CONTEXTThe Manhunt is written by Simon Armitage, about a woman called Laura who's husband has post-traumatic stress syndrome. Eddie (her husband) appears to be broken and lost within himself and Laura is trying to piece him back together and find the man she knew before he went to the Bosnian war. Laura throughout this poem keeps up her optimism and positivity that Eddie will come back to her, and there is a sense of intense and unconditional giving

FORMFirst person narrative, from Laura's viewpoint, divided into separate couplet long stanzas, which emphasise the step by step process that Laura needs to take to help Eddie deal with the problems that the war has left him with

STRUCTUREDifferent injuries are introduced in each stanza, the reader is made to go through the slow process of the state of Eddie's mind and body, the way that Laura has done.

LANGUAGE (about the body)"porcelain" - how careful she needs to be with him, "climb the rungs of his broken ribs" - climbed inside him to help her understand and experience the battle he's been through. "hurt/heart" - consonance emphasises emotional pain, "sweating unexploded mine, buried deep in his mind" - centre of problems is psychological pain, suggests the tension and stress that the memories cause him. Adjectives describe the damage paired with metaphors suggest his body is broken, and the damage that has been caused is taking away his humanity

LANGUAGE (about caring)A variety of verbs suggest how Laura is caring for Eddie, these words stress carefulness and delicateness which suggest the ways in which Laura is helping him physically and emotionally. "only then would he let me trace" - suggests she is slowly overcoming his resistance, "and handle and hold//and mind and attend// and finger and thumb" repetition of structure emphasises it's an active process. "bind the struts" she is mending him 

LAST LINES"every nerve in his body had tightened and closedThen and only then, did I come close" - last lines only almost rhyme which suggest he's not all better as it's a muted ending, ambiguity - suggests that she had to wait until now to get "close", but also that she has only "come close" so she isn't fully with him

themes woo ~ caring, sensitivity, giving, patience, pain, tormented, trauma, broken

CONTEXTdescribes an hour spent with a lover, the poet personifies time as love's enemy, but in this perfect moment with her lover, they are able to defy time and conquer it, the poem presents the idea that love is stronger than anything, even time.

FORMsimilar features to a shakespeare sonnet, but has varying line lengths and rhythm patterns, the poem is direct to her lover which make it seem intimate and personal, enjambment between 2nd/3rd stanza and 3rd/4th stanza creates pauses that either reflect on the time spent with the lover, or this presents the actual physically elongation of time.

STRUCTUREit begins with two lines that personify time and love, but then mixes it up with the description of the afternoon. the final couplet links back to the personified images of time and love, it's made up of words with only one syllable which make a forceful and direct ending to a perfect sonnet and dreamy love poem

LANGUAGE (on time)"love's time's beggar" - love is dependent on time but time doesn't need love. "for thousands of seconds we kiss" - slowing down time as the smallest division of time is used, makes the time documented so that they make the most of it. "Now" - single word, carpe diem, brings focus to the single moment the poet is trying to capture.  Time is portrayed as an enemy of love, the currency that love spends, imagery isn't precise which suggest a dreamy experience of the lovers

LANGUAGE (about wealth)"bright as a dropped coin" - suggests that time with a lover is more value than a dropped coin is for a beggar. "Midas light" - makes everything look golden, love makes everything more valuable. "no jewel hold a candle to cuckoo spit" - through the eyes of the lover everything is precious.  "spins gold gold gold from straw" - creating something precious and valuable from something ordinary (love to time)

themes ~ cherishing moments (carpe diem) strong belief, physical pleasure

CONTEXTthe speaker is upset over a recent breakdown of a relationship, he is self-pitying as he feel like the victim. Despite him being in Paris with somebody else, he is still discontented over the previous relationship, which makes him become reclusive and not want to leave the hotel room, perhaps so that his lust is satisfied but he doesn't have to experience "the city of love"

FORMThere is a repeating stanza pattern, except with the third stanza which stands out. The last line on majority of the stanzas "I'm in Paris with you" presents the idea of hope that he is going to move on and be genuine with his new partner, yet it is continually knocked down by the beginning of the next stanza, however this means the poem ends in hope. Main refrain and internal rhymes to emphasise rhythm 

STRUCTUREThe first stanzas are about the narrator, making him seem very absorbed in his self and disregarding of the other person's feelings. He then shifts the focus onto Paris, however it is structured very differently which singles his intent (sex). The penultimate is more of the surroundings, e.g, Paris from the beds view. The final verse is more about his companion but with a less self-pitying tone, more of an assertive tone.

LANGUAGE (about Paris)"Lourve, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees" - emphasises the rejection on traditional love landmarks suggest his love with his new companion isn't "traditional". "crack across the ceiling" - suggests that the only bit of Paris he wants to see is the ceiling (suggests he is lying on his back). "hotel walls are peeling" - dingy hotel reflects the mentality of the relationship (unhealthy) Paris is associated with romance and love, this is ironic because he is't romantic at all.

LANGUAGE (humorous) nearly each stanza contains contrived or unexpected rhymes which are humorous as they are very forced, also keeps referring to the beautiful city of Paris yet reduces it to the view of his grotty hotel room. "elysees//sleazy" "maroonded" "all points south" how rude?!?!?

themes ~ self pity/victimisation bitterness/resentinghumour lust and sex

CONTEXTthis poem compares texts and phone calls with a gun fight in a western film, it is about the worst telephone exchanges that leave lovers hurt and wounded. 

FORMloosely structures, which adds tension as we are unable to predict what is going to happen next, this creates tension. Littered with enjambment, assonance, alliteration, internal rhymes and irregular intervals. "blast me//through the heart" - enjambment over a stanza.

STRUCTURE the poem describes how the lovers make contact several times, and then the narrators reactions and feelings, we are experiencing the events in the same order that the narrator is which is what makes it more tense.

LANGUAGE (communication)"phones" "quickdraw" - suggest how rapidly she answers the phone."tone...phone" internal rhyme adds emphasis on fractured rhythm of the poem"and this...and this...and this...and this" repetition makes it out as if these "kisses" are bullets being fired from a gun, poem is modern and different because of the technology

LANGUAGE (westerns)clichéd imagery from TV and Cinema, the old fashioned imagery contrasts the reference to mobile phones and text messages which present the unnatural behaviour of the pair, and unhealthy relationship. "Old last chance saloon" - old western film but also suggests the relationship is close to ending. 

themes ~hurt, painexpectations - disappointment? tension

Ghazal If I am the grass and you the breeze, blow through me. If I am the rose and you the bird, then woo me.   If you are the rhyme and I the refrain, don’t hang on my lips, come and I’ll come too when you cue me.   If yours is the iron fist in the velvet glove when the arrow flies, the heart is pierced, tattoo me.   If mine is the venomous tongue, the serpent’s tail, charmer, use your charm, weave a spell and subdue me.   If I am the laurel leaf in your crown, you are the arms around my bark, arms that never knew me.   Oh would that I were bark! So old and still in leaf. And you, dropping in my shade, dew to bedew me!   What shape should I take to marry your own, have you – hawk to my shadow, moth to my flame – pursue me?   If I rise in the east as you die in the west, die for my sake, my love, every night renew me.   If, when it ends, we are just good friends, be my Friend, muse, lover and guide, Shamsuddin to my Rumi.   Be heaven and earth to me and I’ll be twice the me I am, if only half the world you are to me. MIMI KHALVATI  

CONTEXTwritten about intense feelings of love for the speakers hopeful lover. she conjures a new image etc in each stanza

FORMa "ghazal" poem is an ancient poem from the middle east that express the pains and beauty of love, the final word in each stanza is the same, but the last-but-one, also rhyme with each other. The couplets however aren't supposed to be connected as in the narrative

STRUCTUREseparate nature of each stanza means that we are given a range of images and ideas in quick succession, this makes the poem seem playful in unison with the feeling of intensity

LANGUAGE (about nature)"rose/bird" - traditional love. "venomous tongue, the serpents tail/ charmer" - she wants him to be like a snake charmer, teasing and in control of her, dangerous natural imagery describe herself as neither gentle or tame. "rise in the east, die in the west" - like the sun and moon, rising in turn, perhaps a perfect unison but at the same time never being joint. natural imagery is timeless presenting the love as permanent, but also natural.

LANGUAGE (about love)she is asking to be the object of her lover's love, despite she being the one chasing him. makes it clear that her love isn't just about sweetness and tenderness but also hints of conflict and aggression. "what shape....pursue me? - wants him to be the active one in the relationship

themes ~intense love (near enough obsessive)playfulness, repeating rhymes make it joyouspleasure 

Manhunt

Hour

In Paris With You

Qucikdraw

Ghazal