1. Poem
Simon Armitage

2. Title
The title is surprising general and fails to give a clear indication of the poem’s content. This may reflect how the actions of the poem’s subject become generalised in the final rhyming couplet.

3. Tone and Speaker The tone is rather enigmatic (hard to unpick).
It is not a first person confessional narrative, as in some of the other poems, but instead, through the third person speaker, paints a picture of a man’s life.
It is realistic rather than pessimistic.

4. Divide his actions into good and bad.
Cleared the snow
Tucked his daughter up at night
Bad
Slippered his daughter

5. Good
Bad

6. Language
How often does the man show kindness to his family members?
How often does the man commit acts of violence and theft?
What sort of man do you think the poem’s subject is?

7. Language continued…
The final line of each quatrain/stanza jars as the speaker contrasts the man’s everyday good acts with his odd moment of abuse or theft.
Why do you think Armitage refers to the man using the pronoun ‘he’ rather than name him?

8. Language continued…
Look specifically at the verbs used to described the actions of the man:
‘tucked’ ‘praised’ and ‘blubbed’ as opposed to ‘slippered’ ‘punched’ and ‘lifted’.
What impression do we gain of the man through each of the aforementioned verbs?

9. Language continued…
Look at the pronoun ‘they’ in the final couplet. Who are ‘they’?
What impression is gained from the phrase, ‘when they looked back’?
What is the meaning of the final line and how does this contribute towards the poem’s meaning?

10. Layout
It is a sonnet (a poem of 14 lines) divided into 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet.
Each quatrain maps out the man’s relationship with his daughter, wife and mother.
There is a suggestion that we are formed by our relationships.

11. Layout continued…
There is a rhyme scheme where each pair of lines rhyme or half-rhyme. In addition, there is a clear rhythm of iambic pentameter.
It is this clear, predictable structure that makes the shocking concepts of the poem, more shocking.

12. Your response to the poem…
What message is Armitage trying to get across in this poem?
What is your personal response to the poem?
Remember, you should not say whether you like or dislike the poem but, instead, explain how it has prompted thought and contemplation.