war photographer thesis statement

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War Photographer Summary & Analysis by Carol Ann Duffy

• Introduction
• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Download PDF
• Line-by-Line Explanations

The Full Text of “War Photographer”

“war photographer” introduction.

• Read the full text of “War Photographer”

“War Photographer” Summary

“war photographer” themes.

Apathy, Empathy, and the Horrors of War

Lines 13-15, lines 15-18.

• Lines 19-24

Trauma and Memory

Lines 11-12.

• Lines 13-18

The Ethics of Documenting War

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “war photographer”.

In his dark ... ... in ordered rows.

The only light ... ... intone a Mass.

Belfast. Beirut. Phnom ... flesh is grass.

He has a ... ... seem to now.

Rural England. Home ... ... weather can dispel,

to fields which ... ... a nightmare heat.

Something is happening. ... ... a half-formed ghost.

He remembers the ... ... into foreign dust.

Lines 19-21

A hundred agonies ... ... for Sunday’s supplement.

Lines 21-22

The reader’s eyeballs ... ... and pre-lunch beers.

Lines 23-24

From the aeroplane ... ... do not care.

“War Photographer” Symbols

Photographs

• Line 2: “with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
• Line 7: “Solutions slop in trays”
• Lines 13-15: “A stranger’s features / faintly start to twist before his eyes, / a half-formed ghost”
• Line 19: “A hundred agonies in black and white”

“War Photographer” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• Line 2: “s,” “s,” “s”
• Line 4: “th,” “th”
• Line 5: “pr,” “pr”
• Line 6: “B,” “B,” “P,” “P”
• Line 7: “H,” “h,” “S,” “s”
• Line 8: “h,” “h,” “th”
• Line 9: “th”
• Line 13: “S,” “s,” “t,” “f”
• Line 14: “f,” “s,” “t,” “t,” “t”
• Line 16: “h,” “h”
• Line 17: “w,” “w,” “w”
• Line 20: “s”
• Line 21: “S,” “s”
• Line 22: “b,” “b,” “b”
• Line 6: “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.”
• Lines 11-12: “to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet / of running children in a nightmare heat.”
• Line 6: “All flesh is grass.”
• Line 1: “I,” “i”
• Line 2: “o”
• Line 3: “o,” “o”
• Line 4: “ou,” “e,” “u,” “e”
• Line 5: “ie,” “a”
• Line 6: “e,” “a,” “e,” “e,” “a”
• Line 8: “i,” “i,” “i,” “e,” “e”
• Line 10: “i,” “i,” “ea,” “e”
• Line 11: “ie,” “o,” “o,” “ea,” “ee”
• Line 13: “i,” “i,” “i,” “a,” “e,” “u”
• Line 14: “ai”
• Line 15: “ie”
• Line 16: “i”
• Line 17: “o,” “o,” “a,” “o,” “o,” “u”
• Line 18: “oo,” “u”
• Line 19: “a,” “a,” “a”
• Line 20: “i,” “i,” “i,” “i,” “i,” “i”
• Line 21: “u,” “u,” “i”
• Line 22: “i,” “ea,” “ee,” “e,” “ee”
• Line 23: “a,” “a,” “a,” “e”
• Line 24: “i,” “i”
• Line 6: “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All”
• Line 7: “do. Solutions”
• Line 8: “hands, which”
• Line 9: “now. Rural England. Home”
• Line 13: “happening. A”
• Line 15: “ghost. He”
• Line 16: “wife, how”
• Line 21: “supplement. The”
• Line 1: “r,” “r,” “n,” “ll,” “l,” “n”
• Line 2: “s,” “l,” “s,” “s,” “t,” “t,” “r,” “d,” “r,” “d,” “r”
• Line 3: “l,” “l,” “l,” “l”
• Line 5: “pr,” “pr,” “p,” “r,” “t,” “t,” “ss”
• Line 6: “B,” “s,” “t,” “B,” “t,” “P,” “n,” “P,” “n,” “ll,” “l”
• Line 7: “H,” “h,” “S,” “l,” “sl”
• Line 8: “h,” “s,” “h,” “s,” “t,” “t,” “th”
• Line 9: “th,” “R,” “r,” “g,” “g,” “n”
• Line 10: “n,” “p,” “n,” “w,” “p,” “l,” “w,” “d,” “p,” “l”
• Line 11: “l,” “d,” “d,” “pl,” “d,” “th,” “th”
• Line 12: “n,” “n”
• Line 13: “S,” “str,” “r,” “s,” “t,” “r,” “s”
• Line 14: “f,” “t,” “st,” “t,” “t,” “t,” “st”
• Line 15: “f,” “f”
• Line 16: “w,” “h,” “w,” “h”
• Line 17: “w,” “w,” “d,” “d,” “w,” “eo”
• Line 18: “d,” “st,” “d,” “d,” “st”
• Line 21: “S,” “s,” “s,” “s,” “r”
• Line 22: “t,” “rs,” “b,” “tw,” “th,” “b,” “th,” “r,” “b,” “rs”
• Line 23: “s,” “r,” “ss,” “r”
• Line 24: “r,” “s,” “s”

End-Stopped Line

• Line 2: “rows.”
• Line 3: “glows,”
• Line 5: “Mass.”
• Line 6: “grass.”
• Line 10: “dispel,”
• Line 12: “heat.”
• Line 14: “eyes,”
• Line 18: “dust.”
• Line 22: “beers.”
• Line 24: “care.”
• Lines 1-2: “alone / with”
• Lines 4-5: “he / a”
• Lines 7-8: “trays / beneath”
• Lines 8-9: “then / though”
• Lines 9-10: “again / to”
• Lines 11-12: “feet / of”
• Lines 13-14: “features / faintly”
• Lines 15-16: “cries / of”
• Lines 16-17: “approval / without”
• Lines 17-18: “must / and”
• Lines 19-20: “white / from”
• Lines 20-21: “six / for”
• Lines 21-22: “prick / with”
• Lines 23-24: “where / he”
• Line 2: “spools of suffering”
• Line 6: “All flesh is grass”

Parallelism

• Lines 10-11: “to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, / to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet”
• Lines 16-18: “how he sought approval / without words to do what someone must / and how the blood stained into foreign dust.”
• Lines 4-5: “as though this were a church and he / a priest preparing to intone a Mass.”

“War Photographer” 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.

• "All flesh is grass"
• Sunday's supplement
• Impassively
• (Location in poem: Line 1: “dark room”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “War Photographer”

Rhyme scheme, “war photographer” speaker, “war photographer” setting, literary and historical context of “war photographer”, more “war photographer” resources, external resources.

"War Photographer" Read Aloud — Listen to the poem read aloud.

Trailer for the Documentary "War Photographer" — Watch the trailer for the 2011 documentary War Photographer, which explores the responsibilities of photographers in war zones, focusing on photographer James Nachtwey.

"The Terror of War" — Explore Nick Ut's image from the Vietnam War, "The Terror of War." This famous photograph may have inspired "War Photographer." Note the second photographer at the right of the image examining his camera as children run by him, burnt and naked.

Carol Ann Duffy Biography — Learn more about Carol Ann Duffy, Britain's first female Poet Laureate, on Poets.org.

Interview with War Photographer Nick Ut — Watch this NBC interview with Vietnam War photographer Nick Ut about taking his famous photo depicting the naked "Napalm Girl" and the responsibility of photographers in war zones. Ut's comments intersect potently with the themes explored in "War Photographer."

LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy

A Child's Sleep

Anne Hathaway

Before You Were Mine

Death of a Teacher

Education For Leisure

Elvis's Twin Sister

Head of English

In Mrs Tilscher’s Class

In Your Mind

Little Red Cap

Mrs Lazarus

Mrs Sisyphus

Pilate's Wife

Pygmalion's Bride

Queen Herod

Recognition

Standing Female Nude

The Darling Letters

The Dolphins

The Good Teachers

Warming Her Pearls

We Remember Your Childhood Well

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Ms Bellamy's English Class blog

'war photographer' notes, example essay and revision/essay-writing tasks.

• The subject(s) of the poem
• The attitude of the poet
• The poetic devices the poet uses

it is very accurate and it helped me in my english class

GCSE Poetry Comparison: War Photographer and Poppies Sample Essay

Welcome back to our series on the AQA Power and Conflict anthology—your go-to guide for writing comparative poetry essays!

In AQA GCSE English Literature , poetry comes toward the end of the exam, as part of Paper 2. By this point, you’ve already tackled a modern text you’ve prepared for and a daunting unseen section.

Then, you’ve got to analyse two anthology poems and compare them. It’s a lot to handle, and by this stage, you’ll be feeling tired. That’s why anything you can do to prepare will be a huge help! 

With this in mind, we’re diving into comparative essays for every poem in the AQA anthology . We’ll break down key points, quotes and analysis, so you can be fully prepared to write a standout essay.

Today, we’re comparing War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy and Poppies by Jane Weir. These are two of the most popular poems, as they’re written in a modern style with a powerful emotional impact. But do they have much in common beyond their strong messages?

Check out this sample essay comparing the two. As you read, get your mark scheme ready and think critically. Consider your own feelings and responses to the poems. What extra points or quotes would you add to make it even stronger?

In “War Photographer” by Carol Ann Duffy, the poet explores ideas about inner conflict. Compare this with “Poppies” by Jane Weir.

In “War Photographer” by Carol Ann Duffy and “Poppies” by Jane Weir, both poets explore inner conflict, focusing on how war impacts those left behind or who bear witness. Duffy portrays the moral struggles of a war photographer processing the horrors he’s captured. On the other hand, Weir delves into a mother’s grief and anxiety as her son goes to war. Both use vivid imagery and thoughtful structure to convey the deep psychological effects of war, though the nature of their inner conflicts differ significantly.

Duffy’s “War Photographer” examines a photographer managing the chaos of war through his work. The darkroom becomes a metaphor for his mind, where he confronts the images he’s captured: “spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.” This imagery contrasts the need for control with the overwhelming nature of war. The alliteration in “spools of suffering” adds a sinister undertone to the scene, while the later image of a “half-formed ghost” highlights the way memories and traumas still haunt him.

In contrast, “Poppies” presents a mother’s personal battle as she prepares to send her son to war. The opening, “Three days before Armistice Sunday / and poppies had already been placed / on individual war graves,” blends remembrance with foreshadowed loss, suggesting her awareness of what could come. While Duffy’s imagery evokes distant conflict, Weir’s use of domestic detail, pinning “crimped petals” onto her son’s blazer, brings the reader closer to the intimate pain of loss. The contrast between the mother’s care and the violence her son may face is heightened by the phrase “spasms of paper red,” subtly alluding to war wounds.

Both poets emphasise inner conflict through form. Duffy’s regular structure reflects the photographer’s methodical attempts to process his emotions. The tension between order and chaos mirrors the contrast between the structured form and the photographer’s inner turmoil. The poem shifts when the photographer realises the public’s detachment from his work, their emotions fleeting: “The reader’s eyeballs prick / with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.” This emphasises his isolation, deepening his internal struggle as his experiences are dismissed.

In contrast, Weir uses a free-verse structure reflecting the unpredictability of the mother’s emotions. The lack of consistent rhyme or stanza length mirrors the chaotic flow of her thoughts as she wrestles with fear and pride. Weir’s enjambment, particularly in lines like “I resisted the impulse / to run my fingers through the gelled / blackthorns of your hair,” captures the fluidity of her emotional state, contrasting sharply with Duffy’s more rigid form.

Contextually, both poets come from different perspectives. Duffy, as poet laureate, often explores political and social issues, using “War Photographer” to highlight the emotional toll on those who document suffering. She challenges readers to consider the distance between war’s reality and their perception. Weir, drawing on personal experience, focuses on the intimate pain of a mother’s sacrifice. Her poem speaks to the personal costs of war, contrasting Duffy’s more external focus on media and societal detachment.

In conclusion, while both “War Photographer” and “Poppies” explore the inner conflict caused by war, they approach it from different angles. Duffy’s focus on the emotional struggle of documenting war contrasts with Weir’s intimate portrayal of a mother’s grief and anxiety. Together, they provide a powerful commentary on the psychological scars war leaves behind, highlighting the inner battles fought by those affected by it.

What are your thoughts on the essay and how the poems are compared? How do you feel about the two poems? Is there anything you’d include, change or something you’d disagree with? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

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2 thoughts on “ GCSE Poetry Comparison: War Photographer and Poppies Sample Essay ”

Great work thank you!

Thank you very much Tom. I’m glad you’ve found it useful!

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War Photographer / Remains Essay

(grade 5-6).

Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore memories. In the second stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy creates a vivid image of one of the photographer’s memories by writing ‘running children in a nightmare heat’. Duffy’s words create graphic, powerful imagery of innocent children caught up in the middle of a warzone, running in agony and terror away from a chemical weapon. Duffy suggests through these words that the photographer's mind is always filled with powerful and upsetting memories of the terrible things he witnessed while taking photos in warzones. Armitage makes clear the soldier cannot forget the memory of shooting the looter by writing ‘probably armed, possibly not’. Armitage’s repetition of these words in the poem emphasise that this particular memory, of whether or not the looter is armed, is very important. It is important because the soldier is wondering whether or not he needed to kill the looter. If the looter was not armed, the soldier killed an innocent person, who posed no threat to him. Armitage’s use of the word ‘possibly’ indicates that the soldier cannot be sure that the looter was armed, and runs this memory over and over in his mind. Armitage’s repetition of these words also emphasise the power of this memory, as it keeps flooding back into the soldier’s mind, even when he is home on leave. It is clear from both poems that being in or near war can deeply affect people, leaving them with lasting trauma.

Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore guilt. In the third stanza of War Photographer, Duffy makes the photographer’s guilt clear by writing that he sees a ‘half-formed ghost’ when he develops one of the photographs. Duffy’s imagery in the words ‘half-formed’ helps the reader to imagine the photograph slowly developing in front of his eyes. Her use of the word ‘ghost’ implies that the photographer is being haunted by the memory of this man and the cries of the man’s wife when she realised her husband was dead. Duffy suggests he feels guilty because he was not able to do more to help this man or his wife; all he could do was stand by and take a photograph. Similarly, in the closing lines of ‘Remains’, Armitage makes the soldier’s guilt clear by writing ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’. Armitage uses the blood as a symbol of the guilt that the soldier feels; the soldier feels he has blood on his hands because he killed a person who could have been innocent. Armitage could have chosen to end the poem with this line because he wanted to demonstrate that the soldier cannot remove the image of the looter’s blood from his mind, and that the guilt he feels for killing the looter will stay with him forever.

Both poems explore struggle . In the final stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy conveys the struggle of the photographer, who feels angry that his readers are not more moved by his pictures by writing ‘reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers’. Duffy’s use of the word ‘prick’ to describe the readers’ emotions indicates that they barely cry when they see the photographs. Duffy’s suggestion is that, when we are so far removed from war, we cannot fully understand the pain that people go through. Duffy’s use of the words ‘bath’ and ‘beers’ remind the reader that in England we have many luxuries that people in warzones don’t have. This makes it very easy for us to forget the terrible lives that other people have, because we can go back to enjoying our own luxurious lifestyles. The struggle in Remains is different. In Remains, Armitage presents the soldier as deeply traumatised by what he experienced at war. Remains makes clear the soldier struggles to forget what he saw and did by writing ‘the drink and drugs won’t flush him out’.Armitage’s use of the word ‘flush’ implies that the emotions the soldier feels are like toxins within his body that he wants to get rid of. It is clear that the soldier has become reliant on addictive substances as a way of coping. Armitage conveys to his readers the terrible trauma that many soldiers experienced and tells the reader how difficult it was for them to return to normal life when they returned.

(Grade 8-9)

Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the haunting power of memories. In the second stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy creates a vivid image of one of the photographer’s memories by writing ‘running children in a nightmare heat’. Here, Duffy’s words create graphic, powerful imagery of innocent children caught up in the middle of a warzone, running in agony and terror away from a chemical weapon. This poetic image was inspired by a real-life photograph captured by a war photographer in Vietnam. Through this evocative imagery, Duffy suggests that the photographer's mind cannot shake the distressing memories of the terrible pain he witnessed while taking photos in warzones. Similarly, Armitage makes clear the soldier cannot forget the memory of shooting the looter through his use of the poem’s refrain: ‘probably armed, possibly not’. Armitage’s repetition of these words emphasise that this particular ambiguous memory, of whether or not the looter is armed, is haunting him. If the looter was not armed, the soldier would not have needed to kill him. Therefore, he is plagued by a feeling of potential guilt; ihe could have killed an innocent person, who posed no threat to him. Armitage’s repetition of these words throughout the poem also emphasise the power of this memory, as it keeps flooding back into the soldier’s mind, even when he is home on leave. It is an unwelcome and persistent reminder that is contributing to his post-traumatic symptoms. It is clear from both poems that being involved in or an observer of war can deeply affect people, leaving them with a lasting mental struggle.

Both ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Remains’ explore the intensity of guilt. In the third stanza of War Photographer, Duffy makes the photographer’s guilt evident by writing that he sees a ‘half-formed ghost’ when he develops one of the photographs. Duffy’s powerful metaphor helps the reader to vividly imagine the photograph slowly developing in a chemical solution in front of his eyes, while the word ‘ghost’ implies that the photographer is being psychologically haunted by the memory of this man and the terrible cries of the man’s wife. Perhaps Duffy suggests that the photographer feels guilty because he was not able to do more to help this man or his wife; all he could do was carry out his role by capturing the moment with a photograph for the media. TSimilarly, in the closing lines of ‘Remains’, Armitage makes the soldier’s guilt clear by writing ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’. Armitage uses the blood as a symbol of the guilt that the soldier feels; the soldier feels he has blood on his hands because he killed a person who could have been innocent. Armitage could have chosen to end the poem with this line because he wanted to demonstrate that the soldier cannot remove the image of the looter’s blood from his mind, and that the guilt he feels for killing the looter will stay with him, or metaphorically stain him, forever.

Both poems explore an inner conflict or struggle . In the final stanza of ‘War Photographer’, Duffy conveys the struggle of the photographer, who feels infuriated that his readers are not more emotionally moved by his pictures by writing ‘reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers’. Duffy’s use of the word ‘prick’ to describe the readers’ emotions indicates that they barely cry when they see the photographs, or that their emotion is transient because they cannot empathise with the people in the photographs as they are so far removed from conflict zones. Duffy’s use of the words ‘bath’ and ‘beers’ remind the reader that in England we have many everyday luxuries that people in warzones don’t have. This makes it easy and almost inevitable for us to forget the terrible lives that other people have, because we are so engrossed in our own luxurious lifestyles. While there is an emotional struggle for the soldier in Remains, the nature of the strife is different. In Remains, Armitage presents the soldier as deeply traumatised by what he experienced at war. Remains makes clear the soldier struggles to forget what he saw and how he behaved by writing ‘the drink and drugs won’t flush him out’.Here, Armitage’s use of the word ‘flush’ implies that the emotions the soldier feels are like toxins within his body that he wants to eject. It is clear that the soldier has become reliant on addictive substances as a way of coping with the devastating effects of war and its violent agony. Armitage conveys to his readers the terrible trauma that many soldiers experience, and exposes to the reader how difficult it is for soldiers to adapt to normal life when they return from war.

Both Duffy and Armitage use structure to reflect an attempt to control difficult emotions . In ‘War Photographer,’ Duffy deliberately uses a tight stanza structure with a clear rhyme scheme to mirror the order the photographer is trying to restore in his own mind. He is described as putting his photographs into “ordered rows,” just as Duffy carefully brings order to the poem. Perhaps she is suggesting that this sort of organisation is the only way he can eliminate the chaos and distress he struggles with. In Armitage’s poem, the soldier is less successful in containing his emotional outpourings. While the poem begins in an ordered way with regular stanza structures, it descends into irregular and erratic stanzas to perhaps symbolise his inability to control the traumatic memories which continue to flood his mind.