‘War Photographer’ and ‘Poppies’ both explore the suffering of people who are often forgotten in
conflict; Carol Ann Duffy asks us to observe a ‘War Photographer’s’ moral dilemma regarding his job
and the apathy of the English towards foreign conflict. Jane Weir explores the internal conflict of
mothers who have to let their sons go to war, while knowing that they will probably never return,
only to be replaced by symbolic ‘Poppies’.
‘War Photographer’ begins ‘in his dark room’ where ‘he is finally alone’; on one hand, the ‘dark
room’ is simply his place of work, but symbolically, it creates a mental link to the protagonist,
suggesting he is in psychological darkness because of his work. The adjective ‘alone’, denotes and
emphasises separation and isolation, because he experiences this darkness separately from others.
However, the possessive pronoun, ‘his’ provides contrast; it seems to suggest a very intimate
relationship with ‘his dark room’ as if it is a cherished place of mourning; Duffy’s quote comes to
mind, that she is ‘interested in the dilemma of someone who has that as a job… to go to these places
and come back with these images.’
Jane Weir, on the other hand, begins with a time, rather than a place. The author situates the
speaker sometime after a non-specified ‘Armistice Sunday’; Weir uses the past perfect tense in
‘poppies had already been placed…’ to indicate she is looking back at how, ‘three days before
Armistice Sunday’ the ‘poppies… on individual war graves’ had ‘already’ triggered the painful
memories of when her son ‘left’. The adverb ‘already’ seems to emphasise the pain caused by the
symbols of WWI, ‘Armistice Sunday’ and, especially, ‘poppies’; perhaps Weir wants to introduce us
to the level of pain felt by the women who lose sons to war, are left behind and are often the
forgotten sufferers in the aftermath of conflict.
Both authors infuse ‘everyday language’ with rich metaphors of war and grief, which give us a
glimpse into the world of the protagonists. The War Photographer’s ‘spools of suffering’ force him to
relive the ‘pain’ and ‘cries’ of the victims of conflict, ‘alone’ ‘in his dark room’ but ‘the reader’s eyes’
only ‘prick with tears’, suggesting their pain is only momentary and soon to be forgotten with a
‘bath’ and ‘pre-lunch beer’. These contrasting metaphors suggest that Duffy wants us to sympathise
with the photographer’s moral dilemmas and is critical of the rest of us, who only seem to use the
imagery of foreign suffering as a form of fleeting entertainment in the ‘Sunday supplement.’
However, Weir’s metaphor ‘spasms of paper red’ features the syntactic inversion, from ‘red paper’
to ‘paper red’; the effect is subtle, but it forces us to notice only the ‘spams’, its imagery of suffering
and the colour ‘red’ which symbolise blood and danger. The ‘paper’ (the symbolic poppy) falls into
the background and is dismissed together with everything it stands for. While Duffy uses metaphors
to criticise our apathy towards foreign conflict, Jane Weir’s metaphors and similes encapsulate her
critical view of the patriotic symbols, politics and propaganda of war, a view reinforced by the simile
‘the world overflowing / like a treasure chest’. She appears to be pointing out how propaganda
‘intoxicated’ young men into giving up their lives for honour and patriotism, leaving their mothers
behind to deal with never-ending grief.
While Duffy does not use any traditional form, she employs a ‘trembling’ ABBCDD rhyme scheme
which on one hand reflects the protagonist’s desire for control over his emotions and his morals, yet
the juddering reflects moments of weakness and uncertainty about his ‘job’.
In contrast, Weir uses no rhyme scheme but employs the traditional dramatic monologue form to
create a narrative-driven poem that takes us on a journey through a mother’s mind, from the
moment a painful memory is triggered through all the actions, heightened emotions and scenes of
letting go, to finally hanging on to delusion, ‘hoping to hear his voice’, as a way of keeping sane.
conflict; Carol Ann Duffy asks us to observe a ‘War Photographer’s’ moral dilemma regarding his job
and the apathy of the English towards foreign conflict. Jane Weir explores the internal conflict of
mothers who have to let their sons go to war, while knowing that they will probably never return,
only to be replaced by symbolic ‘Poppies’.
‘War Photographer’ begins ‘in his dark room’ where ‘he is finally alone’; on one hand, the ‘dark
room’ is simply his place of work, but symbolically, it creates a mental link to the protagonist,
suggesting he is in psychological darkness because of his work. The adjective ‘alone’, denotes and
emphasises separation and isolation, because he experiences this darkness separately from others.
However, the possessive pronoun, ‘his’ provides contrast; it seems to suggest a very intimate
relationship with ‘his dark room’ as if it is a cherished place of mourning; Duffy’s quote comes to
mind, that she is ‘interested in the dilemma of someone who has that as a job… to go to these places
and come back with these images.’
Jane Weir, on the other hand, begins with a time, rather than a place. The author situates the
speaker sometime after a non-specified ‘Armistice Sunday’; Weir uses the past perfect tense in
‘poppies had already been placed…’ to indicate she is looking back at how, ‘three days before
Armistice Sunday’ the ‘poppies… on individual war graves’ had ‘already’ triggered the painful
memories of when her son ‘left’. The adverb ‘already’ seems to emphasise the pain caused by the
symbols of WWI, ‘Armistice Sunday’ and, especially, ‘poppies’; perhaps Weir wants to introduce us
to the level of pain felt by the women who lose sons to war, are left behind and are often the
forgotten sufferers in the aftermath of conflict.
Both authors infuse ‘everyday language’ with rich metaphors of war and grief, which give us a
glimpse into the world of the protagonists. The War Photographer’s ‘spools of suffering’ force him to
relive the ‘pain’ and ‘cries’ of the victims of conflict, ‘alone’ ‘in his dark room’ but ‘the reader’s eyes’
only ‘prick with tears’, suggesting their pain is only momentary and soon to be forgotten with a
‘bath’ and ‘pre-lunch beer’. These contrasting metaphors suggest that Duffy wants us to sympathise
with the photographer’s moral dilemmas and is critical of the rest of us, who only seem to use the
imagery of foreign suffering as a form of fleeting entertainment in the ‘Sunday supplement.’
However, Weir’s metaphor ‘spasms of paper red’ features the syntactic inversion, from ‘red paper’
to ‘paper red’; the effect is subtle, but it forces us to notice only the ‘spams’, its imagery of suffering
and the colour ‘red’ which symbolise blood and danger. The ‘paper’ (the symbolic poppy) falls into
the background and is dismissed together with everything it stands for. While Duffy uses metaphors
to criticise our apathy towards foreign conflict, Jane Weir’s metaphors and similes encapsulate her
critical view of the patriotic symbols, politics and propaganda of war, a view reinforced by the simile
‘the world overflowing / like a treasure chest’. She appears to be pointing out how propaganda
‘intoxicated’ young men into giving up their lives for honour and patriotism, leaving their mothers
behind to deal with never-ending grief.
While Duffy does not use any traditional form, she employs a ‘trembling’ ABBCDD rhyme scheme
which on one hand reflects the protagonist’s desire for control over his emotions and his morals, yet
the juddering reflects moments of weakness and uncertainty about his ‘job’.
In contrast, Weir uses no rhyme scheme but employs the traditional dramatic monologue form to
create a narrative-driven poem that takes us on a journey through a mother’s mind, from the
moment a painful memory is triggered through all the actions, heightened emotions and scenes of
letting go, to finally hanging on to delusion, ‘hoping to hear his voice’, as a way of keeping sane.
