War Photographer: Carol Ann Duffy

• Carol Ann Duffy


  Born in 1955, current Poet Laureate (first female and first openly bisexual Poet Laureate)
• War Photographer poem published


  1985
• Poem's structure


  • 4 stanzas, 6 lines per stanza, tight rhyme scheme (ABBCDD)
• Tight, controlled structure of the poem


  Contrasts with the chaos and horrors of war that the poem depicts
• Cyclical structure of the poem (begins and ends with the photographer travelling)


  Suggests the futility and predetermined nature of the photographer's role
• Cesura


  Structural device using full stops to separate "Rural England" from descriptions of war zones
• Half rhyme of "tears" and "beers"


  Quickens the pace of the final verse, representing how quickly people forget the horrors of war
• The poem contains references to the Bible (Isaiah 40:6) and a poem by Christina Rossetti, highlighting the timeless and universal nature of the themes
• Plosive consonants ("Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Pehn.")


  Create a sense of gunfire, breaking the peace and forcing the reader to pause and consider the place names
• "Half-formed ghost"


  Ambiguous phrase that could represent the fading/developing image, the mutilated victim, or a half-remembered memory
• The photographer "earns his living" and "they do not care"


  Ambiguous who "they" refers to - the public, the wider world, or the readers themselves
• The poem explores the futility of trying to express the true horrors of war, as people quickly forget or fail to fully engage with the images
• Carol Ann Duffy

  Born in 1955, current Poet Laureate (first female and first openly bisexual Poet Laureate)
• War Photographer poem published

  1985
• Carol Ann Duffy was friends with photographers Don McCullen and Philip Jones Griffiths, who were famous for their war photography
• Carol Ann Duffy: 'What interested her in writing the poem was the photographer and the difficult decisions he or she might have to make while taking pictures in a war zone'
• Dark room

  Process of developing photographs in the 1980s, when the poem was written, involving chemicals and red light
• Today, photographs are taken and edited digitally, rather than developed in a dark room
• The tight, controlled structure of the poem

  Reflects the war photographer's attempt to impose order on the chaos of war
• The tight, controlled structure of the poem

  Contrasts with the theme of the impossibility of presenting the true horrors of war
• Caesura

  Structural device where the line is broken by full stops, separating 'rural England' from the descriptions of war zones
• Half-rhyme

  The rhyme of 'tears' and 'beers' in the final verse, which quickens the pace and represents the speed at which people forget the horrors of war
• The cyclical structure of the poem, beginning and ending with the war photographer's trips

  Suggests the futility of the war photographer's job, as the cycle continues
• Symbolism

  The dark room and red light have sinister, evil connotations, contrasting with the religious imagery of 'church' and 'mass'
• 'All flesh is grass'


  Intertextual reference to the Bible and a poem by Christina Rossetti, highlighting the fragility of human life
• Plosives


  The use of plosive consonants like 'p' and 'b' in place names like 'Belfast' and 'Beirut' creates a sense of gunfire, forcing the reader to pause and consider the reality of war
• 'Half-formed ghost'


  Ambiguous phrase that could represent the fading or partial memory of a war victim, or the developing image in the photographer's dark room
• The futility of the war photographer's efforts

  Represented by the ambiguity of 'they do not care' - who is the 'they' that doesn't care?
• The poem is about the futility of trying to express the true horrors of war and conflict, a theme common in many war poems