Horses Poem †Edwin Muir Essay

HorsesEdwin Muirin first base Poems, 1925Notes Compiled and Edited by RIFirst Reading The sight of horses now, in the present, leads thespeaker to consider his feelings towards horseswhen he was a child Perhaps some childish hourhas come once more. Main focus The various descriptions of horses and the speakersfeelings towards the horses An former(a)-worldliness most them, something semblance Admiration and fear are mixed A clear sentimentalist feel about the poesy e.g. And ohthe raptureStanza 1 lumbering gives the video that thehorses are moving in a slow, heavy andawkward courseStanza 2 Pistons in the machines in an ancient mill are employ to describe the movement of the horseshooves as the child watched fearful The use of imagination drawn from the earlyindustrial age is interesting in what it tells usabout the childs fearStanza 3 The word contain suggests a reference toan even earlier age The word religious rite and the descriptionsseraphim of sumptuous and ecstatic mon sters hintat something pagan or pre-historicStanza 4 The rapture conveys a Romantic sense ofworshipping these natural creatures see lines24Stanza 5 refulgence with mysterious fire links with themagic power, which describes the horses hesees in the present day (in the first stanza)Stanza 6 The powerful force of the horses is captured inthe eyes gleaming with a untamed apocalypticlight The religious imagery follows on from thestruggling snakes of stanza 5Stanza 7 The repetition of it fades suggests liberation,straightforwardly the fading of his memory Pine operator to feel a lingering, often nostalgicdesireExercises To assist a closer reading of the poem as awholeStanza 1 Task 1 Look up the meaning of lumbering and consequentlyconsider the way it contrasts with the descriptionin lines 3 4Stanza 1 Task 2 Look closely at the meanings of terrible, brainsick and strange These are of course words common in everydayusage, but precise dictionary definitions of thesewords cogency yiel d unhoped-for and original ideas Note that the horses are lumbering, whilst theplough is steadyStanza 2 Check that you have understood the shift intime. The rest of the poem deals with the speakersrecollection of his feelings as a child. What impression do you feel is created by thesimile of the pistons?Stanza 3 The references in this stanza are to a preindustrial age. Consider the effectuate of these wordsconquering hooves, ritual, seraphim of gold and unexpressed ecstatic monsters. You should consult a dictionary whitherappropriate.Stanzas 4 and 5 What do you make of the tone in stanza four? Explore the words apply to describe the horses,and to consider what they reveal about thespeakers military strength? What contrast is signalled by the use of But whenat dusk at the beginning of stanza five? What do you make of mysterious fire here andthe magic power attributed to the present-dayhorses in stanza one?Stanza 6 lose it the effectiveness of the imagery thecruel apocalyptic l ight of their eyes and the prosopopoeia of the wind.Stanza 7 Before considering the final stanza andreaching a judgement about its effectiveness,you might read the whole poem (perhapsworking in pairs). Having study closely the previous stanzas,how do you now feel that the final stanzashould be spoken? How does the tone here differ from the tonein other parts of the poem?Activities In order focus on the sounds of the poem, youmight in pairs or small groups practise readingthe poem aloud. attempt to capture a suitable voice for the speaker asyou read, and shift the tone as appropriate. Finally, annotate a copy of the poem, indicatingbriefly the effects created by imagery and sound thingmajigs Select an example of a device used in aparticularly striking or magnificent way explain what it isthat makes it striking for you.Thematic links with set poems temper Pied Beauty, Hunting Snake, Pike, TheWoodspurge, Upon Westminster Bridge,Summer Farm Time A distinguishable History, The Cockr oach, TheCity Planners, The PlannersSummary Past memories Surpassing reality The poet reminiscing one of his childishnessmemories Horses ploughing during a rainy dayPower of Nature spirit of the power of temper Language techniques Simile The mechanical metaphor Oxymoron oppose connotationsVocabulary of nature Horses Field Blackeningrain Hooves Stubble Hulks Monsters solarizeLightBossy sidesFlakesSnakesDuskGloamFireBodiesMire lookwickednessManesWindCountryTreeFigurative Language Similes Hooves standardized pistons in an ancient mill Image Their hooves are like machines They occur on moving up and down, ploughing the wholefield struggle snakes Snake-like furrows Prepares us for the biblical imagery cruel apocalyptic light Eyes As brilliant and as wide as nightincarnation WindTheir manes the leaping ire of the windLifted with hydrophobia invisible and blind Dusk The broad-breasted horses in the light of thesetting temperateness The light coming off of their bodies in flakes T he steaming nostrils Their warm, gigantic bodies glowing withmysterious fire The experience heat of their bodies in the cold bollix Metaphors Conquering Great hulks Mechanical Industrial age Comparing a horses power to that of an engine E.g. car engine lector can visualize and sense the physical power of the animal right on on image of the horses Appreciation of the beauty of the powerful force of the horses Oxymoron Horses described as mute ecstatic monsters onthe mould Horses being presented as terrible, so wild andstrange, yet with magical power Leading the lector to ponder the poets message The idea of nature fading absent and life becomingmechanical Followed by the disclosure of his dislike of modernization Negative connotations Dark side and despair Through negative connotations The smouldering bodies of the horses Their eyes gleaming with a cruel apocalyptic light here the poet expresses his emotions towardsthe arrival of evil, or apocalypse and his worldturning darkT he right words First half of the poem Words like seraphim and gold Emphasis on strong presence and value in nature End of the poem black field and still-standing tree The poet introduces a dark, dreary tone As he expresses his realisation faded nature loss of its presenceConclusion Memory Struggle Light and darkness emblematic Expresses aspects of nature Wildness Innocence