The Manhunt, Simon Armitage

Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in West Yorkshire.

The poem is written from a female perspective and exposes the problems by post war depression. The damage continues after the war. Psychological effects are explored.

Written as the wife in first person.

Will picked up on the creation of a semantic field: the language used suggests she is searching for him and verbs such as 'scan' link her battle the lexis used in war.

Many of you picked up on the repetition of the word 'only', indicating that progress is slow.

His fragility is emphasised by her description of his 'porcelain collar-bone'.

The body is described using a variety of adjectives to indicate the damage. The damage is on two levels; physical and psychological.

The poem uses metaphor effectively and there is ambiguity at the end. She is able to 'come close' and possibly not get 'close'.

The wife is caring, sensitive and patient.

The poem would be good to compare with Nettles and the way people respond to the suffering of a loved one. It is also about love continuing in difficult times, which is like the ideal love of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116.