THE MANHUNT

SIMON ARMITAGE

CONTEXT

THE MANHUNT: A TRUE STORY

Based upon the real-life experiences of soldier Eddie Beddoes and his
wife, Laura Beddoes.

Eddie Beddoes suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the

horrors he saw fighting in the Balkans.

The hardest part of his experience was returning home and having no
support.

The poem deals with Laura Beddoes thought processes.

A QUICK GUIDE TO THE BALKAN

Social Federal Republic of WARS
Yugoslavia Slovenia, Bosnia

and Herzegovina, Serbia,

Montenegro and Macedonia.

The countries all had

differences in religion,
history, language, and even
economical development.

1980s: Tito died, economic

crisis, USSRs Communism
started to crumble.

President
Tito

THE WAR IN BOSNIA

War started in 1991.

Bosnia had a mix of Serbs, Muslims and Croats

UN peacekeepers were seen as ineffective

Over 100,000 people died

War in Bosnia continued until 1995, mainly

between Bosnias Serbs and Bosnias Muslims and
Croats.

Eddie Beddoes was shot in the back of the neck

and severely wounded.

WARNING:
IMAGES WITH
GRAPHIC
CONTENT

ANALYSIS

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 1-4

manhunt
manhnt/
noun
an organized search for a
criminal, suspect, or escaped
prisoner.

Laura is searching for the old persona of her

husband.

The unity of perfect rhymes in the couplet reflects

the physical union of Eddie and Laura.

However, passionate nights and intimate days are

not as important as the need to look after Eddie.

'Only then' seems to suggest that this 'hunt' was

carried out in small steps.

Trace connotes lightness, tenderness, caring.

Frozen river scarring or tear tracks.

THE MANHUNT
After the first phase,
after passionate nights and intimate
days,
only then would he let me trace
the frozen river which ran through
his face,
only then would he let me explore
the blown hinge of his lower jaw,
and handle and hold
the damaged, porcelain collar-bone
and mind and attend
the fractured rudder of shoulderblade,

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 5-8

Anaphora of only then to show the passing of time.

A hinge also connotes a door (also suggested because it

rhymes with jaw)

Blown hinge suggests Laura cannot open the door into

Eddies mind without fixing him first.

Alliteration of handle and hold draws attention to this

phrase
Allusion to the marriage service:
To have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for
worse in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,
till death us do part.
Substituted the word handle in place of the word have,
to show that Laura is trying to understand her husband
and handle his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Porcelain accentuates the delicacy of his bones, but also
the coldness and frigidity of his traumatised self.

THE MANHUNT
After the first phase,
after passionate nights and intimate
days,
only then would he let me trace
the frozen river which ran through
his face,
only then would he let me explore
the blown hinge of his lower jaw,
and handle and hold
the damaged, porcelain collar-bone
and mind and attend
the fractured rudder of shoulderblade,
and finger and thumb
the parachute silk of his punctured
lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 9-12

only then would he let me trace

the frozen river which ran through
his face,

phase / days

explore / jaw

Perfect
rhyme shows
intimacy
trace / face

struts / rungs / ribs

hurt / heart
attend /
Half-rhyme / blade
assonance
shows
fragility
thumb / lung

Fractured rudder a rudder is used for

steering a boat; Eddie has lost his way
Parachute silk used to drop men behind
enemy lines, which is where Laura wants to
go.

Parachutes are used as a last resort even

Eddies last resort is punctured

Damaged parachutes would be thrown away,

in the same way Eddie was discharged.

only then would he let me explore

the blown hinge of his lower jaw,
and handle and hold
the damaged, porcelain collar-bone
and mind and attend
the fractured rudder of shoulderblade,
and finger and thumb
the parachute silk of his punctured
lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken
ribs,
and feel the hurt
of his grazed heart.
Skirting along,

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 13-16

and handle and hold

the damaged, porcelain collar-bone

Only then returns after previously end-stopped line

to show that, after a break, the search is continuing.

Eddies ribs have become rungs of a ladder in need

of strengthening

Alliteration in the rungs of his broken ribs

emphasizes the broken quality of Eddies ribs.

Climbing a ladder is reflective of the effort in Lauras

search for answers.

Fractured, broken implies they can be fixed, and

relationship mended. But grazed heart shows mental
scars harder to fix.

Line 16 is end-stopped, showing a significant moment

where Laura pauses for reflection. It contrasts with the
previous extensive enjambment.

and mind and attend

the fractured rudder of shoulderblade,
and finger and thumb
the parachute silk of his punctured
lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken
ribs,
and feel the hurt
of his grazed heart.
Skirting along,
only then could I picture the scan,
the foetus of metal beneath his
chest
where the bullet had finally come to
rest.

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 17-20

Going round the edges, being wary of her

skirt
skt/
husband, being as silent as she
can.

verb
Only touching the edges and not the centre
ofround or past the
1. go
his problems.
edge of.
2. attempt to ignore;
Only once Laura stopped focusing on physical
avoid dealing with.

was

problems did she realise the problem

psychological too.

and finger and thumb

the parachute silk of his punctured
lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken
ribs,
and feel the hurt
of his grazed heart.

The metal foetus suggests that the destructive nature of a bullet

is growing within Eddie.

Skirting along,
only then could I picture the scan,

Foetus"suggests that, like having a baby, the couple's

relationship will be forever changed by what he has gone through.
Eddie is as dependant as a baby.

The word scan ties in with the idea of a baby being born.

the foetus of metal beneath his

chest
where the bullet had finally come to
rest.

The perfect rhyme and end-stopped line (that

rhymes) gives a physical pause for the reader to
stop,
echoing the
stopping of the bullet.

The bullet is beneath (Eddies) chest - the war

may have altered or even destroyed his
ability to
love.

Then I widened the search,

traced the scarring back to its source
to a sweating, unexploded mine
buried deep in his mind, around
which

CLOSE ANALYSIS LINES 21-26

and feel the hurt

of his grazed heart.

Laura doesnt widen the search physically she expands it

inwards, into Eddies mind.

Skirting along,
only then could I picture the scan,

The unexploded mine in Eddies mind implies that there

is a danger he will explode at anytime, and is potentially
dangerously violent, which could be a worry for Laura and
her children.

the foetus of metal beneath his

chest
where the bullet had finally come to
rest.

Personification of the mine sweating shows it has become

so ingrained into Eddies mind it has obtained

Then I widened the search,

traced the scarring back to its source

human qualities.

to a sweating, unexploded mine

buried deep in his mind, around
which

End-stopped line tightened and closed.

- physical portrayal of Laura being shut out.

Eddie has remained silent, passive and

unknown.

Laura accepts the manhunt was

unsuccessful she still cannot find her
husband, only come close.

every nerve in his body had

tightened and closed.
Then, and only then, did I come
close.
SIMON ARMITAGE

THEMES
Semantic Field of
Hospitals and
Surgery

nerve
attend
(nurses)
foetus

bind
fractured
broken

struts of ribs

scan

scarring

parachute silk
lung

rudder of shoulderblade
jaw hinge
foetus of
metal
porcelain
collarbone

Unnatural Body
Parts

After the first phase,

after passionate nights and intimate days,
only then would he let me trace
the frozen river which ran through his face,
only then would he let me explore
the blown hinge of his lower jaw
and handle and hold
the damaged, porcelain collar bone,
and mind and attend
the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade,
and finger and thumb
the parachute silk of his punctured lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken ribs,
and feel the hurt
of his grazed heart.
Skirting along,
only then could I picture the scan,
the foetus of metal beneath his chest
where the bullet had come to rest.
Then I widened the search,
traced the scarring back to its source
to a sweating, unexploded mine
buried deep in his mind, around which
every nerve in his body had tightened and
closed.
Then, and only then, did I come close.

After the first phase,

after passionate nights and intimate days,
only then would he let me trace
the frozen river which ran through his face,
only then would he let me explore
the blown hinge of his lower jaw
and handle and hold
the damaged, porcelain collar bone,
and mind and attend
the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade,
and finger and thumb
the parachute silk of his punctured lung.
Only then could I bind the struts
and climb the rungs of his broken ribs,
and feel the hurt
of his grazed heart.
Skirting along,
only then could I picture the scan,
the foetus of metal beneath his chest
where the bullet had come to rest.
Then I widened the search,
traced the scarring back to its source
to a sweating, unexploded mine
buried deep in his mind, around which
every nerve in his body had tightened and
closed.
Then, and only then, did I come close.