Unseen Poetry Analysis – The Manhunt
The title of the poem ‘The Manhunt’, automatically evokes feelings of searching and loss. Early connotations
may suggest something frantic and almost violent; however, Armitage’s poem seems to explore something more
loving and tender.
Throughout the poem, metaphors are used to represent an emotive encounter between the pair. In the
second stanza, the metaphor ‘frozen river which ran through his face’ is used to demonstrate pain and emotion.
The use of the word ‘frozen’ has connotations of being cold and almost numb; something that is further developed
by the addition of ‘river’. We could also associate ‘river’ with a ‘rivers of tears’, thus suggesting an outpouring of
emotion. The combination of ‘frozen river’ indicates an overwhelming sense of emotion and tears, yet since they are
‘frozen’, then ‘he’ is not letting them fall freely – perhaps causing the speaker to feel shut out and helpless. The
reader is also forced to acknowledge that metaphors are used in place of discussing real emotion; that the speaker
would rather talk figuratively about suffering being like a ‘river’ rather than facing the harsh reality of emotion.
The use of figurative language is developed with repeated imagery of pain and injury. The speaker recounts
a catalogue of vivid injuries: ‘blown hinge of his lower jaw’, ‘fractured rudder of a shoulder-blade’, ‘broken ribs’. The
use of violent adjectives like ‘blown’, ‘fractured’ and ‘broken’ attempt to emphasise the physical pain and suffering
that the man has undergone. The structure of the poem explores each physical injury in isolation, thus emphasising
just how badly hurt this man has been. Structurally, the speaker works her way around the body, acknowledging
each physical wound and describing them with violence in order to highlight her shock and horror at his pain. She
catalogues his injuries; using enjambment in each couplet to show that she is discovering more and more wounds.
However, her continued use of metaphors once again demonstrates her detachment from his pain, suggesting that
she is using her imagination to visualise the injuries that he has obtained.
Finally, there is a continued juxtaposition to emphasise feelings of love and pain. Armitage chooses delicate,
loving imagery and contrasts it with violence and destruction. In the sixth stanza we learn of ‘the parachute silk of
his punctured lung’, ‘silk’ is obviously delicate and fragile, as emphasised by the soft ‘s’ sound. In contrast,
‘punctured’ is plosive and violent, thus providing us with the contrast between fragility and violence. This
juxtaposition perhaps acknowledges the pair’s relationship, where his violent wounds and pain are met with her
tenderness and love. Later in the poem, Armitage also juxtaposes ‘foetus’ and ‘bullet’; contrasting a new, hopeful
life, with something violent and destructive. Again, we can reflect on the relationship between the pair; where most
couples hope to create a new life together, this couple have been faced with mortality and death.
On reflection, then, it appears that ‘The Manhunt’ in the title is not a frantic ‘hunt’ for an offender or villain,
but instead, a tender journey to search for and piece together an unrecognisable partner after a severe trauma. The
voice is desperate to recover her partner, and ‘only’ when she has acknowledged all his suffering, both physical and
mental, can she ‘come close’ to completing her search.