This poem is telling a story of a man on the 80th floor of the north tower during 9/11. the poem was written on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 . The north tower was the last tower to fall and the first one that was hit . The extract we are using is towards the end of the poem after both planes have hit the towers and the people above the points of impact have realised they cannot escape , the only option they have is to jump.
Simon Armitage was born in 1963 in Yorkshire , he lives in Huddersfield , the same town he was born in . He completed an MA on effects of television violence on young offenders at Manchester university , he also worked as a probation officer in the same city. This work as a probation officer influenced some of his first work . Armitage is noted for a strong sense of rhythm , which is shown in the out of the blue extract that we used .
The character that he used was based off a man from a clip that was broadcasted around the world , the man waving the white shirt . This poem starts off by the character signalling for help with his shirt , he then realises that he has been spotted by someone . This person is you . He then speaks to you , creating a more personal and intimate feeling . This connection is a tragic one as nothing can be done to help him . He is able to attract attention , but only of news and television , this leaves both the reader and the person in need helpless .
The narrator keeps his communication to 4 line stanzas , this is a way of showing that he is trying to control himself . The line lengths vary , some are short clear thoughts whereas others show an awareness of his impending death . the third stanza ” sow when will you come ? do you think you are watching , watching a man shaking crumbs or washing?” confirms that he knows of the limited options that he has and is confronting them , he knows that his death is inevitable .
The “white cotton shirt” is something that everyday people put on in the morning , this helps to point out that normal lives are being lost in the building . The repetition of some of the words helps to point out how those actions are useless and do not make a difference to the what is going to happen. This brings a sense of powerlessness
this poem uses somewhat understated language , this reinforces the emotion in the poem as it is hard or impossible to describe an event as devastating as this .what happened could not be described by words . The understatement is there because of no proper way of describing or understanding this event .
React!