Ted Hughes: "Hughes' early poems describe the animal kingdom with exact naturalistic detail. They also focus on animals to probe at aspects of human nature."

Ted Hughes: "Hughes' early poems describe the animal kingdom with exact naturalistic detail. They also focus on animals to probe at aspects of human nature." During the course of this essay I will be discussing this title with respect to two of Hughes' poems, 'Hawk Roosting' and 'Pike'. Firstly I will examine the title in relation to the poem 'Pike'. The first stanza of Hughes' poem shows a distinction between his own style and the Romanticism of the Nineteenth Century's style of poetry: 'Pike, three inches long, perfect Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold. Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin. They dance on the surface among the flies.' In contrast to Wordsworth's idealism's, and pondering of nature and delicate human emotions, "Pike" shows a rough and more realistic nature. Unlike the beautiful, idyllic scenes of the Romantics that evoked complex views, Hughes' poem describes simple human emotions. This occurs because "Pike" depicts a nature commanding respect for its obvious rawness, power, and uniqueness, in contrast to the universal "Nature" of the Nineteenth Century. Hughes accomplishes this through impressive imagery, poetic devices, all of which evoke powerful emotions from the reader. The subject of the poem, a fish species called pike, are known to be voracious predators, disliked and even feared by some anglers but greatly admired by

  • Word count: 934
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poetry Comparison - 'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka and 'Ballad of the Landlord' by Langston Hughes.

Poetry Comparison The two poems 'Telephone Conversation' by Wole Soyinka and 'Ballad of the Landlord' by Langston Hughes both focus on the issue of racism. Thus the poems have a similar theme but present the theme in a variety of different ways. The backgrounds of the poets tell us a lot about their intentions. Soyinka is a Nigerian who was raised as a Christian. He is also highly educated and went to two universities, one a Nigerian university the other an English university. His background shows he mingled into western society but he was never treated as an equal. Soyinka wrote political literature and was arrested for seizing radio stations and making a political broadcast about the fairness of the Nigerian elections. He was politically oppressed and his whole life has been a struggle. He often voiced his opinions on the Nigerian government and the racism he has experienced. His intentions are quite clearly shown in 'Telephone Conversation' where he illustrates a typical example of racism, possibly autobiographical, through the absurd reaction of the landlady. If he had gone to see the flat, the landlady would have lied and told him it was already taken so it would have been directly racist. But when he rings on the phone, she tells him the flat is free before being told by the character, who is anxious not to make a wasted journey, that he is black. The landlady asks how

  • Word count: 2161
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast a 20th Century and non-20th Century Animal Poem

Adam Wright 14th Nov 2001 Compare and Contrast a 20th Century and non-20th Century Animal Poem . Introduction/brief explanation 2. Themes 3. Structure and form a. Stressed/unstressed, iambic pentameter etc b. Form on page, reasons for. 4. Language and Poetry techniques 5. Personal preference and reason For this essay I need to compare and contrast a pre 20th Century and 20th Century piece of poetry that share animals. The Two poems I have chosen are Horses be Edwin Muir for my pre 20th century piece. For my 20th century text I have chosen "The Jaguar" by Ted Hughes. The two poets are using their poetry to inform their audience about their beliefs and thoughts on certain issues. In "Horses" by Edwin Muir the poet is informing the audience about his thoughts on the beginning of the industrial revolution and the effect it will have on the countryside and in particular the shire horse. In "The Jaguar" Ted Hughes makes us aware of his dislike of zoos and the imprisonment of animals and the feelings they encounter, boredom, hope and loneliness. 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 by their

  • Word count: 1738
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Ted Hughes convey the ruthless power and violence in animals through the poems “Pike” and “Hawk Roosting”?

How does Ted Hughes convey the ruthless power and violence in animals through the poems "Pike" and "Hawk Roosting"? Animals are living things that we see in our everyday lives yet we don't seem to give them any importance. Very few people give them the respect they deserve. The poems I am going to compare are based on animals. The animals are given human qualities, which are done purposely by Ted Hughes to make us realize what we really are. Very few poets have chosen animals to take the lead roles in their poems. Ted Hughes is one of those few poets who have taken animals to play the lead role in his poems. Many of Ted Hughes poems have their subjects on predatory animals and birds. The latent feeling of violence and power in untamed creatures fascinated Hughes. In his poems, animals and birds are not decorative or incidental but central symbols of vitality. "Pike" and "Hawk Roosting" are the two poems of Ted Hughes, which I am going to compare. These two poems convey the theme of violence and power very clearly. The selfishness and self-centered attitude of the animals is another prominent theme in the play. These themes are brought out in various ways and various lines. Both animals, the "Hawk" and the "Pike" make it very clear that they want to be the dominant creatures in their respected habitat. Ted Hughes always has most of the most of the poems he writes with the

  • Word count: 4117
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Hawk Roosting.

This poem uses the hawk to explore the effects of power. This is done by telling the poem through the hawks' eyes and personifying it so the hawk can have a voice to share its thoughts and feelings with us. The opening line of the poem states the hawk's superiority by saying "I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed." This shows he is higher up than all the other animals and therefore more superior and more important. Also by saying "my eyes closed" he suggests that nothing can bother him and that he is untouchable because he is so superior and no other animal would dare to cross him because he thinks he is so powerful. When he says "no falsifying dream" it shows that he thinks he is perfect so he doesn't dream about being able to do things because he can already do them really well. This also shows he is superior and powerful. Again he is shown as powerful when it says "...hooked head and feet....perfect kills and eat" it shows this because he tells us about his hooked head and feet which he considers his best weapons. Also the fact that he says kills first, then eats shows his prowess in the fact that he prefers to eat than to kill and he is so powerful that he can kill anytime he wants just for fun and not just killing so he can eat. The superiority carries in the hawk talking about how the environment he lives in is especially made for him because the high trees

  • Word count: 860
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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In "Hawk Roosting", the harshness and cruelty of nature is important, but Hughes shows that there is a form of beauty in this.

In "Hawk Roosting", the harshness and cruelty of nature is important, but Hughes shows that there is a form of beauty in this. Through giving the hawk thoughts and using the first person, the cruel arrogance of the bird is shown: "the earth faces upwards for my inspection" and "I will kill where I please" are powerful statements. Hughes wants to show how controlling the bird is and the neat, controlling form of the language reflects this. There is a beauty in the concise, controlled aspects of the poem. The poem is written from the point of view of the hawk, a bird of prey, who sits roosting in a tree. He sees the air and earth as if they are solely made for his benefit. He sees himself as the ultimate being of Creation. He claims he has power to revolve the world. He has power over life and death. He sees himself as utterly in control of the world and wishes to keep things like this. The hawk uses a lot of pompous-sounding phrases like The convenience of the high trees! /...of advantage to me/...for my inspection. They help emphasise the proud attitude of the hawk. He sounds a bit like a businessman wanting to impress a rival. There is a lot of emphasis on the hawk's mastery of all he sees. He speaks in a very exaggerated way: I hold Creation in my foot...I revolve it [Creation] all slowly...it is all mine. This stresses the hawk's feeling that he alone is dominant.

  • Word count: 872
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Ted Hughes: the poet.

Ted Hughes: the poet I have studied five poems written by Ted Hughes. There are two poems that contrast two opposites and there are two poems that illustrate the power of nature and how it defeats man. The last poem is completely different to the others. It is narrated not by Ted Hughes but it is written as if by a Hawk. Hence the name Hawk Roosting. The other poems I have studied are 'Warm and Cold', 'Work and Play', 'Tractor' and 'Wind'. The first two poems I will be looking at are 'Work and Play' and 'Warm and Cold'. The poems illustrate the contrasts between the two words in the title. 'Work and Play' is an unusual description of work and how it differs from play. Ted Hughes describes the work in the poem as being graceful and effortless. "The swallow of summer, she toils all summer." "The seamstress of summer, she scissors the blue into shapes and she sews it" The play in the poem is described as being painful and cumbersome. "A scamper of colours which roll like tomatoes." But the holiday people are laid out like the wounded" Ted Hughes uses imagery in the poem to portray his feelings. The language used is very elegant, especially when describing the swallow in 'Work and play.' "A blue-dark knot of glittering voltage," This language heightens and sustains the interest of the reader. Each poem has a structure. In 'Work and play' the structure emphasises the

  • Word count: 1126
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Foot Binding.

Foot Binding. Throughout history the human population has done many obtuse things in the name of physical beauty. These methods range from fairly simple and inoffensive (such as make up) to extremely the horrific (lipo-suction and foot binding). Foot binding in China is basically exactly what the name suggests. The binding happens to young girls from the ages of three to seven years of age. Sometimes even later than this if the girl was needed to help her family, as many peasant girls did. The purpose of foot binding was to stop the growth of the feet, as small feet were prized in China. As was said earlier the biding of the feet usually began between the ages of three and seven. Ideally three was the best age as the bones of the foot would not have fully developed and would allow the foot longer to change its shape. To bind the foot a bandage ten feet long and two inches wide was used. The foot of the girl was bathed in hot water containing herbs and then was massaged. What happened next was that all of the toes, except for the first, were broken, turned under and pressed to the sole of the foot. The foot was then bound tightly with the cloth strips. Next the arches of the feet were broken so that the foot could be pulled straight with the leg and so shortening the distance between the toes and the heel. Illustration shows the foot-binding process. The drawing is

  • Word count: 1488
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"The Jaguar," by Ted Hughes.

The Jaguar "The Jaguar," by Ted Hughes, Ted Hughes explains his admiration for the Jaguar in this poem. The poem is describing a zoo where most of the animals, except the jaguar and the parrots, are being lazy and boring. We can tell this from the way Hughes describes their movement and appearance. He shows his enthusiasm and passion for the jaguar by using many metaphors and hyperboles. Although he does not share the same like towards the parrots, he does go into great detail to describe their actions. He explains how they "sell themselves like cheap tarts" to the on looking audience and remarks on the way they "shriek" and walk. One of the most bold and eye-catching ways he shows his enthusiasm for the jaguar is going from the second verse to the third. As the jaguar comes into the poem, he immediately picks up the pace, leaving behind a slow, dull atmosphere created by the other animals. He does this by using descriptive words such as "yawn," "fatigued," and "sleepers," to emphasize the slow pace in the first two verses. He moves on in the third verse using words like "runs," and "hurrying," and "furious." This immediately and effectively shows his overwhelming admiration for the jaguar over the other animals. From the first verse and then from the third on, the poet uses enjambment to carry on the feeling on between verses, for example, between the first and second;

  • Word count: 690
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparison of Ted Hughes poems: The Warm And The Cold and Work and Play

Comparison of Ted Hughes poems: The Warm And The Cold and Work and Play The first thing that you notice about these two poems is the similarities in subject. Work and Play and The Warm and the Cold both feature the presence of wildlife and the countryside. The Warm and the Cold: And the butterfly in its mummy Like a viol in its case And the owl in its feathers Like a doll in its lace. Work and Play The swallow of summer, she toils all the summer A blue-dark knot of glittering voltage A whiplash swimmer, a fish of the air. Both of these verses project the main theme of each poem as the countryside and wildlife. There are though, some differences. Like the layout of the poems. Work and Play is set out with three lines at the start of each stanza then five small lines at the end of the stanza, of which there are four. The end stanza changes to one beginning sentence and four ending the piece. The Warm and the Cold however, has three verses of twelve lines, then a finishing part where seven lines are spaced out to give a slowing down effect. This poem also has a recognisable effect where nearly every other line is a simile. E.g. But the trout is in its hole Like a chuckle in a sleeper. The hare strays down the highway Like a root going deeper. The snail is dry in the outhouse Like a seed in sunflower. The owl is pale on the gatepost Like a clock on its

  • Word count: 750
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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