How Armitage and Nichols Create Meaning Through the Language of 'The Manhunt' and 'A Praise Song for My Mother' Amelie Maurice-Jones 10th Grade

In 'The Manhunt' and in 'A Praise Song for My Mother,' two contrasting images of love are portrayed. The Manhunt tells a story of the lover of a former-soldier and her attempt to uncover his physical and mental injuries he holds so readily, and throughout the form of praise song, Nichols's immense love for her mother and her heritage is displayed using a concoction of rhyming patterns and a collage of vivid imagery. the course of the poem manhunt depicts the flow of the couple's relationship, the opening stanza using the repetition of the word 'after' to indicate that these 'passionate' days they once experienced had long lingered away. the use of emotive language such as 'intimate' and 'passionate' gives the impression of the overall tone of the entire poem.

Metaphors are a common occurrence throughout the stanzas that follow - as the poet describes the post-soldier's face as a 'frozen river' displaying how little emotion he displays towards his lover. Metaphors often contrast to the idea that follows to emphasise the impact of his injuries as she explores his body, and to portray the place their relationship was in before and then after the war, for example she describes his 'punctured lung' as 'parachute silk' and the...