Comparative essay (The Horses and The Wind) -Ulfah Alkaabi “The Horses” is an unusual poem which talks of a future time when men will need to depend once again on creatures from the natural world, when we have destroyed much of our planet. “Wind” is a written by Ted Huges, it is a descriptive poem conveying the power of the forces of nature, using a series of poetic devices to present the reactions he experiences. The opening lines in each poem provide a powerful start. In “Wind” the poems with the idea of a house being like a ship tossed by the wind at sea.
“This house has been far out at sea all night”, an effective metaphor to signal isolation and the power of the wind. In “The Horses” the poem starts with a long feel of war and is immediately stated that it is the end of technology, “Barely a twelvemonth after / The seven days war put the world to sleep”. It begins with an extremely retched and saddening atmosphere. In each of the two poems, there is effective use of similes. In “The Horses” there is efficient use of simile to evoke the powerful arrival of the horses.
The use of simile, to describe the horses, “We saw the heads / like a wild wave” heightens the sense of an overwhelming power, as if the people could be swept away by their strength. In “Wind” the similes are in use to demonstrate the strength of the wind. The author writes, “flexing like the lens of a mad eye” this is the idea of distortion of vision, this is caused by the power of the wind. It is used again in line 16, “a black-gull bent like an iron bar slowly” it is created by the super natural strength of the wind it is making the bird is bend.
Effective use is made of personification in the two poems. In “Wind” the poet’s use of personification when describing the landscape, “the fields quivering” gives the idea of a landscape trembling with fear. In “The horses” the author writes, “the radios dumb” literally it means that the radio is dead, on a deeper sense the author is using personification to describe the radio as “dumb” and at the same time inputting he’s personal opinion. In both poems, there is an effective use of sounds.
In “Wind” the writer describes the hills, “the booming hills” this gives the hills a loud and powerful sound. It is repeated when the author uses the idea of the hills vibrating, “the tent of the hills drummed” it gives off a never ending sound of beating drums. In “The Horses” sound take a big role. The coming of horses was accompanied by sound – therefore breaking the silence – a sign of a new beginning? The “distant tapping” became a “deepening drumming” and then finally “hallowing thunder. ” Rather an awe-inspiring sound, overwhelming and all-pervasive – suggests a growing power.
