Relationships are a popular topic in poetry. This holds particularly true for damaged relationships. The poem “Manhunt” by Simon Armitage and “Sister Maude” by Christina Rosetti both explore the broken relationship. Manhunt is about a soldier who has come home from the war, broken both inside and out. His lover can never understand his experiences, yet hunts for traces of the man that she knows is still inside. Sister Maude is a vague poem about the death of a lover, apparently caused by the actions of a jealous sister. This essay will explore the theme of relationships in these two poems. It will support the thesis that betrayal is present in both of them, even though it is loss obvious in Manhunt.
Manhunt uses the broken line of poetry to enhance the sense of the broken man. The reunion of the soldier and his lover are filled with “passionate nights and intimate days” (Armitage, line 2), but when the reunion was over and life was supposed to get back to normal, this is where the distance became apparent. She wants to connect with him and understand his broken parts. The injured parts are described using inanimate objects, highlighting the inability of both the soldier and his lover to connect with them. They are foreign and do not belong there. He is withdrawn and she tries to search deeper for him, deeper for the connection that was once there. He is too broken to make the connection. She can come close when she touches the memories of the accident, but she never finds him in the end.
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Both Manhunt and Sister Maude tells the story from the standpoint of the one that has been betrayed. The lover in Manhunt was betrayed by the explosion that took her lover’s mind forever. It is like part of him died. In Sister Maude, the poem implies that the lover literally dies and was taken from her. The narrator blames her sister Maude for the death. She has been betrayed by her sister and suffered a dual loss. She has lost her lover, her relationship with her sister, and it is implied that she has lost her parents as well.
The narrator in Sister Maude feels bitter and wishes her sister to reside in Hell. This anger is not present in Manhunt, only hurt. In both poems there is a sense of longing for what once was, but can never be again. In both poems, it is possible that in the future the remaining relationships can be salvaged, but at the time of the poem, the end is not in sight. The hurt is seemingly without end in both poems.
Both Manhunt and Sister Maude are about something being taken away abruptly. The narrators were not emotionally or mentally prepared for the loss. The narrator in the Manhunt was greeted with passion and love, not expecting the depth of the hurt to make itself known. In Sister Maude, it is not known of the narrator knew of the affair between her lover and Maude. Manhunt contains that details of the accident that led to the loss. This contrasts with Sister Maude where the details of the demise of the lover are vague. The audience can only guess at what might have happened, rather than being able to picture it in graphic detail. The level of description and detail are different in the two poems. Yet, they both get the main idea across in a way that the reader can picture it in their mind.
Manhunt and Sister Maude show two different aspects of betrayal. The betrayal in Manhunt was accidental and can be blamed on the explosion. In Sister Maude has an element of intent. It is now known if Maude knew of the damager her actions would cause, or even if the advances were not of her own making, but of the lover. Regardless of Maude’s part and intent, her sister sees her as the one at fault. These two poems demonstrate that betrayal and loss are complex emotions and can have many different effects on the one who was the victim of the betrayal.
- Armitage, Simon. “The Manhunt”. Web. 11 March 2016.
- Rosetti, Christina. “Sister Maude.” Web. 11 March 2016.
