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Similarities
- Theme of Loss - In 'The Manhunt', the speaker is literally searching for her 'lost' husband (hence the title) and they have lost the trust that she then needs to try to regain (shown through repetition of 'would he let me'. In 'A Wife in London', the woman receives news of her husband's death, ('he - is fallen - in the far south land')
- War - (Context) 'A Wife in London' was written about the Boer War in what is now South Africa, and 'The Manhunt', despite being written in a different century, still explores ideas about relationships affected by war, this time from the Beddoes couple, the husband of which was a peacekeeper in Bosnia
- Women - Both poems show not only the impact that war has on a relationship (death, loss of intimacy, etc) but shows it from the perspective of a woman. 'The Manhunt' is written in Laura's POV, and Hardy writes about 'A Wife' (from the title) - this in itself implies that she is defined by her position and is one of many
- Emotions - Although they do it differently, both poems show the feelings of the women. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy ('tawny vapour' and 'fog') to show the confused state and lack of recent news. Armitage shows a loving and caring nature through the use of verbs that demonstrate tenderness - 'trace' 'handle and hold' 'finger and thumb' 'mind and attend' - showing caution
- Rebuilding Relationships - Armitage writes about Laura's experience with regaining the trust between her and her husband, and though he is dead, the husband of the anonymous wife in Hardy's poem writes about 'home-planned jaunts' and 'of the new love they would learn' which portrays an intention to rebuild the relationship following his return from the Boer War
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Differences
- Focus - Armitage writes mostly about the relationship itself and he injuries sustained by Eddie Beddoes, e.g: 'the parachute silk of his punctured lung', whereas Hardy writes more about the state of the wife and her poverty - he refers to a 'waning taper' (cheap candle) and 'firelight flicker'
- Structure - 'The Manhunt' is fragmented into 13 couplets which reflect Eddie's broken physical and mental state, and also the patience and small steps it took his wife to regain his trust. 'A Wife in London' is regular and split into two sections to show a sense of time, and to demonstrate the cyclical nature of life and how life goes on
- State of Relationship - Armitage writes about how Laura works to re-establish the relationship and to fix it ('only then' repetition reflects how long it took her and therefore how much effort she is willing to put in), however in Hardy's poem the wife cannot do anything - the 'fog hangs thicker' which shows how isolated, unknowing and helpless she is; she cannot bring him back or even say goodbye to her dead husband, as 'the worm now knows' him
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