The Manhunt + Nettles War is a destructive force that can be seen as a catalyst for a broken relationship, and this idea is shown in two poems: The Manhunt and Nettles. Whilst both have a literal meaning of remedying and preventing physical pain, both poems show that war is a symbol for destruction for relationships. The Manhunt, as the title suggests, is a definite poem about a desperate search for a man, a man who is being sought after by his wife, Laura in an attempt to save the conditional relationship they have through examining his physical and mental pain seen through a series of metaphors. The poet, Armitage is sending a message to the readers: are efforts to save a relationship futile? Correspondingly, through a conceit in its title, Nettles is a poem about a boy who has fallen into a nettle bed and seeks comfort from his father.
I believe that Relationships are the connections between people which can be expressed in many different ways or situations. In the poem ‘manhunt’ by Simon Armitage he explores the relationship between a wife and her husband, whom is an injured solider who has returned from war. In nettles, the relationship is between a farther and his son who has fallen into a "bed of nettles." Both poets show the consideration felt by the reader of the poem for the other person in the relationship. In the manhunt, the narrator’s consideration is for the mental suffering which her husband is suffering.
Although he was a Veteran of the Vietnam War, his grief and pain are reminiscent of most war veterans. He struggles with his emotions at seeing the names of fellow war hero’s. It is almost as though his mind is clouded. He visualizes his name in smoke on the wall, when in reality the names are etched in stone. Fortunately, his name disappears as fast as it appears, but his inner turmoil has not.
The Manhunt Relationship is the connection between two people. In ‘The Manhunt’ Simon Armitage explore the relationship between a wife and her husband, an injured solider who has just returned from battle. In ‘Nettles’ the poem explores the relationship between a father and his young son who has fallen into a bed of stinging nettles. Both poets explore the compassion felt by the narrator of the poem for the other person in the relationship. In ‘The Manhunt’ the narrator’s compassion is for the mental anguish which the husband is obviously suffering.
‘Mental Cases’ and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ are two outstanding pieces created by Owen, each using techniques such as hyperboles, personification and imagery that associate the two poems, giving us, the readers, a bigger picture of what is happening in the poets eyes. In the poem Mental Cases Owen expresses his perception that war is taking away a soldiers future, a life full of happiness. It illustrates the bloodshed and suffering of war, using a series of graphical description of young men who are treated for war-related illness’, such as shellshock. It was a heart-wrenching poem for Owen because he himself was a patient of shellshock. The repetition of question marks and dashes illustrate the confusion and frustration witnessing Owens fellow comrades, it is a demanding tone begging for explanation for the entrapment of victims.
We can tell that he is hurt psychologically as it says ‘unexploded mine buried deep in his mind’ and physically as it says ‘the rungs of his broken ribs’ these are both effects of his traumatic experience at war. The distribution of each stanza could also show the distance that she now has with the subject because of his lack of understanding of his painful experiences and emotions. As a reader, it sounds like she is writing the poem the way she would be saying it, this emphasises the shortness of each stanza and the small steps she has to take to his recovery, which is also shown in the tone of the poem as she sounds in pain, which makes the reader feel sorry for her. However, in ‘Hour’, the poem is separated into four stanzas, which all have four lines each apart from the last stanza which has two lines. Each stanza has emotive language of the writer’s feelings, we know this as it says things such as ‘we are millionaires, backhanding the night’ this gives the reader the impression that their relationship is stable and strong unlike the fragmented relationship in ‘The Manhunt’.
The phrase ‘heart fit to break’ links to the iambic tetrameter breaking as the speaker’s heart is breaking, and so does the pattern. Form is used to tell the story of ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ as the rhyme scheme shows the instability of both their relationship, and the lover’s apparent lack of sanity, whilst the iambic tetrameter shows that Porphyria’s lover is heartbroken because of this. The structure of the poem is another useful aspect that Browning uses to tell the story. ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ has been written in one long stanza, rather than in lots of stanzas. This not only builds up the excitement in the reader, but also builds tension as to what the lover will do and when.
Relationships often consist of many layers which are strongly depicted by poets. The writers of ‘Manhunt’ and ‘Quickdraw’ present them very effectively. In ‘Manhunt’, the narrator speaks of her relationship with her husband, a soldier who has returned from war with physical scars; whereas, the narrator of ‘Quickdraw’ expresses an intensely painful relationship as a result of her lovers inconsiderable amount of phone calls and texts. Both poets use emotive language to convey the immense pain suffered in their relationships. In ‘Manhunt’, instead of using a cliché representation of a soldier (powerful and well-built), Armitage chooses to characterize the persona’s husband as weak and fragile, “the damaged, porcelain collar-bone”.
“My Last Duchess" and "To His Coy Mistress" shows the act of the men in these two poems. Both the characters in these two poems have a certain attitude towards women, which is that they both see women as objects but in different ways. Also they both can hurt anyone for their profit. Both the speakers of “My Last Duchess” and “To His Coy Mistress” use poetry to create an argument. The Duke in "My Last Duchess" is an arrogant, disrespectful man, who cares more about status and wealth than love.
They feel guilty for the deaths of men in their platoon, for the deaths of Vietnamese, and for their own inadequacies. This leads each individual’s guilt to develop in a different manner and force the individual to cope with the guilt in the best way they see fit. After the war, the psychological burdens the men carry during the war continue to define them. Years after the end of the war, Jimmy Cross goes to visit Tim O’Brien at his home and together they look at old photographs and reminisce. “We paused over a snapshot of Ted Lavender, and after a while Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death.