Poetry into prose

‘The Manhunt’ by Simon Armitage

Teaching notes

In this activity, students use the words of the poem – all of them, in order – and add to
them to transform the poem into a piece of prose. The result is known as an immersed
poem.

There are various ways to use this idea in the classroom.

 Set the task as a straight creative writing piece.

 Give out the first exemplar section (see below) – or model writing a similar piece
– and ask students to continue it.

 Ask students, in pairs, to write a piece based on a short section of the poem,
which will be sequenced into a whole later.

‘The Manhunt’: an immersed poem (exemplar for the first four stanzas)

I was so happy and relieved to have him home again, safe after all that had
happened to him. The first phase of his time at home, after returning from war, was
filled with passionate nights even though I could sense he was holding back from me
emotionally. And during the intimate days that we spent together I tried to show
him that I still loved him. I must have got through because only then would he let
me trace the smooth pale scar like a frozen river which ran through his face. Only
then would he relax and let me explore, gently, the blown hinge of his lower jaw,
which had been shattered by the bullet. I wanted my touch to heal those wounds
the doctors could not see, and so I would carefully handle and hold between my
palms the damaged, porcelain collar-bone.

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