Analysis of a poem- Horses by Edwin Muir It is said that one should forget the past and live in the present
It is said that one should forget the past and live in the present.
However, Edwin Muir’s ‘Horses’ is a poem of past memories only. The interesting part is that it deals with many conflicts and issues which are prevalent even today. It is thus a bridge between the past and present and is expressed in the form of a piece of literature. Muir himself said that in writing about horses in this poem, he was reflecting his childhood view of his father’s plough horses, which must have seemed huge, powerful and mysterious to a boy of four or five. Some of his poems, including ‘Horses’, have a close equivalent in passages from
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Under the “great hulks” of these creatures he sees is however another truth. The way these symbols of “power” trod, allows the reader to infer another thought. Muir talks about the “ritual” of trodding hooves turning the field beneath to brown. This can relate to the nuclear tests taking place, the desire for power and how it would destroy the earth just as the horses’ trodding was literally destroying the earth underneath. The line, “Gleamed with a cruel apocalyptic light,” has an even greater significance when he talks as if an apocalyptic war has taken place and the world has come to an end. In Muir’s time, this could obviously refer to the World War or perhaps a civil war and maybe future wars as well. The manner in which the poet expresses great anguish at the fact that this anger and blind hatred has left nothing in its wake, throws light on where the world is headed.
The third verse also suggests subjugation of the powerful and privileged over the Underprivileged. The “conquering hooves” show the might of the powerful class who dominate the suppressed and force them into subservience. Muir is depicting the power struggle and hegemony that will always be prevalent in the world despite opposing views of
Charles Edward Markham. The latter, states in his poem, ‘Man with the
Hoe’, after the “Silence of centuries”, how the oppressed took back their power
There are many different horse species. Some are bigger or smaller than others. Some are white, brown, black, or even multi colored! Horses are a very beautiful creatures.
Often, personal experiences are what influence a poet’s writing. Since the 1600s and up until World War One, poets have been heavily impacted by the glorification of war, as well as the catastrophic losses the world has suffered from. Poets such as Richard Lovelace and Lord Tennyson glorified the sacrifices soldiers made for their countries and honored them. While poets like Mary Borden and Wilfred Owen expressed their outrage towards war because they have witnessed the brutality and wickedness of it. In the two poetry collections, diction is the main factor in establishing the tone and theme of each poem.
The obscure relationship between man and environment is addressed abundantly throughout each of the throughout the three poems, as it is made apparent that Owen tended to use pathetic fallacy as a motif to reflect the internal conflicts of the soldiers. When the weather is peaceful, the soldiers are too, as seen briefly in
The soldiers who had attended the war were shown to have died brutally, like “cattle”, yet when reaching the home front, it is seen that they are laid to rest in a much more civil and dignified manner. The concept of this can be seen as an extended metaphor throughout the entire poem, with the battle front seen as a world filled with violence, fear and destruction, where as the home front is perceived as a place marked by order and ritual, a civilized world. The second sonnet opens with “What candles may be held to speed them all?”, invoking a more softer and compassionate tone towards the audience, more specifically through Owen’s use of a rhetorical question. It captures the readers’ attention, engaging them to feel empathetic and notice the shift of energy from anger and bitterness to a sadder and more somber tone. Owen’s use of descriptive language, as simple as it seems, such as ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ provokes the audience to view the horrors of the war as if they had been placed onto children, because in reality the ‘men; who had signed themselves into war to fight in glory for their country had really only just been boys themselves.
Superficially, “A Blessing” appears to be a simple poem about ponies, however, Wright’s use of contrasting diction creates a baleful mood that alters the meaning of the poem as a whole. When the speaker and his friend first approach the horses, the animals’ eyes “[d]arken with kindness” (Wright 4). By contrasting the
All great legends in history must be honored for their sacrifice and leadership that marks a path in recent history. This is why one of the most patriotic and legendary warriors of the Old West known as Crazy Horse is still considered a historical symbol. Crazy Horse was a true American Indian whose independent and fierce spirit during a battle aids as an example of how a leader ought to be. His journey is a celebration of his time and his legacy. Let us reminisce about this era and how Crazy Horse arose to be a fearless Lakota leader.
Comprehending an excerpt of Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese leads me to feel various negative emotions that can be classified into three major feelings which involve fury, agitation, and sorrow. With a ridiculous reason that they were Aboriginals, numerous children got forced into residential schools and were sacrificed to add such a disgraceful history of Canada. The first emotion I felt was fury in the scene when the boy who opposed to change his family name was beaten by the supervisor “until he collapsed” (46). I thought this behavior was cruel enough to be considered as a child abuse and deserve criticism to use violence against kids. Additionally, the part where the author described the “rare unsupervised time” generated most agitation.
This internal war starts the second that you set foot in this unknown word as a baby, all the way up to the last step you take to say your last goodbyes to this world. The poem begins with a life of a child in whom people around him tended to call the child “...crybaby or poor or fatty or crazy and made [the child] an alien…”(Sexton), and the child “...drank their acid and concealed it.”(Sexton) illustrating how painful it is, not react and take actions,but counseling is the best method the child seemed fit. Furthermore, courage in a person can also cause a war, in which the author shows the imagery, how the child’s “...courage was a small coal that [the child] kept swallowing.”(Sexton) and encouraging to society to make his own future. As an adult, the person endured many difficulties, such as the of enduring “...a great despair…”(Sexton), but you didn’t do it with a companion but rather “...did it alone.”(Sexton) and endured that suffering within yourself. Being an adult is not only passing a time with your loved ones and remembering the ones that sacrificed their time to make you who you are now, from your teachers to your peers to your parents, but to actually live your life the fullest and make each day worth living.Until the last moment that has been waiting since the beginning in which the death “...opens the back door...” and “...[the adult will] put on [his] carpet slippers and stride out.”(Sexton), exemplifying how all you have done, from engulfing the pain given by the society to living your whole life just to see a tear of happiness from seeing your grandchild, will not be taken with you at the moment when you really need it the
However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).
Did you know that the Preswelskis Horse can go at an astounding 27 miles per hour and can sleep both lying down and standing up? I chose to do my report on the preswelskis horse which is an endangered animal and hasn't been seen in the wild since 1968. The scientific name for this horse is Equus Caballus Przewalskii and its classification is mammal. A female is called a Mare while a male is called a Stallion. This horse has a lifespan of 20 to 25 years and the family name is Equidae.
Poetry is often dissected until there is nothing left but a tired meaning or beaten down theme left. The beauty is often lost on the incessant search for a deeper meaning and the flow of the lines and stanzas is often forgotten in the intrusive prodding to find something more. Both poems, “Introduction to Poetry” and “Poetry Should Ride the Bus,” exemplify this opinion on the study of poetry, and challenge the traditional views of poetry in the sense that poetry is not there to be a source of deeper meaning. Rather, it is there to fill the reader with a sense of something more and be a literary treasure written to beautify the mind and unearth something in the reader. I want them to water-ski across the surface of a poem waving at the
It described how the soldiers were wounded and killed because one man in their cavalry had made a mistake. It outlined how the plain was strewn with their bodies’ and ‘steeds rode rider less across the plain.’ This article was the inspiration for his poem.
A seemingly great tavern recently opened in Newport, Rhode Island. Located at the corner of Farewell and Marlborough Streets, the tavern
Horses have been around for 55-million years, they are amazing creatures and have evolved from small dog typed horses to giant and small horses that come in many different colors and breeds. The modern horses are different from the the horses that lived 55-million years ago. Horses today have 1 toe or hoof, come in more colors, they are much bigger but can also be small. Certain breeds have more of a wild linage while others are foundation horses. Foundation horses;these horses come from the original breed.
“The Pale Horseman” by Bernard Cornwell, is in 871-899 AD in Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon territory in England. The main character, Uhtred, is a warrior. He was born a Viking but adopted into an Anglo-Saxon clan and as his story unfolds in a series of conflicts with his own clan, the church and outsiders, his background differences from Anglo-Saxons highlight many features of this time period. The author is careful to be historically accurate in many details, including the civil and military power of kings, how military authority and tactics are carried out, and the armor and weapons used by knights.