase “we get sent out” indicates that the speaker is working as part of a team or unit, acting under somebody else’s orders
  • The term “looters” is normally given to thieves raiding buildings during war time
  • The speaker uses the slang term “legs it”, indicating that they run away quickly
  • The speaker is unsure whether the man is carrying a weapon or not
• Armitage’s intention

  • The poet uses a colloquial opening to the poem, as if the soldier is speaking to an unknown third party
  • This suggests the soldier has to deal with things like this on a regular basis and the speaker’s tone implies an element of weariness 
  • Armitage does not believe there is glory or honour in war, so this is a very human poem focusing on the realities of conflict
  • The use of slang could imply the speaker is quite young and not emotionally prepared for what will come next
  • This may be the poet making a social comment that soldiers are launched into situations that they don’t fully understand, but they just have to get on with it
  • The final line of the stanza is important, as it becomes clear later in the poem that the speaker is overwhelmed by the guilt of potentially killing an unarmed man
• Lines 5-8

  “Well myself and somebody else and somebody else

  are all of the same mind,

  so all three of us open fire.

  Three of a kind all letting fly, and I swear”

  Translation

  • The speaker cannot remember who was with him at the time, but there were three of them
  • Their training and instinct means that they all think the same thing at the same time – that the looter is a threat
  • The simple but brutal statement that “all three of us open fire” demonstrates that the soldiers have stopped being individual, free-thinking beings, but rather a entity that reacts on instinct and training
  • This is reinforced by the description of them as “three of a kind”
  • “All letting fly” tells us that all three soldiers open fire on the looter simultaneously
• Armitage’s intention

  • Hazy recollection as a result of a traumatic event is commonly reported, so it is not unusual for the soldier to not remember the details of who was with him at the time
  • It is probably not really significant anyway – the soldiers have all blurred into one
  • This is emphasised by the fact they are “all of the same mind”, suggesting they are somehow joined together by war
  • This strips them of their individuality and suggests they are cogs in the larger mechanism of an army
  • The horror of the final two lines in this stanza is deliberately understated, as though it were an everyday occurrence
  • The stanza finishes with an enjambed line, returning the focus to the speaker, re-humanising him
• Lines 9-12

  “I see every round as it rips through his life – 

  I see broad daylight on the other side.

  So we’ve hit this looter a dozen times

  and he’s there on the ground, sort of inside out,”

  Translation

  • Now the soldier focuses on every individual bullet hitting the man, tearing him to pieces
  • They hit the looter 12 times
  • He falls to the ground, with parts of his internal organs spilling out

  Armitage’s intention

  • The poet suggests that now the soldier alone seems to understand the consequences of their actions
  • The continued colloquial tone helps to give more of an impression of the speaker being young and inexperienced at life
  • This could be taken as the moment the soldier loses his innocence, as the gruesome imagery transitions from the colloquial to the emotional
• Lines 13-16

  “pain itself, the image of agony.

  One of my mates goes by

  and tosses his guts back into his body.

  Then he’s carted off in the back of a lorry.”

  Translation

  • The poem continues with the vivid image of the looter in extreme pain
  • We are introduced to a second person, the soldier’s “mate”, who casually walks by and “tosses” his internal organs back into his body
  • The use of the verb “tosses” denotes a lack of care or respect
  • The looter is then placed in the back of a lorry and driven away
  • It is unclear whether he is still alive or dead at this point
• Armitage’s intention

  • This stanza reflects the way that soldiers often have to disengage with what is happening in order to cope with it
  • It also dehumanises the looter, who remains nameless and who gets “carted off” in the back of a lorry as though he were an object
  • On a wider scale, Armitage is commenting on how conflict causes the devaluation of human life, where gruesome death can be seen as an everyday occurrence
• Lines 17-20

  “End of story, except not really.

  His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrol

  I walk right over it week after week.

  Then I’m home on leave. But I blink”

  Translation

  • Although that should be the end of that story, it isn’t, as the soldier is haunted by the memory of the event
  • The looter’s blood stain remains on the street where the soldier has to walk
  • It is an imprint of his existence which the soldier cannot escape from
  • Then the soldier is sent home for a break
• Armitage’s intention

  • Armitage implies that death stains a person’s conscience and memory just as blood stains the ground
  • The “blood-shadow” is indicating to the soldier that there will be no real way to forget or move on from the event
  • The use of caesura in the final line suggests that going home should be the end of things, but is followed by “but” which tells us it isn’t
  • The use of the word “blink” has connotations of waking up, as though from a dream or a daydream
  • The use of enjambment suggests the merging of reality and memory
• Lines 21-24

  “and he bursts again through the doors of the bank.

  Sleep, and he’s probably armed, possibly not.

  Dream, and he’s torn apart by a dozen rounds.

  And the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out – ”

  Translation

  • The poem breaks down into a more stream of consciousness form, as the speaker recalls what he sees every time he blinks
  • He relives the looter bursting through the doors of the bank again
  • While sleeping, the speaker wonders if the man was armed or not
  • His dreams are filled with the image of the looter’s body being ripped apart by bullets
  • The speaker has turned to drink and drugs, but even these don’t stop the flashbacks
• Armitage’s intention

  • The poet tells us that the speaker cannot find any peace
  • He continues to be haunted by what happened and the flashbacks of it
  • It is as though the speaker is reliving the event over and over, hence the repetition of previously used lines
  • The speaker is clearly suffering from PTSD and does not seem to be receiving any support for it
  • He just has to live with the memories
  • Armitage uses a military term in “flush him out” to describe the soldier’s efforts in trying to dislodge the memory of the dead looter
  • To “flush out” means to try to get the enemy to break cover, suggesting that the memory is an enemy in itself
• Lines 25-28

  “he’s here in my head when I close my eyes,

  dug in behind enemy lines,

  not left for dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land

  or six-feet under in desert sand,”

  Translation

  • The use of military terms continues, as the looter is a constant presence in the speaker’s head
  • He has “dug in”, meaning the memory of the looter is determined never to leave the speaker
  • The looter is not lying half-dead in some far off hot land, or buried in a grave in a desert
• Armitage’s intention

  • The poet shows us that the memory is entrenched in the mind of the speaker, metaphorically forever stuck behind enemy lines
  • The use of the term “left for dead” also implies doubt as to whether the looter was actually dead when he was thrown into the back of the lorry
  • This also seems to haunt the narrator
  • The hazy, almost dream-like description of “some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land” implies that if something has happened so far away, it should not still be having an impact
  • The fact that Iraq itself is not specifically mentioned means that this could be applied to any conflict
• Lines 29-30

  “but near to the knuckle, here and now,

  his bloody life in my bloody hands.”

  Translation

  • The narrator then reveals the memory is “near to the knuckle”, meaning that it is not a distant memory, but it is immediate and risky
  • The memory is causing him pain and making it impossible for the speaker to move on
  • The reference to “bloody” could mean literal blood, or a curse, suggesting that this event has cursed him
  • The speaker’s hands are metaphorically stained with the looter’s blood
• Armitage’s intention

  • Armitage intentionally ends the poem without resolution
  • This mirrors the lack of escape, respite or resolution the soldiers affected by PTSD experience for years, or even over their entire lifetime, after the event
  • The title of the poem, “Remains”, can mean the physical remains of the murdered looter, and also the stubborn determination of the memories that refuse to leave the narrator alone
• Form

  Remains is written in the form of a dramatic monologue in the present tense, made up primarily of regular four-line stanzas. However, despite this regularity, there is nothing normal about the rhythm, rhyme or content. The use of a very regular, ordinary form makes the content of the poem seem mundane, like a normal occurrence. The lack of rhyme, along with structural elements such as enjambment, imply the chaos and turmoil underneath. Herein lies the conflict in the poem: an extraordinary event which has such lasting implications on the individual, discussed in such a normal, conversational way.
• Form: Remains

  
• Form: Remains

  
• Structure

  Armitage uses enjambment and caesura to add to the conversational style of the poem, but also to fragment it. This sense of confusion is further emphasised by the fact that the poem starts with the connective “another”, as if the reader is entering part way through a longer story-telling. The speaker is unnamed, meaning this could be about any soldier in any conflict. The narrator’s thoughts and feelings unravel further as the poem progresses, reflecting his inner conflict and turmoil.
• Structure: Remains

  
• Structure: Remains

  
• Language

  Armitage not only contrasts colloquial language with gruesome imagery, but uses language to demonstrate the loss of individuality and humanity in war, and the lasting psychological impact war can have on individuals.

  
• Language

  Armitage

  
• Context: Armitage’s intention in this poem was to explore the reality of war and its lasting impact on those involved, which gives us the sub-heading for context:

  • The Nature of War and its Impact
• The Nature of War and its Impact

  • Remains is part of a collection of poems called “The Not Dead”:
  • These poems focus on the testimonies of ex-soldiers who had served in several conflicts
  • This particular poem was based on the stories of a young soldier who fought in Basra, Iraq
  • Armitage himself has never been to war, so his poetry is based entirely on other people’s experiences
  • However, the speaker in the poem is not named, nor a gender identified:
  • This helps the speaker feel like an everyman or everywoman
  • In other words, just a regular person thrown into facing horrifying circumstances and situations
  • This idea is further supported by the use of colloquial language and British slang
  • Armitage wanted to highlight what soldiers experience compared to the general population
• • Armitage also does not identify a specific war, although the references to the desert suggest the Middle East:
  • The references to machine guns and trucks suggest that this is a tale about modern warfare
  • The soldiers involved in Middle Eastern conflict were subject to heavy casualties
  • Many have suffered severe mental health issues following their return home
  • The poem relates some of the symptoms of PTSD, such as disturbed sleep and flashbacks:
  • Armitage, therefore, explores the idea that, regardless of how much time has passed, it is no healer when it comes to soldiers who have been psychologically scarred by conflict
• • In a more abstract sense, the poem is also set in the speaker’s mind
  • Ultimately, the poem focuses on the reality and horror of warfare, and the moral ambiguity which so often features in decisions that are made in the heat of battle
  • This is referenced as well in the imagery of blood in the final couplet, symbolising the guilt the characters feel
• Given that Remains focuses mainly on the lasting impact of war, the following comparisons would be a good place to start:

  • Remains and Bayonet Charge
  • Remains and War Photographer
• Remains and Bayonet Charge

  Comparison in a nutshell:

  This comparison allows an exploration of how an individual soldier’s experience of conflict and war is presented, as well as its psychological impact.

  Similarities:

  
• Remains and Bayonet Charge

  
• Remains and Bayonet Charge, Differences:

  
• War Photographer and Remains

  Comparison in a nutshell:

  Both Duffy’s War Photographer and Armitage’s Remains highlight the suffering inflicted through haunting memories in the wake of war. 

  Similarities:

  
• War Photographer and Remains

  
• War Photographer and Remains, Differences:

  
• War Photographer and Remains, Differences: