POETRY - The Manhunt

An extensive search. This is what the woman feels like she is going through to try to find her husband's emotions.
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An extensive search. This is what the woman feels like she is going through to try to find her husband's emotions.
What is a manhunt, and why is the poem called this?
A man returns from war and he has PTSD. His wife patiently tries to reconnect with him and get him to open up about how he is feeling, but to no avail.
What is the poem about?
Simon Armitage wrote the pem in the 1990's after interviewing a wife talkking about the return of her husband from the Bosnian war. He has returned with PTSD. Armitage wanted to highlight that war can cause more than just physical damage. It's an antiwar poem.
What is the poem's context?
'After the first phase, after passionate nights and intimate days'
Tone = hope, togetherness
How does the poem begin and what tone is created?
'frozen river' - metaphor - tears are permanent but cold emotions.

'blown hinge of his jaw' - plosive, metaphor - can't talk.

'parachutte silk of his punctured lung' - metaphor - delicate lungs (breathing) are punctured = dangerous.

'foetus of metal' - metaphor - rapid growth of pain from here on.

'unexploded mine buried deep in his mind' - metaphor - volatile, unpredictable

'only then, did i come close' - she doesn't get there in the end.
What images and techniques stand out in the poem?
13 stanzas, each 2 lines each.
Suggests interruption to the search - she can't get any momentum up in the search. It's also like a ladder.
What is the poem's structure, and What metaphorical effect does it have?
All the war poems, all the realtionship poems.
What poems could you compare it with?