War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy

?

CONTEXT 
Carol Ann Duffy, in 2009, was the first women to hold the post of Poet Laureate 
War Photographer was published in 1985

THE STORY OF THE POEM 
A war photographer is in his darkroom, developing pictures that he's taken in war' across the world
Being back in England is a big contrast - it is safe and calm compared to where he's been
When a photo begins to develop, the photographer remembers the death of the man
He also remembers the cries of the man's wife 
The final stanza focuses on the people in England who will see his photos in their Sunday papers
The speaker thinks they don't really care about the people and places in the photographs 

KEY THEMES IN THE POEM 
Effects of Conflict
Reality of Conflict
Memory
Anger
Guilt
Individual experience 

FORM
The poem has 4 stanzas of equal length and a regular rhyme - this echoes the care that the photographer takes over his work. 
The use of enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo as it develops 

STRUCTURE
The poem follows the actions and thoughts of the photographer in his darkroom 
There is a distinct change of tone at the start of the third stanza when the photographer remembers a specific death.
In the final stanza, the focus shifts to the way the photographers work is received 

RELIGIOUS IMAGERY
The references to religion make it sound almost as…

Comments

No comments have yet been made