Remains & War Photographer
Simon Armitage’s ‘Remains’
Simon Armitage based ‘Remains’ on the real testimony of a soldier called Guardsman Tromans, who served in Iraq. The poem appeared in the 2007 documentary film The Not Dead, which explored PTSD in returning soldiers. The speaker describes shooting a looter in Basra and then being haunted by the memory of the killing, unable to wash the blood from his mind.
The poem is a dramatic monologue based on real testimony. Armitage uses colloquial, conversational language (“probably armed, possibly not”) to reflect how soldiers actually speak, making the psychological trauma feel authentic and immediate rather than literary or distant.
“probably armed, possibly not” — This devastating admission comes early. The soldier doesn’t know whether the man he killed was a threat. The modal verbs “probably” and “possibly” create uncertainty — and it is this uncertainty that torments him. The casual, almost throwaway delivery makes it more disturbing: this moral ambiguity is presented as routine.
“One of my mates goes by / and tosses his guts back into his body” — The brutal, graphic imagery strips away any dignity from death. The casual verb “tosses” is shocking — a human body is treated like rubbish. This reflects the dehumanising effect of war on both the dead and the living.
“His blood-shadow stays on the street” — The compound noun “blood-shadow” suggests the victim haunts the speaker. The dead man has followed the soldier home — he cannot escape what he has done, even in England.
“his bloody life in my bloody hands” — The repetition of “bloody” works as both literal description (blood on his hands) and colloquial swearing (expressing frustration). This double meaning captures the soldier’s guilt and anger simultaneously. He is responsible for a death he can never undo.
“I blink / and he bursts again through the doors of the bank” — The present tense “bursts” shows the memory replaying in real time. Every time the speaker blinks, the killing happens again. This is a powerful depiction of PTSD — the traumatic memory is involuntary, intrusive, and inescapable.
Structure of ‘Remains’
The poem begins with regular four-line stanzas, reflecting the soldier’s attempt to tell the story in an ordered, controlled way. But the final stanza breaks into just two lines: “his bloody life in my bloody hands.” The form literally breaks down as the soldier’s mental control collapses. The shift from past tense (the event) to present tense (the flashbacks) marks the poem’s turning point — the killing is over, but the trauma is ongoing.
Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘War Photographer’
Carol Ann Duffy wrote ‘War Photographer’ based on the experiences of real conflict photographers, particularly Don McCullin. The poem explores the moral tension between documenting suffering and the public’s indifference to it. The photographer develops his images in a darkroom in rural England, surrounded by peace, while the photographs reveal the horrors of war.
Duffy structures the poem around the contrast between “Rural England” (peaceful, indifferent) and the war zones the photographer has visited: “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.” The three-word list uses short, blunt proper nouns to represent real suffering, while England is associated with comfortable ignorance.
“In his dark room he is finally alone / with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows” — The sibilance in “spools of suffering” creates a quiet, mournful tone. The metaphor of “ordered rows” echoes both film negatives and rows of graves — the photographs are records of death. “Finally alone” suggests he needs solitude to process what he has witnessed.
“a priest preparing to intone a Mass” — The simile compares the photographer’s work to a religious ritual. Developing photographs becomes a sacred act — a ceremony of remembrance for the dead. This elevates photography from journalism to something reverential and solemn.
“a half-formed ghost” — As the photograph develops in the chemical solution, the dead man’s face appears like a ghost. The image is both literal (the photograph developing) and metaphorical (the dead man haunting the photographer). This links to ‘Remains’ — both speakers are haunted by the dead.
“The reader’s eyeballs prick / with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers” — The final stanza is bitterly ironic. The newspaper readers feel a momentary pang of emotion, but it is sandwiched between trivial domestic comforts. “Prick” suggests the emotion is tiny and superficial. Duffy criticises the public for their shallow response to real suffering.
Comparing Armitage and Duffy
Both poems explore the psychological aftermath of conflict, but from different perspectives. Armitage’s soldier is directly involved in the violence and cannot escape his guilt; Duffy’s photographer is a witness who feels the moral burden of documenting suffering that the public ignores. Both speakers are trapped: the soldier by flashbacks, the photographer by a cycle of documenting horror that changes nothing.
Structurally, Armitage uses colloquial language and broken form to mirror psychological breakdown; Duffy uses controlled stanzas and religious imagery to convey quiet, dignified grief. Both poems end without resolution — the trauma continues.