Poem ‘About His Person’ Essay

â€Å"How does Armitage make the poem ‘About his Person’ particularly moving to you†. The poem ‘About his Person’ is a poem about a man who commits suicide. We are not given exactly how or why straightforwardly but we are given the items he had on him when he did it. It’s through the items we get to understand why he did it. Armitage makes this poem moving through doing that and also using other techniques. One way in which Armitage makes the poem moving is by letting the reader piece together the story behind his possessions. This can be shown when it says ‘No gold or silver but crowning one finger’. This suggests he was recently divorced due to his ring on his finger not being there and because of that reason he could have killed himself. Another way in which Armitage makes the poem moving is by letting the items speak for themselves. This can be shown when it says ‘Five pound fifty in change exactly, a library card on its date of expiry’. These words say exactly what they mean. He has only  £5.50 to his name and an out of date library card. He has barely enough money to live on, to buy the daily essentials like food and water but not even enough to pay rent for an accommodation. This is why it is particularly moving as it shows us the conditions he was living in. Armitage also makes the poem moving by using random objects to make what happened seem unplanned. For example it says ‘But beheaded in his fist, a shopping list’. This makes the poem moving as it shows that he had only recently decided to kill himself that day as he had a shopping list in his hands which most likely would have been the shopping he might of done that very day he killed himself. By including this he makes the poem moving as it makes us think what tragic event must have happened to him in that very same day for him to kill himself. The use of a short reflective sentence at the end of the poem also helps to contribute to making thi s poem moving. For instance it says in the poem ‘That was everything’. This helps to make it moving as this short sentence indicates that his life is now over, just like that. It makes us feel sorry for him as it just happened quickly and that everything he had, had basically disappeared. This is why is makes it moving. Armitage also uses 2 line stanzas which are short and sharp to make the poem moving. This can be shown when it says ‘A final demand, in his own hand’. This is moving because the sentences are short and sharp so that it sticks in the readers mind about what is happening, and creates food for their thoughts. They have to figure out what is happening in each stanza. It also has a great detail of sorrow in each stanza about why he did it, which also helps to make the poem moving. Another way Armitage makes the poem moving is by using rhymes and half rhymes. This is apparent in the poem when it says ‘A postcard stamped, unwritten but franked’. This makes the poem moving because he received a postcard that he had received from someone but blank. Which shows that someone had not made up their mind about what to say to him but he could of recognised the writing on the address and knew who it was from like a calling card, which could of drove him to his suicide. By including this it makes the poem moving, as it makes us feel sad. Overall this poem is very moving as it is explaining why this man killed himself, through the items he had on him. This was done by many ways, through rhymes and the way it was written, and is very moving.