Power and conflict

• marks of weakness, marks of woe'


  mark alludes to a corruption or spot which needs to be erased, reader wonders if this mark is indelible or erasable, will a solution be provided.

  Melancholy tone
• blood runs down palace walls'


  alludes to hypocrisy of royalty, placing the blame onto the rich for the deaths of the poor whilst they live comfortably amongst the palaces 'blood stained' walls.

  Suggesting that they are not ignorant but instead evil and comfortable with killing the poor.
• the youthful harlots curse'


  oxymoron, 'curse followed by 'crying infant' suggesting that the harlot has a hardened heart and so does society, no need to comfort a crying baby. Innocents

  shed tears and the perverted attack them.
• like a tame cat turned savage


  Simile- makes the storm seem unpredictable and untameable as it follows no power being able to perform destruction along with beauty
• exploding comfortably


  Shows the effortless nature of the storm as it is able to cause chaos and destruction with little effort suggesting there is more to come
• Strange, it is a huge nothing we fear'


  oxymoron, winds are invisible possibly mirroring the conflicts in Ireland. Politics are invisible yet impactful.
• Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die:


  Repetition—Obediently follow as is their duty despite knowing they will die. Shows dedication to their country. Dehumanizing portraying them as mindless puppets

  Possible corruption of government
• "jaws of Death, mouthof hell


  Metaphor, Seem like they are bound to die (dooming) as they charge into their deaths which alludes to their bravery as they were clearly outnumbered.
• When can their glory fade?
• worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous'


  mirrors the soldiers paranoia. Listing mimics short, fast and quiet intakes of breath. Personifies and villainizes nature which provides the reader with an insight into the minds of the soldiers. 'what are we doing here?
• for love of God seems dying'


  soldiers feel so hopeless that life begins to lose meaning, become nomistic, wonder if God is punishing them
• Merciless iced winds that knife us


  personification (cruel and murderous wind); sibilance (cutting/slicing sound of wind); ellipsis (never-ending). The winds have no mercy and the soliders feel as if they are beinf stabbed with cold. This is in contrast to beinf stabbed with real bayonets in a real battle. The ellipsis wants us to ponder on the idea, cruel winter.
• as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass'


  the way in which the photographer prepares the photos o the victims is almost ritualistic, almost like a priest conducting a funeral except he is not laying them to rest and instead exploiting their pain - contrast makes reader question his humanity.
• All flesh is grass


  This is biblical quotation. In it's full context, the phase is used to illustrate that the word of God is eternal and consistent compared to human life which is transient and brief.

  In this context in the poem, this ties in with the religious imagery. It has already been suggested that the photographer is spreading an important message through his photos (as a priest spreads his messgae through the word of God). This quotation develops that highlighting how the suffering the photographer shoots is constantly changing and on-going because photos succeed in capturing it and making it permanent.

  The rhyming of 'mass' and grass' as well as the mention of Phnom Penh might also invoke the mass graves or burial sites, where the bodies/victims of genocide/war decompose and literally turn to grass in the soil.

  The juxaposition of this phrase with the list of which is perhaps an ironic comment: yes, all human life ends eventually, but in such places as these it ended much sooner.
• Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows


  Alliteration, Assonance, Word Choice / Image

  Repetition of the constant sound 's' and the sound 'o' mirrors the repetition of the spools laid out on the photographer's table: each spool clearly and methodically marked out: repetitive, meticulous arrangement of the film.

  The 'ordered' rows brings to mind the image of tombstones or ranks of soldiers created to the horrors of war which are depicted on themselves.

  Including the adjective 'ordered' emphasises the photographer's methodical, almost robotic ways of working.
• "a hundred agonies in black-and-white"


  Metaphor and AmbiguityIn this metaphor the photographs have become physical manifestations of pain and suffering, as each one tells a story.The pictures are literally monochrome. Alternatively there is no doubt or uncertainty about the agony in the pictures: the suffering is there to see 'in black and white'.
• ye Mighty and despair!


  Uses imperatives to tell viewers of his once mighty to statue to give up upon looking at his marvels. The fact that he tells them to despair is chilling and signify inhuman cruelty.

  dramatic irony in comparison to where the ruler emains now. Powerless
• King of Kings' -


  Arrogant and powerful - he even challenged other rulers.

  a previously 'normal person' has been given an immense power which has resulted in an egotistical god complex. Biblical referse. His failure is almost cathartic since it is a

  punishment from God.
• boundless and bare' "lone and level sands


  Alliteration - emphasises the feeling of empty space in the surrounding dessert.

  Irony, power is ephemeral