"What are Ted Hughes' Ideas about poetry, and how have they been
"What are Ted Hughes' Ideas about poetry, and how have they been used in his poems, 'The Jaguar' and 'The Thought-Fox'?" Ted Hughes, was born in 1939 and died in 1989, he wrote two poems, The Jaguar and The Thought-Fox. These are the poems that I am discussing in my essay and also what his ideas are on the poems. He also specialises in nature poems and these are what we have also been studying. The Thought-Fox is quite a different poem. It wasn't written about the fox it was written about him writing about the fox (confusing I Know!!!). The Jaguar on the other hand, was about the animal and it was describing the animal, can you tell the difference and how he likes to differ his poems "You don't have to bother about commas or full stops or that sort of thing" to Ted punctuation is not important, but the senses are: " Just look at it, touch it, smell it, listen to it, turn yourself into it" as he believes senses are there to help you. If you write a poem completely different to another poet and you are worried about your work,/ Ted believes that you should not care about what other people have written it is your own work that matters and how you find it " Do not care how other people have written about this thing, this is the way you find it". With 'The Thought-Fox' he thinks that a fox comes and walks in front of him and sits down, so he gets this image in his head and
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - Lord Acton.
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - Lord Acton. This is often true, especially when some of the most powerful rulers such as Hitler and Mussolini were bloodthirsty and merciless dictators. To many, Stalin was the epitome of a sadistic, power-hungry tyrant, in complete control. As it is often the powerless who want freedom, the world gets divided into the ones in power, the ones trying to gain power, and the ones rebelling against absolute power. Ted Hughes is a poet who uses animals to portray human emotions, such as greed and ambition. He personifies inanimate objects and emotions to bring across his message. In his poem 'Hawk Roosting', Hughes speaks in first person, the hawk as the speaker. His personal views, on many occasions clash with those of the hawk, which in my opinion is affective as it shows how the poet differs from his subject. In the first stanza, the poet very quickly takes us into the poem, by giving us an image of the hawk. It seems as though the speaker, the hawk, is indifferent about the reader's presence as he's asleep. The hawk appears to be in control, as he's higher than anyone and anything else, 'I sit in the top of the wood'. Also, he shows he feels he's invulnerable, and immortal, as if nothing can hurt him, 'with my eyes closed'. The first stanza introduces the reader to the
Examine the ways in which Ted Hughes writes about nature.
8th April 2001 Examine the ways in which Ted Hughes writes about nature. For the purpose of this essay I have studied three poems written by Ted Hughes; "Roe Deer", "The Thought Fox" and "The Horses". They have a common theme of wild animals and the element of awe for them and their surrounding environment is evident in Hughes' writing. Hughes tries to look deep into the minds of animals and wants the reader to share in the same experience that he had. He shows this in the "Thought Fox" by using delicate and inspiring language such as, " delicately as the dark snow" he makes it seem so real that we feel that we were present at the moment he saw the fox. This is very similar in both "Roe-Deer" and "The Horses" along with the feeling that one of them is in the wrong place at the wrong time, "They had happened into my dimension". There is always a feeling of unease confirmed by the desolation of their meeting place; "Roe-Deer"-"snow lonely fields"; "The Horses"-"Not a leaf, not a bird" and finally " The thought fox"-"This midnight moment's forest". He always seems to believe that he is the one trespassing into their world, not the other way around. These occurrences help to distinguish between the normal and the abnormal, so that we too can acquire the same feelings for animals that Ted Hughes does. So helping us to envisage the wonder of the moment. Throughout "The
Using two or three poems which you have read explore the ways in which the poets use their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging prejudice
Using two or three poems which you have read explore the ways in which the poets use their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging prejudice In the two poems, 'Telephone Conversation' and 'Dinner Guest-Me,' each poet uses their poetry as a means of confronting and challenging prejudice. In 'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka, a phone conversation takes place between an African man and a very artificial lady about renting out a room. When the lady finds out he is African she becomes very prejudiced and racist towards him. 'Dinner Guest-Me' by Langston Hughes is about a black man going to a dinner party where he is the only coloured person there, like he is the 'token black.' Anger and a sense of humour are shown in both of the poems. In 'Telephone Conversation' the African man is angry at the "peroxide blond" and is disgusted at her for being so rude and racist towards him, "HOW DARK? ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" The capital letters emphasises the loudness in her voice, whereas, in Langston Hughes poem the other dinner guest are not being prejudiced to the only black dinner guest directly. Although they would ask him "the usual questions that come into white mind." Here they are set apart from him as a different race, "to be part of a Problem on Park Avenue at eight is not so bad." He's angry because he is still part of the Negro Problem even though he is with
“A pink wool knitted dress,” by Ted Hughes and “Sonnet XLIII” (43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Love Poetry Coursework By Eithne Mc Crory. The two poems I have selected to compare and contrast are, "A pink wool knitted dress," by Ted Hughes and "Sonnet XLIII" (43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The first poem I intend to analyse is, "A pink wool knitted dress." This poem is not written along conventional lines, since it does not employ the use of sonnet or stanzas of four lines. Indeed there are three lines in the first stanza while the fourth stanza could be a sonnet in itself as it consists of fourteen lines. All the other stanzas are of differing lengths as are the lengths of the lines. In terms of rhyme in many of the poems I have previously read the last word in each line often rhymes with the last word in the next line or the second next line. This sort of rhyming occurs in Barrett Browning Sonnet XLIII where the second and third lines rhyme as do the first and fourth. This pattern continues throughout the poem. Hughes writes in run on sentences, some of which carry on into the next line, in fact the style and structure of the poem reminds me more of a piece of prose than a poem. One might consider it to be reminiscent of Shakespeare's blank verse it could of course also be modern style free verse. This poem itself focuses on Hughes' wedding day. In the initial verses, he talks about himself, about the absence of his family, his best man who was the
The Theme of Humanity in the Poem Hawk Roosting
The Theme of Humanity in the Poem "Hawk Roosting" "Hawk Roosting" is one of Ted Hughes' many poems which describes nature and animal savagery. In this particular work, Hughes details the characteristics of a regal hawk, ruling over its domain. Although it may seem to be a simple descriptive piece, "Hawk Roosting" actually maintains a "duality" throughout each verse. Not only is it a vivid description of a living being, the poem is Ted Hughes' critique on humanity. Beneath its surface is a stark reminder of how our weaknesses are degrading us into common animals. The first verse paints a scene of a hawk resting on the treetops: "I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed Inaction, no falsifying dream Between my hooked head and hooked feet: Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat." Straight away the poem asserts the dominance of the bird. The words "Top of the wood" suggests the hawk is a predator, high up in the food chain. It is also an animal that lives for hunting as every day it will "rehearse perfect kills and eat" in its dreams. Similarities can be drawn which shows that we are just like the hawk. Humans dominate the world and we constantly invent new ways of simplifying our lives. At the most basic level, we "kill and eat" like all animals do. The writer uses this verse to establish the hawk as a symbol of all humanity. Therefore, when he further
A Critical Comparison Of Ted Hughes Poems: The Stag And Roe-Deer.
A Critical Comparison Of Ted Hughes Poems: The Stag And Roe-Deer. By Jodie Shane A Critical Comparison Of Ted Hughes Poems: The Stag And Roe-Deer There are six stanzas, which are each seven lines long. This is written in free verse, it has no rhyming scheme and there is no rhythm that I can see. The lines are about ten words long, apart from the last two lines, which are shorter. The title is simple and straightforward. It is significant that the whole of the stanza is about people except for the last line, which is about the stag, keeping a distinction between the two. The poem is set at Exmoor, which is well known for stag hunting. Exmoor is in the countryside and has a low population, so the idea of a traffic jam there is unusual. The presence of so many people is ludicrous. It takes place in November, a month associated with death and misery. The Stag is written in the third person singular, it is through the eyes of an unattached observer. This poem is about a hunt, and the prey is a stag that is running elegantly through the surrounding countryside. There are lots of spectators and one of them; we are led to believe, is describing the events of the pursuit. This poem is proud and refined at the beginning; a stag is running through his fields and over his forests. This idea is beautiful and natural. The poem then, however quickly turns sour and the gracefulness is
Compare and contrast "Pike" by Ted Hughes with "Trout" by Heaney.
Compare and contrast "Pike" by Ted Hughes with "Trout" by Heaney. Both poets focus on different aspects of the fish's lives. Heaney focus's mainly on the sleek physicality of the trout and the fact that it is a guided missile, full of energy and this point reinstates the fact that it is very powerful, not dangerous or aggressive. It also contributes to the very militaristic style that the poem is written in due to the fact that Heaney had a violent upbringing in Ireland, which helps to bring in the notion that the trout is a missile or acts like a bullet being shot from a gun. Hughes focuses mainly on the pike's very sinister personality that it is born with and its aggressive nature towards all, even its own kind. So it is therefore not surprising that the pike is a natural born killer from the egg and as it is so aggressive it is invested with mythical qualities and is subsequently thought of as a prehistoric relic lurking in the legendary depths of England's freshwater ponds. So the poets see both fish with respect and admiration as both are sleek, quick, majestic and powerful. Let us now compare and contrast how Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney put across these points to us. We can see that 'Trout' is written in a far more abstract way than 'Pike' and contains a lot less detail about the trout's mannerisms and its everyday life. The only thing we know of the trout's
Ted Hughes's predatory poems.
Monday 1st October 2001 Xavier H Keenan 148 Ted Hughes's predatory poems. Hughes writes brilliant meaningful poems about predators. He likes to get across to the reader all the mean sides of the animal, like thrushes, you don't expect them to be such a predatory animal until you read the poems and then, you do begin to realise. For example, the Jaguar; it is so different to all the other animals in the zoo and isn't as boring, slow or dull as any of the other creatures. It seems to have a mind and a radical imagination of it's own. Hughes describes this beast in so many uncountable ways and you don't think of it like he does! You really can picture it in your head and they all make you imagine what's happening, the Jaguar is a prime example, like 'apes yawn .... in the sun! Every word counts in these poems, if for example a line or even a verse was skipped, it would be a bit tragic and it would turn the whole of the poem around. It is vital for each poem verse to be there to explain the poem, like in jaguar again, if you took out the first verse, then it wouldn't really be very good, because you need the detail of the yawning apes and the shrieking parrots to show how fierce and wilful the jaguar is. All the four poems that I was given have got some many things in common with each other and this adds to Hughes's uniqueness in his poems. They all have the same sort of
Critical Commentary on The Though-Fox written by Ted Hughes.
Critical Commentary on The Though-Fox The Thought-Fox, is one of a number of animal poems written by Ted Hughes. In this poem he uses the extended metaphor of a fox to represent his inspirations and ideas. By describing the movements and actions of the fox, we are taken through step by step how this, and perhaps other poems were written. The first stanza immediately introduces us to the setting of the poem and to the poet himself. It is "midnight", which is the most mysterious time of night, and he is imagining this "moment" in the "forest". The alliteration of the 'm' sounds found in "imagine this midnight moment" creates a harmonious sound which mirrors the setting it is describing. This is the unreal setting which then continues throughout the poem and contrasts with the real, domestic setting of "clock" ticking. A "forest" is a wild place where anything can happen, which leads us to think that it is a metaphor for the speaker's mind, or imagination. The colon found after the word "forest" creates the sense that a list will follow but at the same time separates the two settings. As he says that "something else is alive beside the clock's loneliness", we get the feeling that he is completely alone with only the "clock" to keep him company. We learn that he is a writer as he moves his "fingers" around "this blank page". Because the "page" is "blank", we can tell that at
