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The approaching dusk is seen as a slow trap of steel. This is effective because steel is an icy grey colour and chill to touch, and because a trap is something dangerous. If the animals were caught in the trap of cold they would die.
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The dusk is later seen as a nut screwed tight / On the starry aeroplane / of the soaring night. This is effective because the night, like an aeroplane, soars above us; the nuts have to be tightened fully before the 'plane' can take off [= night can come]. The nut image emphasises the tight grip the cold has.
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The badger is in its bedding / Like a loaf in the oven. This is a much warmer and more welcoming image. The badger is plump and curled up, like a loaf of bread, and is as warm as a newly-baked loaf.
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The butterfly is in its mummy / like a viol in its case. Here, the butterfly is protected from the cold by its cocoon - its mummy. Mummies usually hold dead bodies, but this one contains a live chrysalis, which shows how although winter seems to kill things, there is life underneath. A chrysalis is shaped a bit like a violin case; out of both comes something beautiful - the music of a violin complements the colourful wings of a butterfly.
- You should examine all the other similes, verse by verse.
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The moon is personified [= is described as a person]. The flimsy moon / Has lost her wits. This suggests that even the moon finds it hard to stand up to winter.
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In contrast to this, the sweating farmers are seen as oxen on spits. The moon is compared to people while people are compared to animals. Why do you think this might be?
Turn over
Sound
There is a strong rhythm in the poem:
The flies are behind the plaster
Like the lost score of a jig
Sparrows are in the ivy-clump
Like money in a pig.
Can you explain why this might be?
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Perhaps the regular rhythm conveys how nature sorts everything. Everything has its place.
- Perhaps the balanced sound emphasises the balanced pattern of the animals' lives: when it's summer, they are 'alive', when it's winter, they rest or sleep.
There is also rhyme: every other line rhymes (steel/feel...heaven/oven...case/lace). Can you think why Hughes included rhyme? Maybe the regular rhyme also helps emphasise the pattern of the seasons and how predictable the behaviour of the animals is.
Form
The stanzas follow a pattern, so that each one of the first three stanzas begins with a description of the cold in four lines, but is followed by a description of warm animals lasting eight lines. So, there is twice as much emphasis on the warm than the cold, perhaps suggesting that the warmth is stronger than even the steel cold: it can't be beaten!
The final seven lines follow a different pattern. Why do you think this is? Perhaps it suggests that winter does not last forever.
Ideas and attitudes
Now that you have read the poem carefully, what do you believe Hughes is saying about winter? Consider these ideas:
- Winter is a time of harsh weather.
- Despite this, the animals are not affected, remaining safe and warm in their particular homes.
- Part of the beauty of nature is the way that creatures have adapted themselves to fight against the bitter cold of winter.
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Winter is very powerful - it can create a mammoth of ice of the world.
- Hughes seems to marvel that each type of animal - fish, beast or bird - is so well adapted to the conditions. Even the softest, most gentle animals can survive the winter's cold.
Tone
To decide on the tone, you need to think about the ideas and attitudes in the poem, and then decide:
- what the overall feeling of the poem is
- how you would read it aloud.
Is this poem:
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calm, peaceful and without bitterness? Perhaps winter is, after all, a good time - it allows the animals the rest and peace they need.
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slightly sinister and dangerous? Look particularly at the end of the poem
