Analysis of 'Wind' by Ted Hughes

May 11, 2025

Lecture Notes on "Wind" by Ted Hughes

Overview

  • Title: Wind
  • Poet: Ted Hughes
  • Published: 1957 in his first collection "The Hawk in the Rain"
  • Theme: The power of nature vs. the diminished power of man
  • Metaphor: Storm as a metaphor for Hughes' relationship with Sylvia Plath

Poetic Structure

  • Form: Six quatrains (stanzas of four lines each)
  • Metrical/Rhythmic Structure: No fixed structure, uses enjambment and caesura to modulate rhythm
  • Rhyme Scheme:
    • Stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5: ABBA
    • Stanzas 3, 6: ABAB
    • Subtle use of masculine (single) rhyme
    • Use of slant rhyme, alliteration, and assonance

Sound Patterns

  • Alliteration: E.g., "wind wielded"
  • Consonance: E.g., "brunt wind that dented"
  • Assonance: E.g., "arride and blinding"
  • Onomatopoeia: Words like crashing, booming, stampeding
  • Frickative and Plosive Sounds: E.g., fields, fine, booming, bang

Imagery and Figurative Language

  • Metaphors and Similes: House described as "far out at sea," wind as "knife-wielding maniac"
  • Zoomorphism and Personification: Wind as a herd of creatures, knife-wielding
  • Semantic Field of Sound: Booming, stampeding, drummed

Chronology and Narrative

  • Narrative: First-person perspective, possibly autobiographical
  • Chronology: Moves from night to following day, past tense leading to present

Detailed Analysis

  • Stanza 1: Isolation and vulnerability of house, uprooting of trees
  • Stanza 2: Shift to morning, wind as "knife-wielding maniac"
  • Stanza 3: Speaker's journey to coal house, wind's physical force
  • Stanza 4: Fragility of human structures, house compared to a goblet
  • Stanza 5: Emotional tension between speaker and partner
  • Stanza 6: Enduring fear and vulnerability of couple

Literary Devices

  • Present Participles: Indicate continuous action (e.g., crashing, booming)
  • Enjambment: For smooth flow and continuous action
  • Caesura: Creates pauses that emphasize the chaotic storm

Emotional and Philosophical Themes

  • Isolation and Anxiety: House at sea, emotional gulf between people
  • Nature’s Indifference: The storm's unrelenting power vs. human fragility

Conclusion

  • "Wind" exemplifies the power of nature and the fragility of human life and relationships. The poem's sound and structure enhance its thematic elements of chaos and vulnerability.

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