English Literature

The poem starts off with a metaphor, saying that the house "had been far out at sea all night," this creates an image of isolation. Although the house hasn't actually been at sea, it has been raining so much that it seems as if it was at sea. "Winds stampeding the fields," shows the power of the storm, more specifically the wind, which has been compared to the power of a herd of animals running over a field.

The enjambment between the first and second stanza shows that the storm kept going all night, this is further proved by the verse "Till day rose." Hughes proceeds to describe the damage the wind has done, so powerful that "the hills had new places," this shows that the wind moved the landscape and the place now looks unfamiliar.

In the third stanza, Ted Hughes leaves his house to examine the outdoors, however he remains as close to his house as possible. "Dented the balls of my eyes," once again shows the power of the wind which is so strong that is has dented his eyes. Hughes then describes the hills which seem to be like camping tents pulling at the ropes in the storm.

Ted Hughes continues describing the landscape, "the skyline a grimace," shows an angry emotion on the skyline. Furthermore, he describes what happens to a flying bird in the wind, a black back gull was bent like a bar of iron.

In the fifth stanza, the poet goes back inside and notices that the house will be shattered any minute because of the forces of nature which have even managed to move the hills, let alone a small house. However, the poet and a second companion choose to do nothing about it, instead they sit in front of the fire and wait for their doom. The fire, which is usually a sign of comfort and warmth is used as yet another dangerous element.

In the final stanza, the poet admits that they cannot be distracted, instead they can only focus on their horrible fate and what's to come. Yet they both sit and stare, doing nothing about their situation. Here the poet and his companion's passivity are brought out as neither one of them tries to solve their problems.

This poem can also have a metaphorical meaning rather than just a storm which is about to lead to their doom. The storm and the wind might be representing all the problems and all the things that have gone wrong in a relationship. Instead of solving these problems or talking about them, the poet and his companion, possibly a lover, sit in passivity, not talking to each other or entertaining each other. They both focus on the problem without actually doing anything about it. In other words, they simply wait for their doom.