Remains

• PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) stories and experiences

• Highlight the changes in life and relate to the speaker in the poem
• Stories and experiences of sufferers, life changes, relation to the speaker in the poem
• The speaker in the poem "Remains" experiences vivid memories and guilt related to a violent event
• Colloquialism 'legs it'


  • Used to give a realistic tone to the voice of the speaker
• 'Possibly not' undermines the severity of the statement in the poem


  • The power to decide whether to shoot is questioned
• Soldiers described as cards in Poker in the poem

  • Emphasis on chance in the event
• Graphic Hyperbole


  • Used to demonstrate the lack of glory or honour in the killing, presented in a matter-of-fact way
• Dehumanised 'looter' 'sort of inside out'


  • Makes the victim appear more of an object than a person
• Metaphor for the memory of the man and events in the poem

  • Blood connotes death, shadow connotes lingering memory
• Repetition in the poem

  • Shows the thought replaying in the speaker's mind, indicating guilt and powerlessness
• Cliché 'flush' in the poem

  • Describes getting rid of something unwanted, transitioning from war to everyday life
• Analogy in the poem

  • Describes the memory like a hostile soldier in the speaker's mind
• Sibilance in the poem

  • Gives the impression of a sinister dream/nightmare-like state
• Pun in the poem

  • Bitter/dark humour, expressing anger/hate and conflict with the dead man and the speaker's own mind
• Themes in the poem

  • Looks at conflict in a direct way and heavily at the after effects of conflict on the people involved
• By the end, the poem leaves on a dramatic note
• Memory hurts the soldier more than the event itself
• Colloquial nature of the speaker's voice enhances realism
• Conflict in the speaker's mind, avoiding the reality of the haunting memory
• Explores a soldier's experiences at war and the suffering from memory
• Use of slang to show the tone of the speaker
• Discrepancy between how the speaker talks about the event and the actual content
• Post traumatic stress and mental illness common in soldiers struggling with horrific memories
• Simon Armitage is a direct UK poet focusing on war experiences
• The soldier in the poem appears numb to the horror of war, using slang and clichés to trivialize the experience
• The soldier tries to maintain control by trivializing the war experience