MODEL ANSWER ON ‘THE HORSES’, by Edwin Muir
‘The Horses’, by Edwin Muir, is a poem which forced me to think about the unthinkable – the annihilation of humankind as a result of a nuclear war. Paradoxically, however, Muir seems to me to take an optimistic view of such an event. In my essay I intend to give a synopsis of the poem and discuss some of the techniques that Muir employs to get his message across. I will discuss his use of Biblical language and imagery, the structure of the poem, his rhythm and rhyme and his use of symbolism.
Muir imagines a world brought to an abrupt end by a nuclear war. The poem was written in the 1950s during the period known as ‘The Cold War’. This was a period of our history when people had real
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The first thing I noticed about the poem was the writer’s use of Biblical language and allusion. The mention of the “seven days war” is a clear reminder of the creation of the world and the expression “barely a twelvemonth” is archaic language resonant of the Bible. In addition, there are references to “covenant” and to “Eden” – all with clear biblical association. It seems to me that Muir must be thinking about God’s will and His desire to have created a moral world where mankind followed His laws and commandments. Clearly, in destroying itself, mankind has brought about the Apocalypse promised to St John on the Isle of Patmos and revealed in the New Testament. On the subject of optimism, however, we must surely see the arrival of the horses as a message from God that He is prepared to give us a second chance.
The poem has an interesting structure. It divides into two long stanzas. In the first stanza Muir describes the dreadful state of the world after the nuclear war, partly by the shock we receive in the first two lines, partly by the skilfully chosen details, and partly by the people’s loathing of our present civilisation. Then, to introduce the second part, comes the sudden statement:-
“And then, that evening
Late in the summer the strange horses came,”
And there is reawakening hope that civilisation will return.
“Our life is changed; their coming our beginning.”
Another attractive feature of Muir’s style is the rhyme and rhythm he employs in
In the poem there is also an idea of man verses nature, this relates to the survival of the fittest. John Foulcher shows this through the use of first person point of view. For example in the second stanza “Then above me the sound drops” this again possesses sensory imagery creating a deeper human aura throughout the poem. Foulcher further uses a human aura to build a sense of natural imagery for example in the last stanza : “I pick up these twigs and leave them” adding closure
Everyone has a different way to deal with overwhelming situations. It can be more difficult for people with mental illness to cope with the hardships of life. For instance, in “Horses of the Night,” the character of Chris has dissociative symptoms that can be linked to his depression. Margaret Laurence’s short story tells the story of Chris, a young teenager who moves to from a small farm to the town of Manawaka in order to go to high school. The story is told by his younger cousin, Vanessa. As she grows up, she learns that Chris is depressed. The author uses the theme of fantasy to show that he does not cope well with reality. The horses, Shallow Creek, and the children are symbols that show us the fantasy that Chris lives in.
John Grady Cole, the last in a long line of west Texas ranchers, is, at sixteen, poised on the sorrowful, painful edge of manhood. When he realizes the only life he has ever known is disappearing into the past and that cowboys are as doomed as the Comanche who came before them, he leaves on a dangerous and harrowing journey into the beautiful and utterly foreign world that is Mexico. In the guise of a classic Western, All the Pretty Horses is at its heart a lyrical and elegiac coming-of-age story about love, friendship, and loyalty that will leave John Grady, and the reader, changed forever. When his mother decides to sell the cattle ranch he has grown up working, John Grady Cole and his friend Lacey Rawlins
John Grady is not your average cowboy. All the Pretty Horses is not your typical coming-of-age story. This is an honest tale. Cormac McCarthy follows John Grady as he embarks on his journey of self-discovery across the border. Armed with a few pesos in his pocket, a strong horse and a friend at his side, John Grady thinks he’s ready to take on the Wild West of Mexico. At their final steps in America, a stranger, aged thirteen, joins our heroes. This unexpected variable named Blevins challenges John Grady, testing his character and pushing him to uncomfortable limits. The dynamic of their relationship reveals John Grady’s capacity to care for others as he shelters this kid from the hardships of reality and the
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
In “September, 1918”, Amy Lowell shows her readers an interesting and illuminating poem. That war can be an ugly time and the people that experience it often seems to live in a “broken world” (19). To fight an evil, sometimes war is needed, nonetheless it is still costly to the people living through the war. Some in a literal sense, like soldiers fighting in a war, while some in a physical sense by the world that they now see and live in. I find the poem truly interesting though, in how the author shows that even in war we can still hold onto hope for more promising days. Lowell portrays a melancholy mood throughout her poem that makes her readers thinking about war but also the hope of it being over.
Owen’s poem has the clear intention of showing the true nature of war to the reader, which is mainly achieved by contrasting reality against the ways in which war is so
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.
However the message from this poem is not completely pessimistic. The horses show that there is a chance, it is not too late. There is a tone of peacefulness, serenity, created by mentions of sleep and silence. Maybe by this the
Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, he unmasks the harsh tragedy of war through the events he experienced. His poems indulge and grasp readers to feel the pain of his words and develop some idea on the tragedy during the war. Tragedy was a common feature during the war, as innocent boys and men had their lives taken away from them in a gunshot. The sad truth of the war that most of the people who experienced and lived during the tragic time, still bare the horrifying images that still live with them now. Owen’s poems give the reader insight to this pain, and help unmask the tragedy of war.
“In his poetry, Wilfred Owen depicts the horror and futility of war and the impact war has on individuals.”
The second stanza speaks of how it so often slips our mind that war does not only affect the men who are in direct combat. The young women too, suffer greatly in silence. Though so removed from the grime and blood of the battlefield, one cannot imagine the excruciating pain of having to part with their loved ones, with the knowledge that 'the holy glimmers of goodbyes ' might as well be goodbye forever. Every moment of the day, they agonize over the terrifying thought that their loved one has been shot or injured. There is no way of telling - and the guessing game is exhausting. There is no more joy or excitement in life as each 'slow dusk ' drags by, their only reason for existence condensed into a single purpose - receiving news from the battlefield. Often time, their agonizing wait ends in a heartbreaking death. This is signified from the line 'the drawing down of blinds '.
Throughout history, humans have depended on the horse. Horses have contributed to the growth of humankind as transportation, farm workers, and battle steeds. They have been trained to support humans in many ways. When did this relationship begin? At what point did the horse become a vital part of human society? Exploring the evolution of the horse can help to answer these questions.
Bang my eyes opened as I leaped out of bed. I ran at full speed to my brother's room and woke Miguel up and screamed Happy Birthday to him. We went and changed and went on our iPads before our parents woke up. It was all a hurry as we looked like buzzing bees zooming through the house, at around 10 past 9 we ran out of the house full of eager and excitement. Sitting in the car, we drove along streets, highways and whinny roads but when I though we would ever make it to the horse riding we reached. I hopped out of the car ready to get on the Horse but realised the first group wasn't back yet. The three of us played basketball, got a helmet and got ready.
Ever since I was a child I knew that I wanted to work with animals. Horses, in particular, have always fascinated me. After much begging, pleading, years of convincing, and always working hard to save up money, I convinced my parents to allow me to buy a horse. To me, Indie was the most beautiful quarter horse I could have ever dreamed of getting. Since our purchase of Indie, we have acquired another horse, Sherman, and a pony, Tucker. Although the horses have always been hard work, they were worth every sweaty hot summer evening of mucking out the stalls and frigid winter mornings of carrying water to the trough in order to avoid freezing our hoses. After all, I used to dream of being a veterinarian and helping all kinds of animals in some way.