the manhunt - simon armitage

• War can destroy lives, cities, and whole nations
• The poem "The Manhunt" is by Simon Armitage, the current Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
• The poem is about the effects of the Bosnian War, which was a violent conflict that lasted from 1992-1995
• UN peacekeepers were sent to Bosnia to protect civilians, but many were injured and suffered from PTSD
• The poem is told from the perspective of Laura Beddoes, the wife of a British soldier named Eddie Beddoes who was injured as a peacekeeper
• The title "The Manhunt"


  Suggests someone has been lost and needs to be reclaimed, either literally or metaphorically
• The loving relationship between Laura and Eddie is suggested by "passionate nights and intimate days"


  But this loving reunion is short-lived, implying disruption ahead
• The poem's structure

  • The first three stanzas are rhyming couplets, traditionally associated with love poetry, but the rhyme scheme weakens, suggesting difficulties in the relationship
• The process of Laura caring for and repairing Eddie's physical and emotional wounds

  Binding his broken ribs, climbing the "rungs" to reach his heart, attending to his "fractured rudder of shoulder blade"
• The tone becomes more urgent and the metaphors more extended in the final stanzas, but the analysis of these is not included in this video
• "the manhunt"


  double entendre

  • search for an escaped person/police manhunt
  • search for oneself after being lost in conflict and war
• "the frozen river ran through his face"

  • the river is a metaphor for the emotions that are frozen in his face
  • permanent physical scarring on the mans face
• "the blown hinge of his lower jaw

  • could be a physical description of her husband due to the impact of war on his body
  • could be a metaphor of he husband's mental state which is preventing him from talking which leads to him keeping his emotions to himself
• "the damaged porcelain bone"


  • connotations of fragility
  • double entendre - porcelain is both fragile and beautiful
  • collar bone is close to voice box so it could be implied that there is beauty in his voice yet due to the psychological impact of war his voice is fragile
• “Frozen river ran through his face”


  • On a physical level, the adjective “frozen” emphasizes the permanent physical scarring on the man’s face; this reflects the brutality of war and its’ permanent impact.
  • On a deeper level, the metaphor of a ‘frozen river’ could signify psychological trauma as the scar goes ‘through his face’; Eddie has traumatic memories that haunt him.
  • To sustain the relationship the woman needs to break the ice.
  • Eddie has lost the ability to express himself, perhaps out of shellshock but there’s also the social expectation (contextually) to ‘man up’.
• “Unexploded mine buried deep in his mind”


  • The adjective “unexploded” emphasizes the ongoing risk and danger, both to the soldier and those around them.
  • The use of “buried” is also significant because it has multiple interpretations; that it is a deep and therefore impactful injury, and secondly that there could’ve been an attempt to ‘cover up’ this injury, due to social standards or fear of being misunderstood.
• "grazed heart"


  • unable to connect with his wife due to the impact of war on their relationship
  • difficulty in expressing himself as he is in a state of suffering
• "parachute silk of his punctured lung"

  • oxymoronic - parachute won't work if punctured
  • since his lungs are described this way it can imply that he is falling further into to depression and suffering as he feels he cannot prevent his psychological demise
• "foetus of metal beneath his chest"

  • juxtaposition: foetus connotes new life, birth and happiness yet what is growing in him is pain that continuously harvests his trauma
  • ironic: foetus is where life begins and the bullet is where life can abruptly end
  • metaphor:  the wound is a part of him (just like a baby is to their mother)  - emasculates Eddie reiterating that war is life changing
• "could I picture the scan"


  • “scan” to find a bullet, which would aid generate empathy, as rather than the happiness of a child, there is the hurt and damage of a bullet.
• "unexploded mine buried deep in his mind"

  • "unexploded" emphasises the impending risk and danger of Eddie losing it to his wife
  • “buried” is also significant because it has multiple interpretations; that it is a deep and therefore impactful injury, and secondly that there could’ve been an attempt to ‘cover up’ this injury, due to social standards or fear of being misunderstood.
• "only then"

  anaphora - suggests an ongoing journey (long process of recovery)
• The poem


  Describes the human cost of the conflict as it describes her experience on her husband's return and the effect on their relationship of the physical and mental scars that he bore
• The title 'The Manhunt'


  Suggests a chase or searching for something or that he is lost
• Images in the poem

  • Delicate materials "porcelain" and "silk" suggests beauty and vulnerability
  • Broken body parts "grazed heart", "broken ribs" suggests human casualties of war and the vulnerability of mind and body
• Pain still growing mentally and physically


  "foetus of metal" and "unexploded mine" suggests potential to still explode or permanent scarring
• Final words - "only then did I come close"


  Suggests it is a journey through his pain and healing and their reconciliation as a couple. She is finally closer to 'catching' him
• Poem structure


  • Made up of a series of couplets, mostly unrhymed
  • 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
  • Rhyme scheme falters as the poem progresses, reflecting the increasingly disjointed nature of their relationship
• 'The Manhunt' was originally aired as part of a Channel 4 documentary, Forgotten Heroes: The Not Dead, in which the painful truth of lives damaged beyond help is shown
• In the film 'The Manhunt' is read by Laura, wife of Eddie Beddoes. Eddie served as a peace-keeper in Bosnia before being discharged due to injury and depression
• Bosnia-Herzegovina is still recovering from a devastating three-year war which accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s
• The 1992-1995 conflict centred on whether Bosnia should stay in the Yugoslav Federation, or whether it should become independent
• Physical and Emotional Trauma


  • The poem delves into the aftermath of war, focusing on the physical and emotional scars left behind
  • The narrator's husband has returned from conflict with injuries, and the poem describes the painstaking process of examining each wound
• The husband's trauma


  • Is deeply ingrained, affecting both body and mind
• Love and Healing


  • Despite the pain and disconnection caused by the husband's injuries, the narrator remains committed to their relationship
  • The narrator embarks on a "manhunt" to find the emotional connection that has been lost
  • The poem portrays love as a healing force
  • The narrator's touch becomes a way to explore her husband's wounds and bridge the gap between them
• Intimacy and Vulnerability


  • The poem emphasizes the vulnerability of both partners
  • The husband's physical wounds make him fragile, while the narrator's emotional wounds are equally raw
  • The use of "invisible" and "unseen" highlights the hidden nature of trauma
  • The narrator's quest to uncover and heal these hidden wounds requires immense trust and intimacy
• The Power of Language


  • Armitage's language is precise and clinical, reflecting the medical context
  • The poem juxtaposes the clinical descriptions of wounds with the emotional weight they carry
  • The final lines, "only then would I let go," reveal the transformative power of language and touch
  • The narrator's love and understanding have the potential to release the husband from his emotional prison