Remains by Simon Armitage

• “On another occasion”

  • The poem starts in media res which confuses the reader as they initially don’t know what’s going on.
  • This mirrors the confusion of the soldiers as they’re not mentally prepared for what may happen next
  • this “occasion” is just a regular day to day basis for the soldiers.
  • the soldiers are stuck in a repetitive cycle of war that they cannot escape from it even after war because the Ptsd will haunt them
• “Probably armed, possibly not”

  • Shows the endless possibilities in war
  • suggests the possibility that he might’ve been innocent - guilt, regret
  • ambivalent tone-soldiers don’t have minds of their own, they cannot choose whether the man is innocent or not they must only obey orders
  • fast pace, like a nursery rhyme, soldiers are not sane, ptsd effects them.
  • song- game to the soldiers, they’re indoctrinated to this that they don’t see the morbidity behind it
• “Are all of the same mind”

  • Robots
  • Broken down and built back up into mindless machines- they have kinds of their own and can kill people remorselessly.
  • Armitage criticises the way the government uses soldiers as political puppets- don’t care about how this will effect them later
  • the remorse will slowly seep back in and the soldiers will suffer- ptsd
• “Myself and somebody else and somebody else”


  “Somebody”- indefinite pronoun

  • The soldiers identities don’t matter- they have lost their identities
  • lack of individualism- fast pace emphasises this
  • mindless puppets for the government
  • Armitage is criticising the indoctrination of soldiers
  • he doesn’t have clear mind, he is effected by war
• “I see Broad daylight on the other side”

  • Emphasises the violence of how the gunshots ripped out pieces of his flesh so there’s a hole in the middle
  • criticism of the violence of war
  • makes the reader feel disturbed by the morbidity , criticise war as well
• “I see Broad daylight on the other side”

  • The noun “daylight” connotes joy and ecstasy, the soldier may feel joy at this killing
  • game for them, they’re enjoying this- broken down, remorseless robots ”all of the same mind” rhyme scheme- nursery rhyme
  • the soldiers are desensitised to war- war can make soldiers become ruthless, viscous as it eradicates their humanity
• Semantic field of colloquial language

  • “So we’ve hit this looted a dozen time”
  • ”sort of inside out”
  • ”carted off”
  • desensitised to war
  • the soldiers are used to war, it’s their everyday life
• “His bloody life in my bloody hands”

  • “Bloody hands” refers to the guilt the soldier faces
  • repetition of “bloody” suggests that he cannot get rid of the guilt it will haunt him like a “blood shadow”
  • The soldier can never escape the effects of war “end of story except not really” “remains”- war will continue to remain with them - assonance ‘o’ creates a harsh tone- harsh reality of war, highlights the double entendre
• “Drinks and drugs”

  • Due to the lack of counselling the soldiers receive soldiers have to turn to drinking and drugs
  • soldiers do not want to stay sober to escape the reality of war
  • Armitage criticises the lack of care the soldiers receive after war
  • last line- cyclical structure of the effects of war, will forever ‘remain’ with the soldiers.
• “Sun-stunned, sand smothered land”

  • Armitage is mocking the media as it presents war as obscure and faraway when in reality war effects everybody including soldiers who are haunted by war “end of story except not really”
  • sibilance creates a wistful, fanciful tone, perhaps Armitage wishes the war was left in a distant land not haunting him like a “blood shadow”
  • sibilance also creates a sinister tone connoting Armitage‘s anger that war will continue to haunt him