Topic > Literary Analysis of the Poem Wind by Ted Hughes

'Wind' by Ted Hughes makes the reader feel the character's fear by using various literary techniques throughout his poem. The reader identifies with the thought of a house on the moor and a couple stuck inside due to the ferocious winds. By using various techniques, Hughes makes the poem easier for the reader to understand, allowing them to sympathize with the main character and his companion. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poem tells the story of a couple trapped in a house for over 24 hours, imprisoned by the terrifying climate that lives just outside their door. Furthermore, the setting seems very alive due to the poet's use of figurative language throughout the text and this allows the reader to imagine the landscape frightened by the power of nature. On a deeper level, the poet makes us ask the question if we are important and reiterates the importance of nature and the fear that this arouses in every single human being. Hughes introduces "Wind" with an abnormal metaphorical depiction of a house floating on the sea all night. Fear is very significant in the first line and is an important part of the whole poem that the reader is yet to discover. The poet quickly gives us insight into the couple's fear when he says, "This house has been on the open sea all night." Since the reader does not yet know what the central meaning of this poem is, there are many thoughts running through his mind. This is intentional on Hughes' part because it keeps you reading because our natural instinct is to think: what house? Is it really on the water? Is it still there?. But, analyzing this sentence further, we can see that Hughes uses a very clever metaphor to compare the house to a boat that has been out at sea all night, battered by the natural elements. Both provide the reader with a sense of isolation from the outside world which once again increases the fear of the couple and the reader. It is easy to identify with this feeling due to the very powerful metaphor and the use of the words 'sea' and 'at night' which make us think about how the elements torture us and simply dominate both the house and the couple. The first line becomes even clearer when you read on and discover that things are only going to get worse for this couple and that the bigger picture outside of the poem, life, is more of the same. By the time we get to the middle of the poem, most people will think that it would be safe to venture out now because it is midday outside and it is light outside, but the couple soon discovers that this is not the case and the danger of their surroundings awaits them. their accompaniment. In this stanza, the poet uses the pronouns 'I' and 'mine', which means that it is personal to him and this makes the reader think further. The harsh use of words used in this verse is shown when he says, "Through the strong wind that bruised the balls of my eyes" Obviously, his eyes are not physically bruised as that would be impossible but the hyperbole used allows us to imagine what it would feel like to have the soft, gelatinous material crushed by a violent force. The use of the word 'brunt', used to describe the sharp pain of the wind, is very explosive when used with 'balls' due to the alliteration of the 'b'. It's like comparing the wind to a knife that pierces the person's eye quite easily as if there was simply something else in its path. This shows that in the eyes of the wind (natural element) we are just an object similar to something sitting outside, they don't care about humans because we are trivial to them. That is..