The Manhunt Summary & Analysis
by Simon Armitage

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  • “The Manhunt” Introduction

    • Simon Armitage wrote "The Manhunt" for a 2007 documentary about military service-people who have returned to civilian life, and the lingering, often lifelong effects of sustained exposure to violence. The poem is narrated by one of the documentary’s participants, Laura Beddoes. Beddoes’s husband, Eddie, was injured in combat and was discharged due to poor mental health, primarily severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The poem, initially titled "Laura's Poem," explores the lasting impact of such trauma on those who have experienced it and on the people closest to them.

  • “The Manhunt” Summary

    • The speaker starts telling a story about a relationship, and describes how intense the romance was when it began. She explains how it was only after the first passionate flush of the relationship that she was allowed to touch a long, winding scar on her partner's cheek.

      She was then allowed to stroke his broken jawbone, which is compared to the hinge of a door that's been blown open.

      After that, she could gently touch his fractured collar bone, which is likened to porcelain that has been damaged.

      Then she attended to his shoulder-blade, which is compared to a rudder that's been fractured.

      The speaker's relationship with her partner becomes even more intimate as she seems to travel inside his body, pinching together the punctured edges of a hole in his lung, which is compared to the silk used in parachutes.

      She fixes the metaphorical struts of his broken ribs, and then, again speaking metaphorically, climbs up his ribs as if they were rungs of a ladder.

      Upon reaching her partner's scratched heart, she feels the pain that he feels.

      As she continues to move around inside his body she is able to imagine the X-ray image of a small piece of metal which is lodged in his chest.

      The speaker reveals that this piece of metal is a bullet, which ricocheted around her partner's body before stopping just below his heart.

      The narrator continues to move around her partner's body, searching for something in particular. She follows the trail of her partner's internal injuries until she finds the root of his problems.

      This is a bomb ready to explode in his mind, tightly wrapped up by all the nerves in his body.

      Here, the speaker says, she finally came "close" to her partner, maybe meaning that she found the person she was searching for in her "manhunt," or that she has become closer with her partner on an emotional level.

  • “The Manhunt” Themes

    • Theme The Lasting Trauma of War

      The Lasting Trauma of War

      "The Manhunt" explores the lingering effects of wartime trauma on soldiers. By describing the many ways in which the speaker’s husband has been physically and psychologically transformed as a result of his military experience, Armitage critiques the powerful, sometimes debilitating, changes that often follow active combat.

      Despite his return to civilian life, the speaker’s husband is still described using military imagery. This implies that the soldier continues to carry his military experiences with him. The “blown hinge” of the soldier’s jaw, for example, suggests the door of a house being blown out by a bomb—literally, of the invasion of warfare into a domestic setting. A “blown hinge” can’t keep a door shut, and this inability to function echoes the soldier’s inability to block out the trauma he experienced in combat—which has now invaded the speaker’s home life.

      Similarly, the soldier’s “lung” is metaphorically described as being made of “parachute silk.” While extremely strong, parachute silk is also finely woven. This comparison thus evokes the contrast between the tough outer persona often expected from service-people and the soldier’s fragile mental state. The “puncture” in the silk would also render the parachute useless, again suggesting the soldier’s inability to escape from the horrors of combat.

      At the poem’s climax, the speaker discovers the “sweating unexploded mine” in the mind of her husband. Again, a piece of war has figuratively travelled back to civilian life with the soldier, and again this metaphor emphasizes how close to self-destruction he is. What's more, if stored incorrectly, dynamite begins to "sweat" nitro-glycerine, its explosive component. This crystallizes on its surface and can be detonated with just a gentle touch. The fact that the mine is “sweating,” therefore, further heightens the sense of danger and volatility present within the mind and body of the soldier. It locates him on the reactive knife-edge of active combat rather than the safe environment of civilian life.

      The imagery of warfare and mechanics utilized throughout the poem is also often directly associated with brokenness, suggesting that those who come into contact with war are likely to be damaged by it. For instance, the soldier’s ribcage is comprised of “struts” in need of binding and of broken “rungs”; the “rudder” of his shoulder blade is “fractured.” What's more, the use of inanimate objects to describe parts of the soldier’s body make this body both unfamiliar and inanimate. The soldier is, in fact, the passive participant throughout the poem, as his wife “traces,” “explores,” “mends,” and “handles” the various parts of his person. This passivity is indirectly attributed to the numerous broken elements with which he has returned from war, which, in a sense, have paralyzed him.

      Finally, the “source” of the soldier’s damage is found “deep in his mind.” While, up until this point, the physical changes in her husband have been spotlighted, the most significant “scarring” is mental. "Every nerve" in his body has "tightened and closed" around the "unexploded mine" of his neurosis. Nerves’ function is to convey impulses to and from the brain. The implication, therefore, is that the key pathways to communication within the soldier have been impeded and inhibited by his experiences, and reflect his limited capacity to fully communicate with his wife and the outside world.

      Where this theme appears in the poem:
      • Lines 3-5
      • Line 6
      • Lines 7-8
      • Lines 9-10
      • Lines 11-12
      • Lines 13-14
      • Lines 15-20
      • Line 22
      • Line 23
      • Lines 23-25
    • Theme Trauma and Relationships

      Trauma and Relationships

      Throughout the poem, the speaker is faced with the simultaneous familiarity and distance of her husband—a person so changed by wartime trauma that he is now almost unrecognizable to his wife. The “manhunt” of the poem’s title is a reference to the speaker’s exploration of her husband’s dramatically changed body and self, and the poem demonstrates the difficulty of reconnecting with loved ones after they’ve returned from traumatic military combat. In doing so, the poem highlights the wider effects of personal trauma on those who are close to it.

      The poem is told from the perspective of the soldier’s wife. This narrative decision invites empathy for both parties by providing a close description of the damage done to the soldier and the effect this has on those close to him. For his wife, this means confronting a new person in place of the man she married.

      The speaker begins by situating the poem after the “first phase” directly following her husband’s return, thus highlighting how his homecoming has changed the nature of their relationship. The “passionate nights and intimate days” of this first phase are reminiscent of a honeymoon period, the euphoric early stage of a new relationship. The speaker’s relationship to her husband is, therefore, redefined. The discharged soldier assumes the position of a new lover after returning from war, the implication being that the subject’s experiences have changed him so much so that he has become a different person altogether.

      The speaker’s physical exploration of the subject’s scars brings her face to face with the soldier her husband has become. Familiarizing herself with his external injuries is the first step to exploring his changed mental state, and her physical journey around the injured parts of the soldier’s body mirrors the journey that the relationship must negotiate to regain stability.

      At first, the speaker’s exploration of her husband’s body is limited to superficial sexual contact. As they spend more time together, however, she begins to explore the physical effects of his experience in combat: his scars. She is permitted to “trace” his facial scar and to “hold” and “attend” his broken clavicle and shoulder. When the speaker crosses the border between external and internal, entering deeper into her husband’s form, she “feels the hurt” of his heart.

      This is, on one level, a literal reference to the fact that Eddie Beddoes, on whom the poem is based, was shot. This image also demonstrates how the speaker’s physical journey is becoming part of a mental voyage for both husband and wife. By feeling her husband’s “hurt,” the speaker is being allowed inside the emotional source of his pain and, consequently, is able to empathize with him.

      The speaker’s expedition around her husband’s body is described in challenging terms, thus expressing the difficult journey that their relationship, too, must undertake. Much of the terminology suggests demanding physical activity. The speaker must “explore,” “climb ... rungs,” and “skirt along” the precipice of her husband's psychology. The speaker’s progress through her husband’s body, too, emulates the peaks and troughs of mountaineering expeditions: the journey begins with his face, descends through his torso, then ascends to his heart and, ultimately, mind.

      The poem thus ultimately invites empathy for both service people and those closest to them by underlining the cautious, painful, and often confusing process of re-learning a person who has been so profoundly changed. This journey is likened to a "manhunt"—the organized search for a person, highlighting how challenging it is for those close to trauma victims to reconnect with their loved ones.

      Where this theme appears in the poem:
      • Lines 1-10
      • Lines 11-12
      • Lines 13-26
  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Manhunt”

    • Lines 1-2

      After the first ...
      ... and intimate days,

      The poem opens at a very specific point in a relationship: directly after the soldier's return home. The reference to "passionate nights" and "intimate days" reads like a traditional love poem, suggesting that both parties are enjoying spending time together after a long period of time apart.

      This is undercut, however, by the use of the word "after" in the first line, which tells the reader that this romantic "first phase" is now over. The repetition of the term in the second line definitely situates the poem after this seeming honeymoon period, suggesting that the couple's loving reunion may be short lived and that some form of disruption lies ahead. This is further enhanced by Armitage's use of the words "after," "phase," "nights," and "days," all of which relate to the passing of time. Emphasizing this in the first stanza of the poem immediately prepares the reader for the important role that time has to play both in the poem and the healing process the poem describes.

      The initial romantic imagery will quickly be juxtaposed against violent imagery of scarred faces and "blown" jaws. This contrast may serve as a metaphor for the relationship's dual nature. On a surface level, the relationship is a loving one, but there is a troubling undertone regarding the soldier's experiences in war which runs counterpoint to this throughout the poem.

      The first stanza is a rhymed couplet; "phase" is a perfect rhyme with "days." Rhyming couplets are often used in love poetry, and their use at the outset of the poem could, therefore, support the initial view of the relationship as following traditional, predictable patterns, highlighting its strength and stability at this point. The meter, too, adheres to this. While the poem, strictly speaking, is written in free verse, Armitage intersperses more rhythmic metrical devices in certain lines. In the second line, for example, he uses a trochee (stressed-unstressed) / dactyl (stressed-unstressed-unstressed) pattern:

      after | passionate | nights and| intimate | days

      This strong emphasis on the first syllable gives the second line a feeling of continuous forward motion, perhaps signifying the head-over-heels feeling encountered in the early stage of a new relationship. The consonance of the poem's initial line does the same thing, with the rush of /f/ sounds in "After the first phase" suggesting abundance, an initial overflow of love and happiness.

    • Line 3

      only then would ... let me trace

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    • Line 4

      the frozen river ... through his face,

    • Lines 5-6

      only then would ...
      ... his lower jaw

    • Line 7

      and handle and hold

    • Line 8

      the damaged, porcelain collar bone,

    • Lines 9-10

      and mind and ...
      ... rudder of shoulder-blade,

    • Lines 11-12

      and finger and ...
      ... his punctured lung.

    • Lines 13-14

      Only then could ...
      ... his broken ribs,

    • Lines 15-18

      and feel the ...
      ... picture the scan,

    • Lines 19-20

      the foetus of ...
      ... come to rest.

    • Lines 21-22

      Then I widened ...
      ... to its source

    • Lines 23-24

      to a sweating, ...
      ... in his mind,

    • Lines 24-26

      around which ...
      ... I come close.

  • “The Manhunt” Symbols

    • Symbol Broken Parts

      Broken Parts

      The poem contains various symbolic references to broken materials and/or pieces of machinery, and these are also often associated with the military and war. The "fractured rudder" of line 10 suggests naval ships, for example, while "parachute silk" was used by military pilots in WWI. In the poem such items are always used to describe the subject's body parts. Broadly speaking, these broken materials symbolically reflect the soldier's fractured psychological state and his inability to function correctly.

      For example, the soldier's lower jaw is a "blown hinge," reflecting his inability to openly communicate with his wife, while his ribcage is compromised by unbound "struts" that cannot support him. His lung is akin to a punctured parachute—a lifesaving device rendered useless (further symbolically suggesting that the soldier can't escape this torment either). Similarly, a ship with a "fractured rudder" can't steer, a door with a "blown hinge" can't swing open and close, and a framework with broken struts will collapse in on itself.

      The subject's body is thus reduced down to its barest practical function, which cannot be realized because of injuries—physical and psychological—sustained in battle. He can no longer communicate with his wife, no longer steer his life in the direction he wishes. He feels useless, fractured, out of control.

      The poem isn't criticizing the soldier for any of this. On the contrary, by associating much of this imagery with military machinery and weaponry, the poem is criticizing the devastating effects of war on the body and mind.

      Where this symbol appears in the poem:
      • Line 6: “blown hinge”
      • Line 8: “damaged, porcelain collar bone”
      • Line 10: “fractured rudder”
      • Line 13: “bind the struts”
      • Line 14: “climb the rungs”
    • Symbol Physical Exploration

      Physical Exploration

      The speaker is on a journey or hunt throughout the poem, made clear by the poem's title. She is trying to find someone, and this search is presented in highly challenging physical terms. She "explores," "climbs," and "skirts along" in her efforts to locate the person she is looking for.

      These references to physical acts of exploration are meant to represent how difficult and possibly dangerous the path to healing is, laden with obstacles that need to be "climbed" and dangerous precipices that must be "skirted" around in order to find "the source" of deep-rooted problems.

      This language is particularly evocative of a mountaineering expedition. The most dangerous part of mountain climbing is the descent after reaching the summit, and the speaker's journey seems to finish at "source," or peak, of her exploration, where she finally "come close" to reaching the end of her hunt. This suggests that there may be an even more challenging journey ahead.

      Where this symbol appears in the poem:
      • Lines 3-4: “trace / the frozen river”
      • Line 5: “explore”
      • Line 14: “climb the rungs”
      • Line 17: “Skirting along”
      • Line 21: “widened the search”
      • Line 22: “traced,” “back to its source”
      • Line 24: “buried deep”
  • “The Manhunt” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

    • Anaphora

      The speaker's progress on her journey is demonstrated by the anaphora that is scattered throughout the poem. For example, the anaphora of "only then" demonstrates the step-by-step nature of the relationship's healing: only after the wife completes one task can she begin another. Little by little she is starting to understand her husband again, but the anaphora underlines how tortuous the journey is.

      The phrase "only then" is used five times throughout the poem, followed by two pairs of word patterns. These are:

      only then would he let me ...

      And:

      only then could I ...

      These repeated phrases with small differences are evocative of small repeated steps towards progress being made, almost like two feet walking. This halting progress conjures the image of a soldier recuperating as well.

      While the use of the word "would" in the first two lines is suggestive of doubt or hope, the word "could" is more indicative of the ability to actually complete a task. This again demonstrates the slow and steady progression of both the soldier's healing process and the re-establishment of the relationship with his wife.

      The last line of the poem also repeats the "only then," but this time is followed by a unique word pattern:

      Then, and only then, did I ...

      This underlines the final, quiet success that the speaker has achieved. Instead of the modal verbs used in the previous pairs ("would" and "could"), the definitive past tense "did" demonstrates a successfully completed action. The speaker has finally come close to her husband again.

      Where anaphora appears in the poem:
      • Line 3: “only then would he let me”
      • Line 5: “only then would he let me”
      • Line 13: “Only then could I”
      • Line 18: “only then could I”
      • Line 26: “only then, did I”
    • Consonance

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      Where consonance appears in the poem:
      • Line 1: “After,” “first phase”
      • Line 2: “after,” “passionate nights,” “intimate”
      • Line 4: “frozen river,” “ran through”
      • Line 6: “blown,” “hinge,” “lower jaw”
      • Line 7: “and handle and hold”
      • Line 8: “damaged,” “porcelain collar”
      • Line 9: “and mind and attend”
      • Line 10: “fractured rudder,” “shoulder-blade”
      • Line 12: “parachute,” “silk,” “punctured”
      • Line 13: “could,” “bind,” “struts”
      • Line 14: “climb,” “rungs,” “broken,” “ribs”
      • Line 15: “hurt”
      • Line 16: “his,” “grazed,” “heart”
      • Line 17: “Skirting”
      • Line 18: “could,” “picture,” “scan”
      • Line 19: “foetus,” “metal,” “beneath,” “chest”
      • Line 20: “bullet,” “rest”
      • Line 21: “search”
      • Line 22: “traced,” “scarring,” “source”
      • Line 23: “sweating,” “unexploded,” “mine”
      • Line 24: “buried deep,” “mind”
      • Line 25: “closed”
      • Line 26: “come close”
    • Enjambment

      Where enjambment appears in the poem:
      • Lines 3-4: “trace / the”
      • Lines 5-6: “explore / the”
      • Lines 6-7: “jaw / and”
      • Lines 7-8: “hold / the”
      • Lines 9-10: “attend / the”
      • Lines 11-12: “thumb / the”
      • Lines 13-14: “struts / and”
      • Lines 15-16: “hurt / of”
      • Lines 19-20: “chest / where”
      • Lines 22-23: “source / to”
      • Lines 23-24: “mine / buried”
      • Lines 24-25: “which / every”
    • Metaphor

      Where metaphor appears in the poem:
      • Line 4: “the frozen river which ran through his face”
      • Line 6: “the blown hinge of his lower jaw”
      • Line 8: “the damaged, porcelain collar bone”
      • Line 10: “the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade”
      • Line 12: “the parachute silk of his punctured lung”
      • Lines 13-14: “Only then could I bind the struts / and climb the rungs of his broken ribs”
    • Parallelism

      Where parallelism appears in the poem:
      • Lines 7-8: “and handle and hold / the damaged, porcelain collar bone,”
      • Lines 9-10: “and mind and attend / the fractured rudder of shoulder-blade,”
      • Lines 11-12: “and finger and thumb / the parachute silk of his punctured lung.”
    • Caesura

      Where caesura appears in the poem:
      • Line 8: “damaged, porcelain”
      • Line 24: “mind, around”
      • Line 26: “Then, and,” “then, did”
    • Assonance

      Where assonance appears in the poem:
      • Line 1: “phase”
      • Line 2: “days”
      • Line 3: “then,” “let,” “trace”
      • Line 4: “frozen,” “face”
      • Line 5: “then,” “let,” “explore”
      • Line 6: “blown,” “lower”
      • Line 7: “and handle and,” “hold”
      • Line 8: “damaged,” “bone”
      • Line 10: “fractured rudder,” “shoulder”
      • Line 11: “finger,” “thumb”
      • Line 12: “silk,” “punctured lung”
      • Line 13: “I bind,” “struts”
      • Line 14: “climb,” “rungs”
      • Line 19: “foetus,” “metal,” “beneath,” “chest”
      • Line 20: “bullet,” “rest”
      • Line 21: “I widened”
      • Line 23: “mine”
      • Line 24: “mind”
      • Line 25: “closed”
      • Line 26: “close”
    • Alliteration

      Where alliteration appears in the poem:
      • Line 1: “After,” “first phase”
      • Line 2: “passionate nights and intimate”
      • Line 4: “frozen,” “river,” “ran through,” “face”
      • Line 5: “would”
      • Line 6: “blown,” “hinge,” “lower,” “jaw”
      • Line 7: “handle,” “hold”
      • Line 8: “porcelain collar”
      • Line 9: “and mind and attend”
      • Line 10: “fractured rudder,” “shoulder,” “blade”
      • Line 12: “parachute,” “silk,” “punctured”
      • Line 13: “could,” “bind”
      • Line 14: “climb,” “rungs,” “broken,” “ribs”
      • Line 15: “hurt”
      • Line 16: “his,” “heart”
      • Line 17: “Skirting”
      • Line 18: “could,” “picture,” “scan”
      • Line 19: “beneath,” “chest”
      • Line 20: “bullet,” “rest”
      • Line 21: “search”
      • Line 22: “traced,” “scarring,” “back,” “source”
      • Line 23: “sweating,” “unexploded,” “mine”
      • Line 24: “mind”
      • Line 25: “closed”
      • Line 26: “come,” “close”
  • “The Manhunt” Vocabulary

    Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

    • Trace
    • Mind
    • Rudder
    • Struts
    • Skirting
    Trace
    • (Location in poem: Line 3: “trace”; Line 22: “traced”)

      To lightly run one's fingers along something, often from top to bottom. The poet uses the word twice in order to extend the metaphor of a manhunt. The second time it is used, it signifies an investigation or search for a person or place.

  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Manhunt”

    • Form

      "The Manhunt" is comprised of 13 couplets (two-line stanzas). The consistent use of couplets throughout the poem suggests the consistency of the speaker's relationship with her husband. In a way, their unity as a couple, a pair, is made clear in the visual form of the poem.

      Other than that, however, the poem does not fall into any traditional poetic form. The couplets themselves sometimes rhyme, sometimes do not, and are also often enjambed, with phrases cut off and spilling over into the next line or even the next stanza. Thus even as the couplets reflect the bond between the speaker and her husband, the poem still feels wobbly and unpredictable. This reflects the speaker's tentative exploration of her husband's body and emotions.

      The order and regimen of the rhyming couplet could further be interpreted as reflecting the strictly ordered and ranked system of the military, from which the soldier has just returned. The poem's attempt at organization may allude to a lack of freedom of expression and fluidity on the part of the soldier. At the same time, the fact that these couplets are often enjambed or unrhymed suggests the inability of the soldier to stay in line with this expected order.

      On a similar note, though the stanzas are always couplets, the lines themselves within those stanzas are uneven in length and mostly unmetered. This implies the choppy, perhaps unsteady nature of the couple's relationship; they are bonded to each other, yet still must navigate new hurdles. Some stanzas even seem to mirror the highs and lows that the couple are experiencing. For example, the couplets that consist of a shorter first line and a longer second line create an uneven, jagged image on the page. Take lines 17-18:

      Skirting along,
      only then could I picture the scan,

      It is also interesting to note how the poem appears to be divided into two parts. The first part, from lines 1-12 ("After the first phase ... punctured lung.") is one complete sentence. The second half, from line 13 until the end of the poem, is much more disjointed; there are multiple sentences designated by full stops. This change—from a sprawling opening sentence to a series of choppier, shorter sentences—is similar to a traditional learning curve, in which progress is made quickly to begin with and then plateaus with small increases over a long period of time. While the speaker's knowledge about her husband may have increased rapidly to begin with, the second half of the poem marks the plateau, the frequent full stops showing the points at which her ability to learn more is paused.

    • Meter

      The poem's meter is technically free verse as it doesn't follow a strict metrical pattern. "The Manhunt" is essentially a story being told, and the lack of strict meter gives the poem a conversational tone. This gives the impression of hearing an anecdote from someone who has thought about their feelings in depth, but who is describing them spontaneously.

      That being said, there are parts of the poem which do follow a seeming metrical pattern. Line 2, for example, can be scanned:

      after | passionate | nights and | intimate | days,

      The two halves of this line mirror each other, creating an alternating pattern of trochees (stressed-unstressed) and dactyls (stressed-unstressed-unstressed): DUM da | DUM da da | DUM da | DUM da da | DUM. The phrases "passionate nights" and "intimate days" have the exact same metrical rhythm, reflecting the intensity of this initial honeymoon period between the couple; both their nights and their days are marked by a sense of closeness.

      Later, stanzas 4, 5, and 6 have almost the exact same metrical rhythms as well. Not coincidentally, each of these stanzas has a parallel structure in which the speaker describes gently attending to her husband's damaged body parts. Here's a closer look at the first lines of those three stanzas, each of which consists of an iamb (unstressed-stressed, da DUM) followed by an anapest (unstressed-unstressed-stressed, da da DUM):

      and han- | dle and hold

      and mind | and attend

      and fin- | ger and thumb

      Lines 8, 10, and 12 , the second lines of these stanzas, all follow nearly the exact same metrical rhythm as well:

      the dam- | aged, por | celain col- | lar bone,

      the frac- | tured rud | der of shoul- | der-blade,

      the par- | achute silk | of his punc- | tured lung.

      The first two lines above consist of iamb + iamb + anapest + iamb; the final line of iamb + anapest + anapest + iamb. This second anapest is a very minor deviation, however, that still respects the general rising meter of these stanzas—of the beats moving from a place of softness, from a lack of stress, to a place of emphasis. Overall, these moments of consistent meter serve to settle the poem, giving it a comforting familiarity and predictability in places where the speaker explores her husband's body. The repetitive meter reflects the repetitiveness of this exploration, the way she must move gently, unhurriedly, and in a manner that won't startle her on-edge husband.

    • Rhyme Scheme

      There is no consistent rhyme scheme throughout "The Manhunt." The poem slides in and out of rhymed and unrhymed couplets, perhaps commenting on the relationship between the speaker and her husband: while the couple's unity is evident in the rigidly paired couplet form, the absence of a clear rhyme scheme conveys a lack of harmony.

      Interestingly, the poem's first two stanzas feature two perfectly-rhymed couplets: "phase"/"days," and "trace/face." This consistency adds to the euphoric, harmonious nature of the "first phase" of their honeymoon period. The easy, full rhymes here may also suggest a false sense of security and ease in the first physical part of their relationship before the couple's problems begin to become more apparent. Indeed, in the very next stanza, as the speaker explores her husband's broken jaw, the rhyme is no longer perfect; "explore" is only a subtle slant rhyme with "jaw," reflecting the increasing disruption to this relationship as the speaker explores more of her husband's damaged body. In the next stanza, "hold" and "bone" are again only slant rhymes, while "attend" and "blade" in the following couplet don't really rhyme at all.

      There are several other instances of slant rhyme throughout the poem as well. For example:

      • "thumb" and "lung"
      • "hurt" and "heart"
      • "search" and "source"

      These weave in and out of more perfect rhymes—i.e., "chest"/"rest"—and more completely unrhymed couplets appear as well ("mine" and "which," for instance). Though there are moments of rhyme–of harmony and connection—they remain unpredictable, reflecting the potentially volatile nature of the couple's relationship.

  • “The Manhunt” Speaker

    • The speaker of "The Manhunt" is the wife of a soldier who has returned from military duty and who is suffering from both physical and emotional trauma. The poem describes the speaker's process of trying to reconnect with her now changed husband by exploring and understanding his pain.

      The poem is based on real people. The soldier alluded to is based on Eddie Beddoes, who was one of the main participants in a documentary that the poet, Simon Armitage, made about the trauma of war. Armitage spent many hours interviewing Eddie and his wife, Laura, trying to understand both of their personal experiences after Eddie returned from combat. This poem is in fact referred to as "Laura's poem."

      Armitage’s decision to choose Laura rather than Eddie as the narrator of this poem provides a wider perspective on the implications of war. Instead of focusing on the direct experience of a soldier, Armitage highlights how war can touch many people indirectly—how it can affect not just soldiers, but their loved ones as well. He gives a voice to someone who has to deal with the legacy of violence on a daily basis, and its long-lasting effects on the person closest to her.

  • “The Manhunt” Setting

    • "The Manhunt" seems, initially, to be set in an intimate environment, with a wife exploring her husband’s battle scars. The mention of “passionate nights and intimate days” and the delicate nature of the speaker’s exploration imply a private, quiet space like a bedroom. The more abstract, latter part of the poem situates it within the soldier’s body, thus giving a physical shape to the wounds which are still causing him pain.

      The poem can also be thought of as being set at an indistinct point in the speaker’s past. The story-telling form gives no indication as to whether the events happened recently or a long time ago, an ambiguity which is heightened by the use of very neutral language. There are no colloquialisms or slang to locate the poem within a particular time-frame or specific part of the world. The poem's syntax—for example “only then could I”—is actually slightly antiquated at times, making the poem’s time period unclear. While the use of the word “mine” is indicative of modern warfare, the poem could apply to any war which has taken place throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

  • Literary and Historical Context of “The Manhunt”

      Literary Context

      “The Manhunt” was published in a 2008 collection called The Not Dead. The poems in the collection were included in a documentary with the same title, shown on the British television station Channel 4 in 2007. The film’s aim was to highlight the unfairness with which veterans are treated in the UK. It sought to humanize the experiences of ex-service people and to show the devastating effect that war can have on mental health, especially if left untreated.

      "The Manhunt" is a more recent entry into an extensive literary canon documenting the repercussions of warfare. Armitage's work is indebted to early war poets such as Siegfried Sassoon, for example, whose poems such as "Repression of War Experience," "Haunted," and "Survivors" deal directly with the lasting trauma many soldiers dealt with after World War I. More recently, Brian Turner's "Phantoms" and Elyse Fenton's "Conversation" highlight the effects of modern warfare on returning soldiers.

      Armitage often refers to the ancient poet Homer as a key inspiration. Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey" deals, primarily, with displacement and the attempt to reintegrate in the aftermath of war. Like the soldier at the center of "The Manhunt," when Odysseus finally reaches home he is unrecognizable to his wife.

      Historical Context

      Eddie Beddoes, the soldier at the center of "The Manhunt" served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia during the Croat-Bosniak conflict in the 1990s. The Bosnian War began in 1993 and would eventually result in the mass rape, ethnic cleansing, and indiscriminate bombing of Bosnian civilians. The July 1995 Srebrenica Massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosnians were killed, has been widely accepted as the worst instance of mass murder since the Second World War. Soldiers involved in the Croat-Bosniak conflict often witnessed not only devastating casualties, but also some of the worst crimes committed by humanity in half a century. Many service-people who served in Bosnia suffered from severe mental health issues after returning home.

      The symptoms described in “The Manhunt” are typical of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that often afflicts those who have served in military conflict zones. PTSD is often characterized by nightmares and flashbacks to the traumatic incident, as well as by feelings of isolation, irritability, guilt, and depression. Statistics have shown that almost a fifth of returning soldiers have suffered from PTSD or related conditions.

  • More “The Manhunt” Resources