Your Attention Please by Peter Porter | Summary and Analysis

Peter Porter’s “Your Attention Please” is written as a mock official broadcast to civilians during a nuclear attack. The central message lies in the irony between calm bureaucratic instructions and the horrific reality of nuclear war.
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Text

The Polar DEW has just warned that
A nuclear rocket strike of
At least one thousand megatons
Has been launched by the enemy
Directly at our major cities.
This announcement will take
Two and a quarter minutes to make,
You therefore have a further
Eight and a quarter minutes
To comply with the shelter
Requirements published in the Civil
Defence Code – section Atomic Attack.
A specially shortened Mass
Will be broadcast at the end
Of this announcement-
Protestant and Jewish services
Will begin simultaneously-
Select your wavelength immediately
According to instructions
In the Defence Code. Do not
Take well-loved pets (including birds)
Into your shelter - they will consume
Fresh air. Leave the old and bed-
ridden, you can do nothing for them.
Remember to press the sealing
Switch when everyone is in
The shelter. Set the radiation
Aerial, turn on the geiger barometer.
Turn off your television now.
Turn off your radio immediately
The Services end. At the same time
Secure explosion plugs in the ears
Of each member of your family. Take
Down your plasma flasks. Give your children
The pills marked one and two
In the C.D. green container, then put
Them to bed. Do not break
The inside airlock seals until
The radiation All Clear shows
(Watch for the cuckoo in your
perspex panel), or your District
Touring Doctor rings your bell.
If before this, your air becomes
Exhausted or if any of your family
Is critically injured, administer
The capsules marked ‘Valley Forge’
(Red pocket in No. 1 Survival Kit)
For painless death. (Catholics
Will have been instructed by their priests
What to do in this eventuality.)
This announcement is ending. Our President
Has already given orders for
Massive retaliation – it will be
Decisive. Some of us may die.
Remember, statistically
It is not likely to be you.
All flags are flying fully dressed
On Government buildings – the sun is shining.
Death is the least we have to fear.
We are all in the hands of God,
Whatever happens happens by His Will.
Now go quickly to your shelters.

Summary

Lines 1-12

Polar DEW: Refers to the Distant Early Warning Line, a radar system set up in the Arctic during the Cold War to detect Soviet missile attacks.

The tone is chillingly bureaucratic and matter-of-fact — it reports the launch of an unimaginably destructive nuclear weapon (a thousand megatons is catastrophic).

Instead of panic, the speaker sounds routine, almost like a newsreader, which highlights the absurdity of treating nuclear annihilation as just another “event.”

Here the cold precision of timekeeping is absurd:

2.25 minutes to announce.
8.25 minutes left to “comply.”

The language of instructions, codes, and official procedures (like “Civil Defence Code – section Atomic Attack”) is darkly ironic, as though survival could be neatly handled by bureaucracy.

The irony: in reality, no “shelter” could protect people from such a massive nuclear strike — the instructions are meaningless, but they give an illusion of control.

Porter satirizes the false sense of security offered by governments during the Cold War. The poem exposes the absurdity of trying to regulate or manage something as absolute and devastating as nuclear war with calm announcements, codes, and civil defense “rules.”

It’s chilling because the calm, official tone clashes with the horrifying reality — highlighting human denial, bureaucracy, and the failure of language in the face of catastrophe.

Lines 13-28

Here the authorities are offering religion as comfort — but in a reduced, mechanical form: a “specially shortened Mass.”

Even worship is bureaucratized, slotted into radio frequencies, and made to fit within the emergency broadcast system.

By mentioning Protestant and Jewish services separately, it mimics official fairness — but also underlines the absurdity of organizing religious consolation in the face of total annihilation.

Cold, clinical instructions override human (and humane) instincts:

Pets — beloved companions — must be left behind because they take up oxygen.
The old and bedridden — the most vulnerable — are to be abandoned because they are “hopeless cases.”

The bureaucratic detachment reveals the inhumanity of official instructions in wartime — human suffering is reduced to “resource management.”

Now the broadcast shifts back into technical jargon — “sealing switch,” “radiation aerial,” “geiger barometer.”

These scientific-sounding devices give an illusion of control, but they can’t possibly protect people from a 1,000-megaton nuclear blast.

The tone of calm precision contrasts with the sheer hopelessness of the situation, creating biting satire.

Porter is exposing the absurd clash between bureaucratic order and human chaos.

Religion, pets, family, the elderly — all the tender elements of life are dismissed or trivialized by cold officialdom.

The poem suggests that in nuclear war, humanity itself becomes expendable, while governments cling to meaningless procedures.

Lines 29 - 42

Once the religious “services” are finished, the media itself must be shut off.

The tone is authoritarian and command-like, reflecting government control of information.

There’s irony here: in the face of total destruction, what’s the point of turning off TVs and radios? It emphasizes the absurdity of bureaucratic rules.

“Explosion plugs” are supposedly protective ear devices.

It’s grotesquely ironic: no plug could shield ears from the blast of a 1,000-megaton bomb.
This line mocks the false promise of technology and official reassurances.

“Plasma flasks” (for blood transfusion) and Civil Defence pills reflect medical preparedness, but again in a mechanical, chilling way.

Giving children pills and “putting them to bed” in such a routine manner makes the horror sound domestic and ordinary — a grotesque normalization of apocalypse.

The green container symbolizes state-issued survival kits, another false safeguard.

The final detail is both absurd and terrifying. Survivors are instructed to wait for a sign of safety:

either a mechanical “cuckoo” bird in a perspex (plastic) panel, or a visit from a “District Touring Doctor.”

The cuckoo, usually a symbol of timekeeping (like in a clock), becomes darkly comic — as though the signal for the end of mass death could be a cheery bird.

The “District Touring Doctor” sounds bureaucratic and faintly ridiculous, underlining the futility of trusting official systems in such devastation.

Porter satirizes the bureaucratic illusion of safety during the nuclear threat.

Families are told to follow precise steps — plugs, pills, airlocks — as though they are performing routine domestic chores.

The instructions are chillingly calm, precise, and absurd, highlighting how governments trivialize unimaginable destruction.

Beneath the irony lies a serious critique: technology, bureaucracy, and even religion cannot save humanity from nuclear war.

Lines 43-50

This is the grim climax of bureaucratic instructions.

If air runs out or if someone is badly injured, the “official” solution is suicide by poison capsules.

The name “Valley Forge” is deeply ironic:

Valley Forge was the American Revolutionary War encampment (1777–78) where soldiers endured great suffering and sacrifice but survived and persevered.

Here, the capsules named after it are not for survival but for giving up life.

Porter is exposing how language, history, and patriotism are twisted to mask horror.

The lines add a darkly comic twist.
Since Catholic doctrine traditionally condemned suicide, the government leaves it to priests to give “special instructions” — highlighting the absurd clash between faith and official survival policy.

Religion, bureaucracy, and morality become entangled in an almost surreal way, showing how human dignity is erased by bureaucratic pragmatism.

Porter brings his satire to its most chilling point: official instructions sanction death as part of “civil defence.”
What should be a last resort of despair is presented in the calm, orderly voice of authority.

This shows how bureaucratic systems can normalize atrocity, turning even mass suicide into a matter of procedure and paperwork.

Lines 51- 62

The broadcast closes with reassurance through retaliation.

“Massive retaliation” echoes Cold War nuclear policy — the idea that any attack would be answered with overwhelming force.

The absurdity is clear: if nuclear annihilation is already imminent, retaliating will not “save” anyone — it only ensures mutual destruction.

It reveals the hollowness of political rhetoric in the face of apocalypse.

This is chilling in its understatement. “Some of us may die” trivializes mass death.
The claim that “statistically it is not likely to be you” is both false and absurd — a desperate attempt to comfort through numbers.

Porter satirizes how governments use statistics to mask real human suffering and to provide false hope.

The image of flags at full mast and sunshine paints a scene of normalcy and patriotism — as if life is continuing undisturbed.

The irony is biting: symbols and appearances are kept intact even as human lives are destroyed.

It shows how nationalism and ceremony are used as distractions from catastrophe.

The announcement ends with religious fatalism.
By saying “Death is the least we have to fear,” the speaker suggests that spiritual or moral collapse is worse than physical annihilation.

Invoking God’s will gives the government’s orders a divine seal of approval — making mass death seem inevitable, even righteous.

Finally, the command “Now go quickly to your shelters” brings us back to the bureaucratic voice: cold, urgent, and mechanical, ending the broadcast as it began.

Porter closes with the ultimate irony:

The government offers revenge, statistics, flags, and faith as comfort — none of which actually save lives.

The calm official tone, the mixture of patriotism and religion, and the bureaucratic order to “go to your shelters” all highlight the absurd disconnection between language and reality.

The ending leaves the reader with dread: humanity faces destruction, but the state insists on maintaining its rituals, routines, and illusions of control.

✅ In summary: The poem as a whole is a satire on Cold War civil defence propaganda. It shows how governments reduce nuclear annihilation to a set of procedures, broadcasts, and religious platitudes, making the unimaginable seem ordinary — while in reality, nothing could be more devastating.

Central Message

The poem satirizes the illusion of safety offered by governments during the Cold War. It shows how:

Bureaucracy trivializes catastrophe:
Life and death are reduced to instructions, codes, statistics, and “shelter requirements.”
False reassurances mask horror:
People are told to pray, take pills, abandon the elderly, even kill themselves with “Valley Forge” capsules — all presented in a calm, official voice.
Religion and nationalism are used as comfort tools:
Shortened masses, flags on buildings, and talk of God’s will disguise the fact that annihilation is inevitable.
Language fails against reality:
The broadcast’s rational, orderly tone clashes with the absurdity of what it describes, highlighting how words can be used to manage fear rather than face truth.

In one line:

The poem’s central message is that nuclear war cannot be controlled or survived through procedures, faith, or patriotic rhetoric — yet governments create a false sense of order and reassurance to mask humanity’s helplessness in the face of total destruction.

Technical Aspects

🔹 1. Form and Structure

Dramatic Monologue:
The entire poem is written as an official broadcast by an unseen announcer (like a civil defence officer). The speaker isn’t the poet himself but an impersonal bureaucratic voice.
Prose-Poem Quality:
The poem is in free verse, with no rhyme scheme or regular meter. It reads like prose instructions, but its rhythm, irony, and imagery elevate it to poetry.
Linear progression:
The poem follows the sequence of a real broadcast:
1. Announcement of nuclear strike.
2. Shelter instructions.
3. Religious “services.”
4. Abandonment of pets/elderly.
5. Medical/technical orders.
6. Suicide instructions.
7. Closing with patriotism and God’s will.
This structural build-up to absurdity intensifies the satire.

🔹 2. Tone and Voice

Calm, bureaucratic, official:
The voice is deliberately flat and emotionless, echoing government announcements.
Satirical and ironic:
The contrast between tone and content creates dark humour. The most horrific ideas (abandon your grandmother, kill your children with pills) are presented matter-of-factly.
Dehumanizing:
People are treated as statistics, procedures, or problems to be “managed.”

🔹 3. Language and Style

Technical / Bureaucratic Jargon:
- “Civil Defence Code – section Atomic Attack”
- “explosion plugs,” “geiger barometer,” “perspex panel”
  These terms parody how science and bureaucracy hide reality behind official-sounding phrases.
Religious Language:
- “A specially shortened Mass”
- “We are all in the hands of God”
  Religion is mechanized, reduced to “broadcast services,” or used as fatalistic consolation.
Statistical Language:
- “Statistically it is not likely to be you”
  This mocks the use of statistics as false reassurance in matters of life and death.
Imperatives (Commands):
Almost every line is a command: “Turn off your television,” “Do not take well-loved pets,” “Give your children the pills.”
→ This reflects authoritarian control and strips away individual choice.

🔹 4. Imagery and Symbols

Pets and Elderly: Represent love, care, and vulnerability — but here they are discarded as “useless” in survival.
Valley Forge Capsules: Ironic symbol — named after American endurance in history, here repurposed for “painless death.”
Flags & Sunshine: Symbolize nationalism and normalcy, masking catastrophe.
Cuckoo in perspex panel: Absurd image — a childlike, toy-like signal of “all clear” amidst mass destruction.

🔹 5. Satirical Devices

Irony:
- Shortened Mass vs. annihilation.
- Statistical comfort vs. certain death.
- Bureaucratic tone vs. human despair.
Parody:
The poem mimics real government broadcasts and manuals, exposing their emptiness.
Dark Comedy:
The absurdity of official instructions (e.g., leaving pets to save oxygen, pressing the “sealing switch”) highlights the futility of survival.

🔹 6. Themes

Futility of survival in nuclear war.
Illusion of safety created by governments.
Dehumanization through bureaucracy.
Religion and nationalism as tools of control.
Failure of language in the face of destruction.

🔹 7. Context

Written during the Cold War (1961).
Reflects fears of nuclear annihilation, especially after events like the arms race and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).
Porter, as an Australian poet living in Britain, was responding to the global anxiety of the atomic age.

🔹 8. Technical Significance

Form mirrors content:
The “prose-like” form mirrors a radio broadcast.
Tone as technique:
The flat, clinical tone is the main device — it generates satire by clashing with the horror.
Language as critique:
The poem critiques how bureaucracy and propaganda manipulate language to disguise reality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
👉 The speaker is an impersonal government announcer, delivering an emergency broadcast in the event of a nuclear attack. The voice is official, bureaucratic, and emotionless.

Q2. What is the poem’s form?
👉 It is written in free verse with no rhyme scheme or regular meter. The style resembles a prose announcement, making it realistic and mimicking Cold War broadcasts.

Q3. What is the central theme of the poem?
👉 The poem satirizes the illusion of safety created by governments during the Cold War. It highlights the futility of survival procedures, the dehumanizing role of bureaucracy, and the absurdity of treating nuclear annihilation as manageable.

Q4. Why is the title “Your Attention Please” significant?
👉 The title mimics the opening words of an official announcement, immediately drawing the reader into the false seriousness of the broadcast. It sets the ironic tone, as something routine-sounding introduces mass destruction.

Q5. What is the role of irony in the poem?
👉 Irony is central: the calm, official voice delivers instructions about horrifying situations (suicide pills, abandoning the elderly, pets left behind). The clash between tone and content creates biting satire.

Q6. How does Porter use language to create satire?
👉 He uses bureaucratic jargon (“Civil Defence Code,” “explosion plugs”), religious terms (“shortened Mass,” “God’s will”), and statistical reassurance (“not likely to be you”) to show how language disguises horror under false order and authority.

Q7. What is the significance of the “Valley Forge capsules”?
👉 The capsules are for “painless death.” The name is ironic because Valley Forge (American Revolutionary War camp) symbolizes survival through endurance, but here it represents giving up life. It highlights how history and patriotism are twisted.

Q8. How are religion and nationalism presented?
👉 Both are trivialized and used as tools of control:

Religion is reduced to “shortened Mass” and fatalism (“We are all in the hands of God”).
Nationalism is symbolized by flags flying fully dressed — hollow rituals masking real destruction.

Q9. What does the poem reveal about Cold War society?
👉 It reveals the fear of nuclear annihilation and the absurd faith placed in civil defence manuals, technology, and government reassurances. Porter criticizes the way political powers normalized unthinkable destruction through procedure and propaganda.

Q10. What is the overall message of the poem?
👉 The poem warns that nuclear war cannot be survived or managed by instructions, statistics, or faith. It exposes the emptiness of bureaucratic control and satirizes humanity’s helplessness in the face of self-inflicted destruction.

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Anjali Ruhela