War Photographer Poem Analysis

The theme of death is one which has many contrasting views and the reactions to the inevitable disaster differ from person to person. In the six poems

Through the poem ‘War Photographer’, Carol Ann Duffy casts a harsh light on the destruction and death from war and curiosities the apathy of the rest of the world, which is not directly affected by it, is. The poem starts with a photographer ‘finally alone’ in his dark room developing the horrors he has witnessed. The word ‘finally’ suggests the poet feels some relief to be alone in his darkroom after doing his demanding job. The undeveloped spools are referred to as “spools of suffering.” These spools are filled with images of agony and the photographer sets them out in “ordered rows.” This

This poem expresses the resistance in the face of death and justifies that unusual attitude by describing the anger towards death of four kinds of men, all of whom can summon up the image of a complete and satisfying life that is denied to them by death. “Rage, rage against the dying of that light” In this repeated phrase the narrator is expressing the idea that moving toward death should not be something we do in a submissive way, but instead we should go out in a blaze of glory. It becomes clear that the “dying light” is darkness, an extended metaphor used to describe death and that in old age, we should “burn” with life, which connotes images of brightness, light, and life. ‘Night’ is a metaphor for death and the first line asks the reader to resist death as easily or quickly as it comes. It is paired with “good” proposing Thomas is promising his father death is painless, creating emotional tension. The hard sounds ‘age, rage, day’ amplify the effect of iambic pentameter and give out a stronger rhythm for the poem to increase persuasion and provide a clear message for the