Table of Contents
Introduction
The poem Wind by Ted Hughes invokes in the reader’s mind a sense of fear because of disasters done by nature. Like most of the other poems (e.g. The Jaguar), Wind is all about nature and the struggle of man with it.
The poet in the poem talks about a deadly night that was stormed by strong and fierce winds and the helplessness of man in front of it. The poem is divided into six stanzas each talking about the terror of the wind.
Poem
Stanza 1
In stanza 1, the poet begins with the line, This house has been far out, referring to a house that according to him is at sea all night. The poet imagines a house as a boat or ship in the middle of the sea (which is alone and attacked by waves of a storm).
In the next line, he describes the wind making destruction by uprooting and breaking the trees and booming the hills, i.e. making fierce and terrifying noises.
The poet then imagines wind as a herd of animals (stampeding means a sudden rush of animals) which are out of control and are rushing through the fields. It is black (it has blinded the sky) and running on the earth controlling it.
Stanza 2
In stanza 2, the poet says, Till day rose indicating that as the new day has begun now the storm is over, however it is not over yet. The sky is orange i.e. still covered by the clouds which are though less fierce.
The storm has brought a drastic change in the vicinity of the poet’s house. The hills had new places that refer to the drastic changes made by the wind in the landscape.
The wind is now controlling the rays (blade-light) by moving the clouds. The poet personifies it by calling it a lens of a mad eye (a mad person keep looking here and there in an unusual way) as it is moving in a disturbing way.
Stanza 3
In stanza 3, the scene moves to noon. The poet scales along the house-side as far as the coal-house door. The term “scaled along” is usually used for mountain climbing.
By using this term, the poet tries to tell us how much effort had to make in order to bring coal from the nearby room outside the house.
The poet’s balls of eyes see mountains that appear so much weak before the wind that they seem to be tents tied by the help of a rope. Thus mountains are vulnerable to the wind as a weak tent.
Stanza 4
In stanza 4, the poet talks about fields. According to the poet, the wind has made the fields to tremble and shake and the horizon (skyline) is also in pain.
It seems as if the world may be destroyed and vanished away by flapping away anytime. According to the poet, the wind flung a magpie (a bird) away.
It bent or in other words, broke the wings of the gull (a sea-bird) like bending an iron. In this stanza, the poet is talking about the worst impact of wind on the living things including plants (fields) and animals (gull and magpie).
Stanza 5
The stanza continues from the previous one (The house…Rang) probably refers to continuing of the storm since night. Poet’s house that is probably green is trembling and can shatter like a wine glass. In the third line, the poet moves from past to present and the scene shifts from the vicinity to humans sitting in the house.
According to the poet, they are sitting deep in chairs, in front of the great fire. The terror of storm is not allowing them to enjoy the warmth of the fire or the books or even the thought or feeling of each other.
The lines are quite significant as we are introduced to another human as well who is sitting with the poet. In my opinion, it can be his beloved. The storm has taken away their comfort and love.
Stanza 6
Again in the sixth stanza, the line continues from the previous one (this is known as enjambment). The poet and probably his beloved are in the comfort of the fire yet in the terror of storm which is shaking the roots of their home.
They cannot experience both of them at once and hence are just sitting and seeing the window which they fear might break down because of the storm which is making the stones cry out under the horizons.
Crying of stones refers to the begging of the earth for mercy. Please refer to this site for more information
