Disgorges its organs
Which roll like tomatoes
Nude as tomatoes
With sand in their creases…'
This part of the poem creates an unattractive image of the humans, and encourages the reader to despise of them. Nature is shown as superior to man. The swallow seems much more powerful and beautiful than the humans. The humans are shown as if they are a nuisance, as the poem suggests that they pollute their surroundings:
'The serpent of cars that crawls through the dust
In shimmering exhaust'
Using the word 'serpent' to describe the cars makes it sound as if the cars are threatening. The humans seem almost out of place in their surroundings when compared to the swallow, which is an unusual concept, as the typical view is that humans dominate the world. This is suggested by phrases such as 'A whiplash swimmer, a fish of the air',' the swallow of summer, the barbed harpoon', and 'a boomerang of rejoicing shadow' describing the swallow. These phrases all suggest speed and agility. However, the description of the humans is very different, with phrases such as 'To cringe in the sparkle of rollers and screech','…but what can they do?' and 'A car full of squabbles, And sobbing and stickiness'. These phrases, describing the humans, all suggest helplessness.
The parts of the poem describing the humans are very different to the parts of the poem describing the swallow. While the parts of the poem describing the swallow sound very calm and relaxed, the parts describing the humans sound more tense, as the rhythm appears to change.
'The warm and the Cold' uses similes to present nature as something very powerful. Examples of this are 'Freezing dusk is closing, Like a slow trap of steel' and 'Moonlight freezes the shaggy world, Like a mammoth of ice'. In this poem, nature is shown to be very superior to man.
In this poem, although nature is shown to be superior to man, natural things such as animals are compared to man-made things. This occurs throughout most of the poem. Sometimes natural things in the poem are compared to mechanical things for example 'The owl is pale on the gatepost, Like a clock on its tower'. and others are compared to things such as dolls ('And the owl in its feathers, Like a doll in its lace'), and smiles (The deer are on the bare-blown hill, Like smiles on a nurse). The comparisons made in this poem are mostly quite unusual.
The poem 'The Warm and the Cold' shows nature seemingly overpowering man. It shows some similarities to the poem 'Work and Play', as both portray man as being weaker than nature. Also, both portray nature as being very beautiful. Another similarity between the two poems is that a negative, disgusting image of humans is presented, although this is only shown at the end of the poem 'The Warm and the Cold';
'The sweating farmers
Turn in their sleep
Like oxen on spits.'
This image is quite an unpleasant one, and contrasts with the beautiful images of nature which Hughes forms.
In both of the poems, Hughes contrasts the beauty of nature with the ugliness of man, and nature is shown in both poems as superior and more powerful than man.