Compare and Contrast a 20th Century and non-20th Century Animal Poem

Within horses the poet informs us about his fascination with the shire horse. He describes them as 'like a magic power'. This fascination has been lifelong, from some 'childish hour' to the present time. The poet is fascinated with their strength and beauty, with their 'conquering hooves' on 'great hulks'. Throughout the poem there is also a sense that the poet does not fully understand these 'mute ecstatic monsters.' This probably because he does not understand his own fascination with these strange beasts but he understands he will miss them with the coming of the industrial revolution.

The poem the jaguar introduces us to the jaguar in captivity and its feelings. Ted Hughes is definitely against zoos and more generally the imprisonment of animals, but I will talk about how we know this later. Ted Hughes describes the early death dealt to many of the animals in a zoo, 'the boa constrictor's coil' he describes 'is like a fossil', strong and powerful imagery with a serious point. He focuses on the lack of a quality of life for the animals within the cages at the zoo.  The poem describes how a single animal still has hope like an 'eye satisfied to be blind in a fire,' the animal is the jaguar.

The poem the Jaguar has to distinct halves in language if not in form. The first two stanzas describe the death that is in the zoo. The last Three stanzas are much more positive, describing the hope of the jaguar and are generally read in a quicker fashion with more life. The first Two stanzas are a rich selection of animals and I think that Ted Hughes is trying to prompt the user into understanding that the animals are all non natives thrown together in close proximity in an unnatural environment.

In the poem horses there is a clear and definite structure to the poem, very orderly and precise. The poem takes the form of iambic pentameter with rhyming couplets. I know that it takes the form of iambic pentameter because there is ten syllables in every line and they fall in pairs of stressed and unstressed. I think that the regularity of this poem is symbolic of how these 'great hulks' of shire horses would come out at the same time every morning and go back to the stables at the same time. They would also work ploughing in a regular fashion up and down the fields. I think this is why Edwin Muir has used such a regular pattern and form because it is suitable for the subject.

The poem the Jaguar doesn't share a rhyming scheme with its pre 20th century counterpart. It is though fairly regular and the poem quite clearly takes the form of five quite closely resembling stanzas. I think the form of the poem on the page is resembling the cages of imprisoned animals. There is a lot of space around the poem and I think this is convey the frustration of the animals and the feelings they have when they look out upon freedom.