Let’s take a closer look
Answer
the following questions by providing quotes and analysis.
Stanza 1
- What does
the phrase ‘passionate nights and intimate days’ initially suggest the
poem might be about?
- What other
meanings could ‘passionate’ and ‘intimate’ bring, given the context of the
rest of the poem?
Stanza 2
1.
What does ‘only
then would he let me trace’ imply?
2.
What might the
metaphor ‘the frozen river which ran through his face’ be describing?
3.
What other
meaning(s) could ‘frozen’ bring to the poem?
Stanza 3
1.
Why does the
narrator use the word ‘explore’ – what connotations does it bring?
2.
The poem is
broken up into two-line stanzas. Why do
you think Armitage has used this technique?
3.
What meaning(s)
does the phrase ‘blown hinge’ add to the poem?
Stanzas 4-6
1.
Up to now, the
couplets have been rhymed; why do you think that Armitage doesn’t rhyme all of
the couplets?
2.
Is ‘porcelain’ a
good word to describe his collar bone?
Explain your answer fully.
3.
What’s the
effect of Armitage’s use of repetition of words and style in these stanzas?
Stanza 7
1.
Armitage starts
a new sentence in the poem here; why do you think he does so?
2.
How does this
stanza suggest that the narrator is trying to help her husband recover?
Stanza 8
1.
What do you
notice about the form of this stanza?
Why might this be important?
Stanzas 9-10
1.
Why does Armitage
describe the bullet as a ‘foetus’?
Stanzas 11-12
1.
What sorts of
‘scarring’ is the narrator talking about in these stanzas?
2.
How effective is
the metaphor of the ‘mine’ in his mind?
What does the description of it as ‘sweating’ suggest about him? How does it bring an association of danger?
Stanza 13
1.
What phrase
suggests that the narrator is finding it hard to connect to the man?
2.
‘Then, and only
then, did I come close’: close to what?
3.
Look at the last
words of each line of the couplet. What
reasons can you think of for Armitage choosing these? Hint: think about the idea of things which
are ‘missing’ or incomplete.
4.
How effective
and appropriate is the poem’s title?
Explain your ideas fully.
