Remains

• What is the form and opening for the poem Remains?

  Monologue and the poem begins in media-res
• 'on another occasion, we got sent out' - analyse(REMAINS)


  . 'another occasion' suggests one of many times

  . ' sent out' suggests dismissal - war is a punishment

  . 'sent out' foreshadows what is going to happen to the the soldiers mind (becoming excluded for his own identity)
• ' I see every round as it rips through his life' - Remain?


  TURNING POINT of poem. Personal pronoun suggests moving from collective responsibility to blaming himself

  'round and rips'- the harsh alliteration showcases the blame on himself . 'round' presents an idea of circularity and that the memory of this keeps replaying in his mind.

  The PRESENT TENSE suggests the event is permanently stuck in the memory
• 'one of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body'?


  The use of colloquial language juxtaposes the horror that is being described

  . The use of sibilance ('tosses his guts') creates a sinister mood to something the narrator is trying to pass of as normal
• what is discordance?


  The lines of the poem not rhyming
• 'and the drink and the drugs wont flush him out' ?


  The allusion to excrement suggests the narrator feels disgusted with himself

  Armitage is trying to tell readers that the memory of war remains with the soldiers
• 'But near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands'?


  Use of discordance highlights the disruption in his mind

  'his bloody life in my bloody hands' - literacy allusion to Macbeth suggest the looters life is as important as a king and the consequences of murdering him will be as tragic as it was in the play.

  Personal pronoun suggests the soldier sees himself as a murderer which contrasts the collective pronouns used at the beginning of poem
• What is the poets message in Remains?

  How mental health is effected by war

  One culture should not impose on another

  Highlights the after-math of war and the effects on individuals who participate
• What is the context of Remains?

  The poem is based on the account of a British Soldier who served in Iraq and the PTSD he struggles with
• Who is the poet of Remains?

  Simon Armitage