poems WP

• In his dark room he is finally

  T- word choice

  E- "dark room"

  A- creates an intimate and tranquil setting of his 'dark room' he's usually surrounded by chaos and so appreciates this alone time and this causes a contrast with the sights/sounds of warfare. Use of enjambement also creates sense of chaos within his life and photographs.
• Alone

  T- word choice

  E- "alone"

  A- place of peace and sanctuary after being confronted with horrors. Although being alone may appeal to some who deal with daily stress and trauma, his sense of isolation throughout his job means that in a way, he is always alone.
• With spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.

  T- sibilance and metaphor

  E- "spools of suffering"

  A- use of sibilance through repetition of the 's' sound draws attention to the horrific images and how he tries to restore order to the chaotic images.

  
  

  Metaphor suggests contradiction of both human pain (seen as messy, emotional and uncontrollable) and the photos of pain all tightly rolled in film 'spools'. Then furthered developed by 'set out' and 'ordered rows'. This suggests he is trying to 'contain' the trauma by organising it.
• The only light is red and softly glows,

  T- symbolism

  E- "only light is red"

  A- connotations of the light that burns in Catholic Churches to symbolise the presence of Christ (also bold) he's seen a lot of this. The church-like quality of almost darkness is shown by "only light" and the "red" colour which suggests danger and colour of red blood but is soothed by 'softly glows'.
• As though this were a church and he is a priest preparing to intone a mass.

  T- religious imagery and simile

  E- 'As though this were a church and he is a priest preparing to intone a mass.'

  A- it seems as though his job of developing the pictures is a sacred ritual, as if his job was religious and professional, this idea is emphasised by the enjambement of these lines. It seems that his job matters and is very important. He is the one recording moments of life and death. It's as if he is almost a spiritual figure, and at the centre of a very important ritual.
• Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.

  T- short sentences

  E- 'Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.'

  A- the use of short sentences focuses our attention to each place. The location start near home and become more wide-ranging to identify zones of recent human conflict within the time of the poem. It represents all conflict zones around the world and shows that it is a known, universal suffering as if it's the same at each location.
• All fresh is grass

  T- quote

  E- 'all fresh is grass'

  A- this is a quote from The Bible: The Old Testament, Isaiah 40.6 and means that all life is temporary. Human life is no different to grass growing in a field. Effective, chilling statement to end first stanza.
• He has a job to do.

  T- short sentence

  E- 'he has a job to do'

  A- use of short sentence defeats peace of room and reminds him of the responsibility of his job.

  Use of monosyllabic language within sentence (words with one syllable) to create empathetic tone.
• Solution slops in trays

  T- alliteration and onomatopoeia

  E- 'solutions slop'

  A- the combined use of onomatopoeia and alliteration of the 's' and 'l' sound create a sloshing, liquid effect. It also creates a contrast to stanza 1 as it is no longer a calm setting. Further plural use of 'trays' suggests multiple each with many photographs.
• Beneath his hands, which did not tremble then though seem to now.

  T- enjambement

  E- 'beneath his hands'

  A- reinforces the ides of the responsibility he holds within his hands. He is creating the photo. It also highlights the contrast of his professionalism while taking the photos, to his true reaction of horror when looking back at them. His hands are 'trembling' which shows his connotations of fear and terror, we feel sorry for him as he deals with ans struggles to contain his emotions.
• Rural England

  T- contrasts

  E- 'Rural England'

  A- it seems like a nice place to live and to be, but if you compare it to Beirut and the other places listed, the contrast is huge. 'Rural' shares connotations of middle-class comfort suggesting a safe and happy place to live.
• Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,

  T- word choice

  E- 'Home again to 'ordinary pain' which simple weather can dispel,'

  A- 'home again' would usually refer to safety and comfort but the next lime dispels this. 'Ordinary pain' suggests the common nature of complaints made by people when home.

  Further developed by 'simple weather', stereotypical, dissatisfied conversation of British people.

  Both 'ordinary' and 'simple' show how minor problems faced by these people are and the ease, that people not face by these problems, live with.

  If a nice day of weather can 'fix' our problems, the problems clearly aren't very important.
• To fields which don't explode beneath the feet

  T- contrast

  E- previous line and 'To fields which don't explode beneath the feet'

  A- contrast between danger and war zones and safety at home in what doesn't happen in 'fields' in the UK but does in areas of conflict.

  
  

  Explosive, handmade bombs are often buried underground, this is shown by idea of fields exploding 'beneath the feet'. We see how a pleasant countryside turns into a place of unpredictability and horror, and has instead been transformed to a death trap. Nature has been changed into something horrific by humanity.
• Of running children in a nightmare heat

  T- imagery

  E-

  A- 'running' suggests terror and shows difference to children usually having fun and playing with their friends. Even children are now seen as enemies.

  Ironic as the children are running but are putting themselves in more danger by triggering the explosives beneath them.

  IEDs made to be in-discriminative as the children aren't specifically being targeted - random nature of attack makes it more impersonal.

  
  

  'Nightmare heat' shows warmth of explosions and high temps in some war zones as well as metaphorical 'heat' of the conflict. Implied contrast with pleasant weather, which solves problems of people in 'rural England'.

  'Nightmare' further emphasises horror and intensity of their fear.
• Something is happening.

  T- caesura and short sentence

  E- 'Something is happening.'

  A- use of caesura creates anticipation through there being no explanation of what the 'something' is. Suggest a lack of control as the horrified writer unfolds which is shown through the eyes of the war photographer.
• A stranger's features

  T- wordchoice

  E- 'strangers'

  A- word choice distances both photographer and reader from man in picture, he is unidentified and unidentifiable. This idea is confused by use of 'features' as opposed to 'face' as if his features are disembodied and not part of an expressive human being.
• faintly start to twist before his eyes,

  T- imagery

  E- 'faintly start to twist before his eyes,'

  A- image begins to appear 'faintly' as if it's a memory gradually coming into focus. This describes the developing process as the image becomes clearer, and the horror of the image, revealing that the man is dying or already dead.

  'Twist' reinforces the idea of pain and ' before his eyes' creates a feeling of immediately as its eyes are forced to look at the picture
• A half-formed ghost.

  T- irony

  E- 'half-formed ghost'

  A- the picture has not fully developed, but as the man no longer exists, he has become a 'ghost' (this shares connotations of haunting, and portrays the idea that the images still haunt him).

  
  

  Ironic, as the photographer is now recreating the dead man's image.
• He remembers the cries of this man's wife,

  T- wordchoice

  E- 'cries of this man's wife'

  A- His wife's pain brings him back as a human-being, he's now referred to as a 'man'. Her real reaction of his death is not described in words but instead in sounds (crying).
• How he sought approval without words to do what someone must

  T- word choice

  E- 'he sought approval'

  A- his reaction to the man's death was to ask permission to take a photo as opposed to just doing it. His sense of professionalism made him focus on his responsibility to report what happened.

  As he 'sought approval' Instead of permission, suggests he needed to be forgiven for what he was doing.

  
  

  Request made 'without words' due to language barrier and because in the moment gestures, spoke than words. Although he didn't necessarily want to take the photo due to his work, he had to and to raise awareness of what was going on the world.
• And how the blood stained into foreign dust.

  T- word choice

  E- 'stained'

  A- words shares connotations of something permanent, that will never go away and it always to be remembered. 'Stained' is literal as the blood sinks into sand and metaphorical, as the pain of seeing this will never go away.
• A hundred agonies

  T- word choice

  E- 'a hundred agonies'

  A- shows the large number of tragedies he has captured in his photographs. Although this may depersonalise them, the word 'agonies' highlights the intense experienced emotions ans the suffering the people went through.
• In black and white

  T- wordchoice

  E- 'black and white'

  A- this expression reflects a popular photographic medium during this time. it also suggests seeing things in this way suggested the photo is simplified and doesn't seem as bad however, a full understanding of what is going on would be far more complex.
• From which his editor will pick out five or six

  T- tone

  E- this tells us that only some of the pictures taken will be seen by the public, despite his effort to raise awareness for the suffering experience by these people. Dismissive tone of 'five or six' as this measurement is small and unclear, making the process of choosing them seem relaxed. Overall, little people care for those suffering so far away.

  A-
• For Sunday's supplement.

  T- alliteration

  E- 'Sunday's supplement.'

  A- this suggests that it's an extra feature and it's not even a front page, new story. It implies a lack of urgency about getting the pictures seen by the public suggesting that the editor does not find a very important.
• The reader's eyeball prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.

  T- word choice

  E- 'prick', 'eyeballs', 'between the bath and pre-lunch beers'

  A-

  'prick' suggests a sharp but unimportant pain, one that's over in a few seconds.

  'Eyeballs' suggest attachment by describing the tears as a physical reaction, the person isn't crying, but their eyeballs are.

  'between the bath and pre-lunch beers' shows the luxury ways in which they spent their Sunday. Reading the newspaper is just part of a routine and it's no more important than a glass of beer before lunch. It's suggested that they feel somewhat sad for the people and then go back to their day which makes them feel better about themselves.

  
  

  Alliteration of 'b' sound an internal rhyme of 'beers' and 'tears' allows these ideas to be connected.
• He stares impassively

  T- word choice

  E- 'impassively'

  A- the word choice continues the idea of distance. He has put his 'mask' back on in order to do his job well, but is perhaps become shielded as he still used to this idea of pain experienced by many.
• at where he earns his living and they do not care.

  T- tone

  E- 'and they do not care'

  A- despite him trying to help these people and raise awareness, if no one is bothered, is there really any point? Tone of despair at end of poem at the realisation of uselessness in his work. He's beginning to accept that, despite his work, it will make no difference.