Romantic Era (approx. 1800-1850) -
• London by William Blake, 1794.
• She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron, 1814.
• Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818.
• To Autumn by John Keats, 1819.
• Excerpt from the Prelude by William Wordsworth, 1850.
• Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1850.
The New Woman (approx. 1880-1920) -
• As Imperceptibly as Grief by Emily Dickinson, 1880.
• A Wife in London by Thomas Hardy, 1899.
The Lost Generation (1914-1920) -
• The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, 1915.
• Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, 1920.
The New Wave (1950s and 60s) -
• Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes, 1960.
• Afternoons by Philip Larkin, 1964.
• Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney, 1966.
Contemporary Poetry (Late 90s and early 2000s).
• Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, 1993.
• Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker, 1997.
• Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove, 2004.
• Mametz Wood by Owen Sheers, 2005.
• The Manhunt by Simon Armitage, 2007.
The Manhunt – Simon Armitage
• The Manhunt is told from the perspective of a soldier's wife, where the soldier has returned
from military duty having suffered from physical and mental trauma sustained on active service.
It explores the speaker’s process of trying to reconnect with her husband whilst understanding
his pain (the idea of PTSD and its impact on you and those around you).
• The title puns on the idea of the ‘manhunt’, meaning literally a hunt to capture a man (often
referring to a criminal). The wife’s search is for the husband that she knew so well but he seems
lost to her.
• The poem is written in couplets (lines of two), reflecting how it takes two people working hard
to complete a relationship – they still remain close emotionally. It initially rhymes ‘first phase...
intimate days’, reflecting the couple’s harmony when they were first reunited. However, it falters
down showing the disjointed and fragmented nature of their relationship. Theme of
fragmentation.
• First person perspective which provides a very intimate and personal experience.
• The opening isn’t very emotional – “first phase” sounds warlike or clinical, but is juxtaposed.
This shows how even though the speaker isn’t a soldier she is so involve with war that she has
taken on the vocabulary of it. ‘nights’ and ‘days’ could suggest the significant length of time it
takes someone to recover from their physical and mental injuries.
,• The frequent use of enjambment could suggest the soldier’s mindset of ongoing suffering.
• The loving, sensual language throughout the poem may reflect the intimacy of husband and
wife, and keen devotion of the wife’s hopes to heal him. It champions their early relationship
using positive adjectives ‘passionate’ ‘intimate’.
• Armitage utilises a semantic field of ‘searching’, suggesting careful treatment of her husband’s
body and mind. May imply he is no longer familiar to her ‘trace’ ‘explore’ ‘attend’.
• ‘porcelain collar-bone’ The body is depersonalised and made to seem fragile through the
metaphor to delicate ceramic, needs to be handled with care. Porcelain is hard but can chip
easily and is cold to the touch. Reminder of the ‘frozen river’ which ran through his face.
Juxtaposes the conflict of war.
• ‘blown hinge of his lower jaw’ This metaphor suggests his jaw is metaphorically and physically
broken. No longer able to talk openly with her of his feelings and experienced. Distance and
disconnect in their relationship. Irreversibly damaged, showing the massive impact of war.
• ‘handle and hold’ Implies intimacy and the need to be careful.
• ‘mind and attend’ Relates to medical condition, wife attempting to heal her husband. The
‘fractured rudder’ suggests he has lost his way and can’t heal himself; she has to guide him in
his journey.
• ‘parachute silk of his punctured lung’ Parachutes are useless when broken --> reflection of
how he feels about himself. Silk implies how precious he is.
• ‘Only then’ is repeated several times in the poem, suggesting the seemingly endless process
of recovery from war.
• ‘climb the rungs of his broken ribs’ The idea of a ladder is reflective of the effort involved in the
wife’s gradual search for answers and coming to terms with her husband’s state of mind. It also
reflects the casualties of conflict of the fighters in Iraq.
• He has a ‘grazed heart’, perhaps literally from the injury of the ‘metal beneath his chest’ but
also metaphorically as he is unable to connect with his wife so their loving relationship is
affected.
• ‘foetus of metal’ Image of metal bullet inside him suggests that, like having a child, will affect
them and their relationship permanently. The ‘foetus’ feeds off of him and takes him energy.
Bullet is a foreign object which is rejected.
• ‘a sweating, unexploded mine buried deep into his mind’ Source of the problem is mental and
threatens to cause problems at any time. The wife is trying to ‘diffuse’ him.
• ‘Then, and only then, did I come close’ Final line emphasises the impact war has on
relationships. Her search is not fully successful, realises husband’s problems lie as much in
memories of experiences as they do his physical scars. She is supportive and attentive. ‘Close’
implies nobody can truly understand the trauma that war causes to soldiers.
• The language referencing searching juxtaposes with the more medical images implied through
the language “mind” and “tend”. Here the semantics of searching and the semantics of caring
are used in reference to the speaker. This suggests she both adheres to and subverts the
stereotypes of a patriarchal society. She not only cares for her husband, she also researches
the cause of his problems too – she is not a passive character by any means.
Context:
• Told from the perspective of soldier’s wife; deals with the idea of PTSD.
• The poem was written in 2007 for a documentary. Also known as ‘Laura’s poem’. Laura was a
peace-keeper in Bosnia who discharged due to injury and depressed and had to look after her
husband who was shot. Intended to encourage recognition of PTSD in society. Based on
, Guardsman Tromans who fought in Iraq in 2003. The poem coincided with changing public
opinion as people were starting to oppose war. Iraq war was condemned as unnecessary and
potentially due to US oil greed. As a result of these modern conflicts the public and military gave
more recognition to PTSD and Armitage’s poem helped to raise awareness and incite sympathy.
• In 2019 Simon Armitage became the new Poet Laureate, his poetry often relating to his
Yorkshire heritage and focusing on relatable situations in order to resonate with and engage the
reader.
- Possible themes and links:
• War and its lasting effects: Mametz Wood, A Wife in London, Dulce et Decorum Est
• Relationships and love: Cozy Apologia, A Wife in London
• Suffering (mental and physical): Mametz Wood, Dulce et Decorum Est
Sonnet 43 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Sonnet 43 expresses the poet’s intense love for her fiance, so much so it rises to a spiritual
level. It transcends Earth and daily conventions of society. The speaker attempts to define her
love by listing the different ways she loves him. Her love is eternal and exists everywhere, and
she intends to continue loving him after death if God allows it. It focuses on the theme of
Victorian love from a woman’s perspective, emphasising the reinforcement of love and doesn’t
mention a name or gender so has a universal appeal. However, it could also be interpreted as a
warning on self-indulgent relationships.
• The first line asks a question and the remaining answer it exploring seven multifaceted aspects
of love. Various contradictions, paradoxical ideas. Iambic pentameter allows stresses to fall on
important words such as ‘love’ to create a sense of romantic equilibrium.
• It could be seen as Browning being facetious – the relationship is portrayed as very one sided,
showing how love can make individuals self-adorning and self-obsessive.
• Traditional sonnet form (14 lines), particularly a Petrarchan sonnet following a rigid rhyme
scheme Creates a sense of security, readers have no basis to interrogate the validity of this
relationship. Uses caesura to enhance the contemplative and reflective tone of her poem.
• ‘I love thee’ Uses an anaphora (repetition of start of clause) sounding similar to a praying,
praying they will stick together, emphasises their intense love. ‘Love’ is at the forefront of their
relationship.
• ‘How do I love thee?’ ‘I love thee’ is syntactically repeated, connoting that love is constant and
perpetual, strengthening the active love she expresses – proto-feminist who does not cater for
her husband.
• ‘Let me count the ways’ The verb “count” suggests there are too many ways to mention.
• ‘depth and breadth and height’ This spatial metaphor illustrates the multi-dimensional and
all-consuming love she stands for. Tricolon of half rhymes draws attention to units of
measurement – irony, highlighting how love cannot be quantified.
• ‘My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight’ A caesura splits ‘soul’ and ‘sight’ which highlights
the dichotomy between the physical ‘sight’ and spiritual ‘soul’. This highlights the different types
of love: The physical, tangible love vs the spiritual, abstract love.
• Abstract nouns such as “grace” and “passion” express an intangible love, antithetical to the
concrete nouns such as “depth” and “candle-light” suggesting a more naturalistic real love.
Barrett Browning constructs a dichotomy between the notional and real.
• London by William Blake, 1794.
• She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron, 1814.
• Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818.
• To Autumn by John Keats, 1819.
• Excerpt from the Prelude by William Wordsworth, 1850.
• Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1850.
The New Woman (approx. 1880-1920) -
• As Imperceptibly as Grief by Emily Dickinson, 1880.
• A Wife in London by Thomas Hardy, 1899.
The Lost Generation (1914-1920) -
• The Soldier by Rupert Brooke, 1915.
• Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, 1920.
The New Wave (1950s and 60s) -
• Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes, 1960.
• Afternoons by Philip Larkin, 1964.
• Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney, 1966.
Contemporary Poetry (Late 90s and early 2000s).
• Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, 1993.
• Living Space by Imtiaz Dharker, 1997.
• Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove, 2004.
• Mametz Wood by Owen Sheers, 2005.
• The Manhunt by Simon Armitage, 2007.
The Manhunt – Simon Armitage
• The Manhunt is told from the perspective of a soldier's wife, where the soldier has returned
from military duty having suffered from physical and mental trauma sustained on active service.
It explores the speaker’s process of trying to reconnect with her husband whilst understanding
his pain (the idea of PTSD and its impact on you and those around you).
• The title puns on the idea of the ‘manhunt’, meaning literally a hunt to capture a man (often
referring to a criminal). The wife’s search is for the husband that she knew so well but he seems
lost to her.
• The poem is written in couplets (lines of two), reflecting how it takes two people working hard
to complete a relationship – they still remain close emotionally. It initially rhymes ‘first phase...
intimate days’, reflecting the couple’s harmony when they were first reunited. However, it falters
down showing the disjointed and fragmented nature of their relationship. Theme of
fragmentation.
• First person perspective which provides a very intimate and personal experience.
• The opening isn’t very emotional – “first phase” sounds warlike or clinical, but is juxtaposed.
This shows how even though the speaker isn’t a soldier she is so involve with war that she has
taken on the vocabulary of it. ‘nights’ and ‘days’ could suggest the significant length of time it
takes someone to recover from their physical and mental injuries.
,• The frequent use of enjambment could suggest the soldier’s mindset of ongoing suffering.
• The loving, sensual language throughout the poem may reflect the intimacy of husband and
wife, and keen devotion of the wife’s hopes to heal him. It champions their early relationship
using positive adjectives ‘passionate’ ‘intimate’.
• Armitage utilises a semantic field of ‘searching’, suggesting careful treatment of her husband’s
body and mind. May imply he is no longer familiar to her ‘trace’ ‘explore’ ‘attend’.
• ‘porcelain collar-bone’ The body is depersonalised and made to seem fragile through the
metaphor to delicate ceramic, needs to be handled with care. Porcelain is hard but can chip
easily and is cold to the touch. Reminder of the ‘frozen river’ which ran through his face.
Juxtaposes the conflict of war.
• ‘blown hinge of his lower jaw’ This metaphor suggests his jaw is metaphorically and physically
broken. No longer able to talk openly with her of his feelings and experienced. Distance and
disconnect in their relationship. Irreversibly damaged, showing the massive impact of war.
• ‘handle and hold’ Implies intimacy and the need to be careful.
• ‘mind and attend’ Relates to medical condition, wife attempting to heal her husband. The
‘fractured rudder’ suggests he has lost his way and can’t heal himself; she has to guide him in
his journey.
• ‘parachute silk of his punctured lung’ Parachutes are useless when broken --> reflection of
how he feels about himself. Silk implies how precious he is.
• ‘Only then’ is repeated several times in the poem, suggesting the seemingly endless process
of recovery from war.
• ‘climb the rungs of his broken ribs’ The idea of a ladder is reflective of the effort involved in the
wife’s gradual search for answers and coming to terms with her husband’s state of mind. It also
reflects the casualties of conflict of the fighters in Iraq.
• He has a ‘grazed heart’, perhaps literally from the injury of the ‘metal beneath his chest’ but
also metaphorically as he is unable to connect with his wife so their loving relationship is
affected.
• ‘foetus of metal’ Image of metal bullet inside him suggests that, like having a child, will affect
them and their relationship permanently. The ‘foetus’ feeds off of him and takes him energy.
Bullet is a foreign object which is rejected.
• ‘a sweating, unexploded mine buried deep into his mind’ Source of the problem is mental and
threatens to cause problems at any time. The wife is trying to ‘diffuse’ him.
• ‘Then, and only then, did I come close’ Final line emphasises the impact war has on
relationships. Her search is not fully successful, realises husband’s problems lie as much in
memories of experiences as they do his physical scars. She is supportive and attentive. ‘Close’
implies nobody can truly understand the trauma that war causes to soldiers.
• The language referencing searching juxtaposes with the more medical images implied through
the language “mind” and “tend”. Here the semantics of searching and the semantics of caring
are used in reference to the speaker. This suggests she both adheres to and subverts the
stereotypes of a patriarchal society. She not only cares for her husband, she also researches
the cause of his problems too – she is not a passive character by any means.
Context:
• Told from the perspective of soldier’s wife; deals with the idea of PTSD.
• The poem was written in 2007 for a documentary. Also known as ‘Laura’s poem’. Laura was a
peace-keeper in Bosnia who discharged due to injury and depressed and had to look after her
husband who was shot. Intended to encourage recognition of PTSD in society. Based on
, Guardsman Tromans who fought in Iraq in 2003. The poem coincided with changing public
opinion as people were starting to oppose war. Iraq war was condemned as unnecessary and
potentially due to US oil greed. As a result of these modern conflicts the public and military gave
more recognition to PTSD and Armitage’s poem helped to raise awareness and incite sympathy.
• In 2019 Simon Armitage became the new Poet Laureate, his poetry often relating to his
Yorkshire heritage and focusing on relatable situations in order to resonate with and engage the
reader.
- Possible themes and links:
• War and its lasting effects: Mametz Wood, A Wife in London, Dulce et Decorum Est
• Relationships and love: Cozy Apologia, A Wife in London
• Suffering (mental and physical): Mametz Wood, Dulce et Decorum Est
Sonnet 43 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Sonnet 43 expresses the poet’s intense love for her fiance, so much so it rises to a spiritual
level. It transcends Earth and daily conventions of society. The speaker attempts to define her
love by listing the different ways she loves him. Her love is eternal and exists everywhere, and
she intends to continue loving him after death if God allows it. It focuses on the theme of
Victorian love from a woman’s perspective, emphasising the reinforcement of love and doesn’t
mention a name or gender so has a universal appeal. However, it could also be interpreted as a
warning on self-indulgent relationships.
• The first line asks a question and the remaining answer it exploring seven multifaceted aspects
of love. Various contradictions, paradoxical ideas. Iambic pentameter allows stresses to fall on
important words such as ‘love’ to create a sense of romantic equilibrium.
• It could be seen as Browning being facetious – the relationship is portrayed as very one sided,
showing how love can make individuals self-adorning and self-obsessive.
• Traditional sonnet form (14 lines), particularly a Petrarchan sonnet following a rigid rhyme
scheme Creates a sense of security, readers have no basis to interrogate the validity of this
relationship. Uses caesura to enhance the contemplative and reflective tone of her poem.
• ‘I love thee’ Uses an anaphora (repetition of start of clause) sounding similar to a praying,
praying they will stick together, emphasises their intense love. ‘Love’ is at the forefront of their
relationship.
• ‘How do I love thee?’ ‘I love thee’ is syntactically repeated, connoting that love is constant and
perpetual, strengthening the active love she expresses – proto-feminist who does not cater for
her husband.
• ‘Let me count the ways’ The verb “count” suggests there are too many ways to mention.
• ‘depth and breadth and height’ This spatial metaphor illustrates the multi-dimensional and
all-consuming love she stands for. Tricolon of half rhymes draws attention to units of
measurement – irony, highlighting how love cannot be quantified.
• ‘My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight’ A caesura splits ‘soul’ and ‘sight’ which highlights
the dichotomy between the physical ‘sight’ and spiritual ‘soul’. This highlights the different types
of love: The physical, tangible love vs the spiritual, abstract love.
• Abstract nouns such as “grace” and “passion” express an intangible love, antithetical to the
concrete nouns such as “depth” and “candle-light” suggesting a more naturalistic real love.
Barrett Browning constructs a dichotomy between the notional and real.
