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Poetry Analysis: Ted Hughes’ “The Thought Fox”

Ted Hughes said”that long after I am gone, as long as a copy of the poem exists, every time anyone reads it the fox will get up somewhere out of the darkness and come walking towards them.The poem appeared in Ted Hughes’s first collection, The Hawk in the Rain.

It is the most frequently anthologised of Hughes’ poems.

The midnight is chosen at the time as it is without any addition to the day, as blank as the poet’s mind itself. The time is unmarked and yet mature. The clock is alone as it is devoid of minutes and seconds, it being midnight. Further, the clock is alive as it is lonely. And there is something else that accompanies the loneliness of the clock-that is the poet’s creative conciousness. The metaphor for the poet’s fresh poetic perception is the “blank paper” where his fingers move.

Through the window I see no star:

Something more near

Though deeper within darkness

Is entering the loneliness.

Note that the poet cannot observe any star but can comprehend something that holds more promise for him. He cannot apprehend it through the senses but experience it through instinct..The image is first formless and can only be a professed feeling formless as the poetic vision of the poet itself, until it assumes concreteshape.…

Poetry Analysis:Ted Hughes’s “Snowdrop”

February 23, 2015 / rukhaya / 8 Comments

The “Snowdrop’ is a poem that is concise and precise in its imagery. The Snowdrop refers to a flowering plant with small white flowers flowering at the end of winter. The snow drop literally signifies a drop of snow that is at once emblematic of transience. Therefore, it is about the winter that approaches life and the idea of how fleeting life is.

The opening lines state that “Now is the globe shrunk tight” suggests the compression and condensation that has set in because of winter. One wonders if the writer had foreseen the impact of globalization, as he declares the same. Nevertheless, here it appears to be the effect of winter having negative consequences upon the globe. The agile mouse’s heart has become very dull ,’round’ as though it has wound around the mouse. The weasel that is busy with its red furry coat preying upon rodent-like animals, and the crow about its duty as scavenger, appear to be moulded in brass. They come across as arrested in brass. Or their sprightly movements have rendered into heavy gaits with the weight of brass. They have been arrested as if in metal, in a cold fixture. They seem to move in an outer darkness.…

Poetry Analysis: Ted Hughes’ “Six Young Men”

February 23, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

Ted Hughes’ “Six Young Men” is inspired by a photograph of six men shot at Lumb Falls near Hebden Bridge in the earlier part of the last century. All the six men were killed in the First World War. At the first reading, the poem comes across as a take on the futility of war. Particularly as Ted Hughes’ father was amongst the two percent of the regimen that had survived Newsnight Review critic Tom Paulin asserts that Ted Hughes, hailed from ‘that slightly different species’ – a generation ‘who took in the blood of the First World War with their mother’s milk, and who up to their middle age knew Britain only as a country always at war, or inwardly expecting and preparing for war…’

The poet begins by stating that the celluloid holds the six men well. They were permanently held, but in this ephemeral photograph. It holds them together as well. Though it has been four decades now and the photograph has become ochre-tinged,it has nor wrinkled the face or hands. And this is particularly significant, as the face is primarily considered as the identity of the person. Nevertheless time has advanced so much that their cocked hats are not fashionable now.…

Poetry Analysis: Thom Gunn’s “Touch”

February 22, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

Thom Gunn’s “Touch” is the titular poem of the collection. As in “The Corridor,” Gunn juxtaposes the complementary themes of isolation and companionship. The loose syllabic verse incorporated in the poem depicts the feeling of comfort that the poet experiences beside his companion. The word ‘touch’ in the title is utilized as an therapeutic metaphor for the underlying instinct. The poet speaks of giving in to inherent instincts. This is perhaps what Martin Dodsworth called Gunn’s “voluntary commitment to the irrational.”

The poet, as he lowers himself besides his companion, states how his skin is numb with “the restraint of habits.”He is socially conditioned to refraining from giving in to his instincts. He describes this attribute as ’patina’. On metal, patina is a coating of various chemical compounds such as oxides or carbonates formed on the surface during exposure to the elements (weathering). Therefore it may signify the thin coating of the rational sophisticated self that is only a thin film away from the natural irrational being. The word “patina” hails from Latin for “shallow dish.” Therefore, figuratively, it may allude to the poet’s shallow self that does not allow himself to explore his own depths. The exterior appearance is yet again described as “the black frost of outsideness.…

Poetry Analysis: Ted Hughes’ “Hawk Roosting”

February 22, 2015 / rukhaya / 1 Comment

“Hawk Roosting”, published in 1960,is included in Ted Hughes’s second book, Lupercal. The Hawk in Ted Hughes’ poem “Hawk Roosting” is power personified.The roosting of the hawk signifies its self-assertion. The very first word of the poem “I,” is a sign of the Supreme Ego. The hawk declares that he sits on top of the ‘wood’ that stands for his kingdom. He ‘eyes are closed in oblivion, for at the present, for him, only he exists. His world is limited between his hooked head and hooked feet. He is in ”Inaction’. For action does not define him, rather, he defines action. This is no falsifying dream, a castle bulit in the air, but the omnipresent truth. He dreams about “in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.” Therefore, it is not the basic necessity of killing and eating that concerns him, but the style of it.

Thus the hawk transforms into a metaphor of Supreme arrogance of Man where he is haunted by power. It echoes the Faustian Endeavor disregarding salvation, and Tughlaq ( Girish Karnad’s “Tughlaq”) who ventured to become another God. Aziz in the play “Tughlaq” stands as an aspect of Tughlaq when he asserts:” What’s the point in raping for sheer lust?…

Poetry Analysis: Thom Gunn’s “My Sad Captains”

February 21, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

In “My Sad Captains’, Gunn portrays the legends of history as the epitomes of determination but without any social inclination or purpose. Like stars in the sky, they continue to shine in the universe of history; but their existence serves no purpose. These sad captains thus thrive in a nihilistic arena were no meaningful role can be attributed to them. They are distant and disinterested as stars. The poem thus verges on Sartrean existentialism. They are in total opposition and contrast to the motorcyclists in Thom Gunn’s “On the Move” who found meaning in their attitude and the journey that they undertook. The title can be traced to Antony and Cleopatra. It echoes the predicament of Antony living for the sake of the present, without focusing towards the future. He is forced to move forward without having anything to look forward to; as he has lost the company of Cleopatra. The title is also significant as a captain is the leader of the ship; he steers all the people on board to their prescribed destination. Here, the captains are sad because they do not possess any practical value any longer.

The poet seems to suggest the randomness of thought and situation as he states that the stars began to appear one by one.…

Poetry Analysis: Thom Gunn’s “Considering the Snail”

February 21, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

Thom Gunn’s “Considering the Snail” is a poem in syllabic metre. It is from his third collection My Sad Captains. Due to Ted Hughes’ incorrigible obsession with birds, animals and beasts, critics have pointed out that this particular poem may be a parody of the same. The poem is on the continuity pursued by the snail. Gunn himself stated that “my life insists on continuities – between America and England, between free verse and metre, between vision and everyday consciousness.”

The snail ‘pushes ‘forth as though defying the forces of Nature. One, the gravitational pull below that challenges it. Secondly, the grass that acts as a hindrance in front of it. Further, the grass is full with water. And the ‘rain that has darkened the earth’s dark.’ The line:” He/moves in a wood of desire” evokes sexual connotations. In general, the ‘wood of desire’ may signify man’s deepest dreams that he endeavors to fulfill. In the poem, on the literal level, it denotes the snail’s quest for food. The snail moves with obstinate willpower and deliberation as though it has to achieve its goal at any cost. Its slowness, steadfastness and temperament signify the tremendous determination it encompasses. As it moves in the darkness, it leaves behind a trail of brightness.…

Poetry Analysis: Wilfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”

February 20, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

The title of the Wilfred Owen’s “Arms and the Boy”is an extension of George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man.” The replacement of ‘boy’ for man indicates the nature of the monstrous First World War, that the Great War had boys instead of men forced into the war. The starting phrase “Let the boy try along this bayonet blade” implies let the boy experiment with the weapon proving that he is not accustomed to doing so. The steel is depicted as ‘cold’ exemplifying the cold-bloodedness of the nature of the weapons. It also illustrates how it is hungry with the craving for blood, reflecting its hideous tendencies that does not serve anything constructive. It is typified as ‘blue’ or bloodless as though possessing no life at all and no human instinct. The war dehumanized men to their own likes. The association of men with weapons of destruction was as though they were initiated into perversion. The colour blue is likened to the “madman’s flash”. ”The ‘madman’s flash’ was a piece of blue cloth attached to the uniform of a soldier being treated for stress induced mental illness, serving to warn those he met that he might behave in an erratic manner.”( http://www.eliteskills.com/c/1808).…

Poetry Analysis: Wilfred Owen’s “Insensibility”

February 19, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

Wilfred Owen’s “Insensibility” is said to be written as a response to William Wordsworth who once claimed that “Who is the happy warrior/ Who is he/ That every man in arms should wish to be”. (“Character of the Happy Warrior” )The poem appears to be a sarcastic retort to the Romantic poet when most of the stanzas begin with the tone “’Happy are these…” The format of the poem in the form of an ode adds to the cynicism of the poem. Since a ode is primarily meant to eulogize a person or aspect. Therefore Owen has made use of the Romantic poet’s medium to make his statement, and to put it through effectively.

The poet begins the poem by claiming that Happy are those soldiers who have made themselves impervious to suffering rendering their veins cold. Who have remain unaffected by compassion, neither do they have contempt or affinity for the same. They lie sore on the alleys, put together clumsily(cobbled) with their companions. The word ‘cobble’ may also signify that their value is as immaterial as material shoes. They are real troops who ‘fade’ here, real human beings and not vegetative flowers that the poet can feed on, for a subject to rant about.…

Poetry Analysis: Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est “

February 19, 2015 / rukhaya / 0 Comments

The title of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” alludes to the words of a Latin saying from Horace’s ode (Ode III.2.13).The words mean:” “It is sweet and right.” The saying is rounded off at the end of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est ” to signify what the poet actually meant.

The poem penned during the First World War dealt with the denunciation and disapproval of war. Published posthumously in 1920, the first draft was dedicated to Poe, and a revised later draft to “a certain poetess.” Nevertheless, the poem comes across as a signpost to the supporters of war that was detrimental to humanity .

The poet outlines the predicament of the average soldier involved in war. He describes their ordeal as they travel: “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks.” The speaker makes this comparison as their backs are bent ‘doubly’ by the hardships they endured plus the demands of their profession. Due to this posture and intense fatigue, they walked “knock-kneed.” Their exhaustion had influenced their temperament rendering them as grouchy as old-cursing hags. They turned their backs to the ‘haunting flares.’ The phrase refers to rockets that were sent up to ignite with a radiant glare,so that it would reveal with its radiance, men and other concealed target/arms in the region flanked by the front lines.…

Rukhaya M.K

A Literary Companion