War Photographer
Poem
In his dark room he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands, which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.
Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
A hundred agonies in black and white >
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns his living and they do not care.
Analysis
In his dark room he is finally alone
- This could possibly signify the fact that he is alone with his dark thoughts, and has no one in the world to share them with.
- Tone of reflection - he is finally home; gets time to be with himself.
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
- Contrast spools of suffering with ordered rows
- There is a distinction between the chaos of war and the ordered nature of the photographs.
- ‘ordered rows’ could relate to:
- military formation
- mass at church
- graves
The only light is red and softly glows,
- Establish setting
- ‘red’ represents violence and blood, a reminder of the brutal nature of war
- the soft glow contrasts with the intensity of war
- Creates a sombre atmosphere
as though this were a church and he
- churches are quiet places of reflection; same atmosphere as this room
- a place to atone for sins
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
- Religious imagery
- the photographer is spreading his knowledge about war to the public via the photos, just like a priest conducting a Mass
- Honouring the sacrifice of the soldiers (just like Jesus is honoured in a Mass)
- War is against everything that religion preaches - establishes irony
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.
- ‘all flesh is grass’ is allusion to the Bible
- emphasises the transitory nature of life
- all life withers and decomposes into grass
- War makes human flesh as disposable as grass
- Declarative; mentions all the places war-affected
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands, which did not tremble then
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
- Feels safe and at home at England
- The horrors of war seem to only strike him now when he’s back in England
- Caesurae show the change in atmosphere
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
- Highlights the insignificance of the problems of the people in England
- easily dispelled
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.
- Heavy contrast between life in England and the war zone.
- Intensity vs calmness of everyday life
- (“ordinary” and “simple”) vs (“explode” and “running children”)
- Simple weather vs nightmare heat
- Loss of innocent lives - evokes pathos.
- Compares the whole experience of war to a nightmare
Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
- enjambment gives an idea of the picture being developed
- twist - morbid image of the man’s face’s shape
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
- Image is developing
- Ghost because the man is now given life through the photograph; living after death
- Translucent nature of the man’s face
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
- Imperative responsibility
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.
- ‘stained’ - shows permanence of the effects of war
- ‘foreign’ - unfamiliar
A hundred agonies in black and white
- the pain is captured in the limited, two-dimensional medium of a photo
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns his living and they do not care.
- Emphasises the indifference of the general public regarding war
Further Analysis
Stanza 1
- “In his darkroom he is finally alone” - Tone of relief, the photographer returns back home after a long trip abroad. The darkroom is a metaphor for the photographer’s depression. It could also be a reference of the way humans deliberately block out and hide from unpleasant truths.
- “Spools of suffering” - Spool is the cylinder on which the photographing film is coiled. ‘suffering’ refers to the amount of grief and pain are contained in those spools. It is an example of TRANSFERRED EPITHET; it is not the spools that are suffering but rather the people inside the photographs. The harsh alliterative sounds of ’s’ establish a negative mood. ‘suffering’ may also refer to the suffering of Christ and alludes to the idea that the innocent men and women dying in wars are ‘reborn’ (ref. to “half-formed ghosts”).
- “Ordered rows” - The photos are set out like war graves; in uniform fashion. The idea of creating order from suffering introduces the theme of hypocrisy in the poem. It could also create a link to the structure of the poem - four stanzas, equal no. of lines, further contrasting order with the chaos of war.
- “The only light is red and softly glows…intone a Mass.” - Reference to a church tabernacle lamp. Duffy is comparing the development of the photographs to a funeral. The darkroom can be interpreted as a metaphor for a sacred place. The photographer performs the role of a priest: by photographing those who suffer as a result of the war, he is performing a sacred duty. The Mass is like a funeral service. The developing pictures re-create the deaths of the victims of the war. The photographer is like a priest conducting their funerals. Red is an unsettling colour, to match the photographer’s state of mind and contrast to the ‘laying to rest’ of the dead in funerals.
- “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.” - References to the conflicts in Belfast, Beirut, and Phnom Penh.
- “All flesh is grass.” - This is a biblical allusion to Isiah: 40. This continues the religious theme of the funeral metaphor, and refers to the insignificance of life during times of conflict, one death can mean very little. The bodies themselves are referred to as “flesh”, not even referred to as people.
The rhyme scheme in this stanza with ‘rows’ and ‘glows’ in lines two and three, and ‘mass’ and ‘grass’ in lines 5 and 6. This continues throughout the poem. The couplets may suggest restraint which may imply that the war photographer needs to restrict his emotions while he is doing his job.
Stanza 2
- “He has a job to do.” – This abrupt opening breaks the calmness created in the first stanza. Note how the photographer calls this very dark situation a ‘job’, this is likely to withstand the grief of what he sees.
- “Solutions slop in trays.” – The word ‘slop’ is onomatopoeic, representing the sound of the solutions splashing around in the trays which could also represent the sound of the blood dripping from the dead bodies.
- “beneath his hands which did not seem to tremble then though seem to now” – This creates the contrast between how the photographer’s hands were steady when he was taking the photos in the war zone and now when he is developing his pictures. He now reflects on the contents of the photos, which makes his hands tremble with fear and anxiety. The ‘then’ connects to ‘job’ to show how the narrator is trying to distance themselves away from this terrible experience they’ve had, yet the underlying tones of suffering and pain show just how deeply he’s affected.
- “Rural England” – This could be seen as place of comfort and safety, contrasting with the brutal imageries of war. This shows how far the photographer’s life is from the lives of these war victims. It could possibly be ironic, referencing the fascist movement led by Oswald Mosley before WW2. This forms a caesura.
- “Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,” – ‘Ordinary pain’ is an oxymoron, which could suggest that the photographer is rationalising the painful memories. People who live in comfort cannot imagine what life is like for war victims. It could reference how British people complain about the weather, yet this is not ‘true’ suffering.
- “to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat.” – This line references a minefield, and contrasts the image of children safely running through a field with children in war time running through these minefields.
Stanza 3
- “Something is happening.” – Just like the start of the second stanza, the third starts with a simple declarative. This injects drama and suspense.
- “A stranger’s features faintly start to twist before his eyes,” – The photo is developing, and the image of a man in the photo is starting to become clearer. ‘Twist’ also suggests pain in the face of the subject of the photograph.
- “a half-formed ghost.” – This is a double entendre. The stranger is dead, a ghost, which is not fully formed because the photo is still developing. This might also suggest that very young men enlist to fight at a very young age, some not fully matured emotionally and intellectually.
- “He remembers the cries of this man’s wife, how he sought approval without words to do what someone must” – The stranger has a right to privacy but the photographer doesn’t speak the language of this foreign country and is unable to ask the stranger’s grief-stricken wife for permission to take the photos. ‘without words’ could also show how horrified the photographer was, he was speechless.
- “and how the blood stained into foreign dust.” – The word ‘stained’ suggests that the memories and feelings associated with war will be forever imprinted onto this foreign land.
- “A hundred agonies in black-and-white” – Here, a hyperbole is used to shock us. ‘hundred’ is an ironically rounded number, yet close to reality.
- “from which his editor will pick out five or six for Sunday’s supplement.” – This shows the Western attitude to wars which do not directly affect them. Sunday is redolent of Church, further developing the religious imagery in the poem, it might be that the editor feels they have done their ‘Christian Duty’ by reminding others of the suffering experienced by the people around the world. Duffy suggests that this is merely lip service. It is also strange that out of these hundred-or-so photos, each with equal importance, only five or six are chosen to be featured.
- “The readers eyeballs prick with tears between bath and pre-lunch beers.” – The word prick here shows the quick, fleeting sadness experienced by the readers of the paper. They may be slightly upset, but it is quickly forgotten. The internal rhyme in ‘tears’ and ‘beers’ creates an ironically ‘nursery-rhyme’ theme. ‘Pre-lunch beers’ also shows how privileged the readers of the newspapers are, creating a contrast between their lives and the lives of the war victims. Here, bathos is used which means anti-climax.
- “From aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns a living and they do not care” - This implies that the photographer is numb to the significance of this task, as are the readers and his editor. Alternatively, it could imply the sadness of the photographer since he cares yet nobody else seems to, his work has become meaningless. There could be irony in ‘living’ where he earns money off of photos of dead people. The aeroplane could signify the continuous cycle of his photography jobs. This is supported by the repetitive assonance in ‘aeroplane’, ‘stares’, ‘where’ and, ‘care’ which creates a sense of repetitiveness, reflecting the drudgery that his job has become.