The poem explores the perspective of a war photographer who documents human suffering in conflict zones. In three sentences: The photographer develops photos showing "spools of suffering" in solitary work, contrasting the horrors captured with memories of "ordinary pain" in rural England. However, capturing images of agony offers little solace as editors select just a few while readers' eyes may water but they ultimately "do not care" and prioritize "pre-lunch beers".

1. Links to other poems in the anthology:
Context: Poem and Poet
Carol Ann Duffy 1955- present. Her poems often explore ‘real’ events,
including dramatizing events from childhood and adolescence. She states “I
like to use simple words, but in a complicated way”.
In the 1970s Carol Ann Duffy was friendly with Don McCullin, a famous
photographer whose photographs of war were widely published.
The poem explores the dual role of being a War Photographer, having to
take pictures of terrible suffering without being able to help. The gap
between these sufferings and those viewing the poems is explored through
the perspective of a photographer. The poem has elements of social
commentary on the apathy of Westerners.
Main meanings and themes
Duffy is exploring the horrors of war and contrasting that with the increasing indifference of
those who might live in ‘safe’ environments and viewing these photographers.
One central theme is the horror of war explored through photographers memories and the
contrast between ‘rural England’ and ‘running children in a nightmare heat’.
Theme of religion is also central, with the photographer conducting a mass over his pictures.
Structure and Form
Four, Six line stanza with a regular rhyme scheme, with ach stanza
ending with a rhyming couplet.
Perhaps the order reflects the ‘ordered rows’ of the photographer.
1. The first stanza focusses on the actions of the photographers
‘darkroom’ where he conducts his work.
2. The second, focusses on him beginning his work and brings contrasts
between his current setting and where he conducts his work. The
stanza starts with a simple sentence ‘he has a job to do.’ Structurally,
this contributes to a somewhat clinical and matter of fact style (again
reflecting the nature of his work).
3. The stanza hones in on a specific agony, having previously dealt with
photos as a collective. Here, a photograph is developing and forces
the photographer to remember the agony this image represents.
The opening line ‘something is happening’ contributes to a sense of
drama and action in this stanza.
4. In the final stanza, Duffy shifts the focus away from the photos
themselves and towards the reactions of the readers, with a
comment on the apathy and indifference of the editor and reader.
Language, Imagery and tone
Stanza One:
- ‘Finally alone’ adds a sense of relief for the photographer to be away from the suffering
– a sense of sanctuary perhaps.
- ‘Spools of suffering’ set out in ‘ordered rows’ adds a sense of ceremony. Ordered rows
could refer to photographs as well as grave stones. The sibilance of ‘spools’
- The theme of religion is established through references to ‘priest’ and ‘mass’ as the
reference to ‘all flesh is grass’ underlining the photographers desire to catalogue this
suffering and pain.
Stanza Two:
- Potential double meaning of ‘solutions’ can the photographs solve the conflict?
- ‘Did not tremble then’ – photographer must be impassionate, but struggling to maintain
this when confronted with memory.
- ‘Ordinary pain’ – Oxymoron? Underlines the stark contrast between pleasant ‘rural
England’ and the ‘nightmare heat’ and fields which ‘explode’
Stanza Three:
- the developing picture painfully ‘twists’ before his eyes. ‘Stranger’ confirms distance and
‘half formed ghost’ underlines the idea of death.
- The ethics of war photography are questioned ‘sought approval’ but ‘what someone
must’ could hint at his vocation, a necessary task. The photographer attempts to conduct
himself sensitively in this bizarre and unenviable situation.
Stanza Four:
- Insensitivity of the editor as ‘a hundred agonies’ are discarded with only ‘five or six’
picked out.
- The indifference extends to the readers (us?) whose eyeballs ‘prick with tears’ but
ultimately are more committed to ‘pre-lunch beers’ in a fairly unflattering portrayal of
newspaper readers who ultimately ‘do not care’ about the suffering of others despite the
best efforts of the war photographer.
Links to other
poems in the
anthology: