Poetry from the Sixties:
Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney, by Podmeswar
*Discuss how Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney displayed some common
characteristics in their poetry.
Or
Write about characteristics of poetry from the sixties (60’s) with
special reference to Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney are the poet of violence.
Or
Present the animal imagery of Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney.
Ans:-
The sixties
represented above all a sense of freedom in poetry. Of course the older poets
continued to make valuable contributions like W.H. Auden and Philip Larkin, but
poets like Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney made impact with their arrival to the
world of English Poetry. Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes are the major English poets
of mid twentieth century who disinter the bone of ancient texts and recloth
them in living flesh. Their poems exposed and explored themes and ideas that
have determined human action from ancient to modern times. Heaney, who is an
Irish by birth, projected many issues related to Ireland. They also contributed
with their close analysis of their poetic themes and poetic patterns. They were
different from their contemporary poets in the matter of animal imagery and
their animal poems are among the finest in the whole range of English poetry.
The second world
wars and their consequences anticipation of a more terrible third war which terrifying
of the modern poets. The modern poet has adopted a number of techniques to
communicate with the readers. The poet of sixties (60’s) have been much
indebted to the French symbolist movement, imagist techniques and the metaphysical,
revival and modern scientific findings. They were also inspired by the philosophy
of Karl Marx. Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney were no exception in their matter.
Hughes
is a poet who has developed from an early reliance on external nature to a
greater metaphysical assurance and the creation of a distinctive imaginative
world. The poetic growth of Hughes from his early work to the best poems in his
successive volumes of poetry has been more remarkable. His most celebrated poetic
collections are- ‘Wodwo’, ‘Crow’ and ‘Cave Birds’. Hughes has written a large
number of poems which depict violence, one of the most dominant themes in
Hughes poetry. He not only presents the violence of savage animals but also
violence in human nature. In an interview he said, “My poems are not about violence
but vitality. Animals are not violent. They are so much more completely control
than man.” Poems like ‘The Jaguar’, ‘View of a Pig’, ‘An Otter’ are perfectly realistic description of
animal life which also represents vividly of brutality of animals existence.
Hughes shows
great interest in the animal world. A number of poems he composed are about
animals and their savagery and ferocity of these animals, but there is also a
poem entitled, ‘The Horses’ which depicts the passivity and gentleness of
group of ten (10) horses at a particular moment in their existence. Like animal
world, Hughes also shows a deep interest in primitive beliefs and
superstitions. He draws upon ancient myths which always inspired Hughes related
to ‘The White Goddess’ or ‘The Nature Goddess’ and it presents
her three aspects- maiden, mother and
crone (ugly evil looking old woman) which is symbolized by the destructive forces
of nature. In this way, Hughes projected different aspects of nature both in
beneficial and destructive. In this respect or Hughes’s dual approach to nature
is quite different from Wordsworth’s approach to nature poetry which is
primarily concerned with the relationship between the human mind and forces
which govern man’s material existence.
It
is impossible for any modern poet to remain unaffected by the destructiveness caused
by the two world wars which were the most conspicuous historical events of the
twentieth century. Ted Hughes has also no exception in this matter. He had a
personal reason to bemoan war because his own father had fought in the First
World War. In the poem entitled ‘Out’,
Hughes meditates upon his father’s terrible experiences of war. Other
war poem of Hughes’s are—‘Six Young men’ and ‘Bayonet Charge’ indeed,
war too may be regarded as a leading theme in Hughes poetry.
A
skillful use of words and rhythm, an abundant and bold use of metaphor, vivid
imagery and factual description, the use of sound effects, colloquial words and
phrases frequent use of conceits and hyperbole dramatic effects and the use of
ironical humor are some of the qualities of Hughes style which is one of the
most original in the whole range of modern poetry.
Hughes is a
philosophical metaphysical and psychological poet as well as a poet nature and
of animal world. He has interpreted modern life and the existence of modern man
in terms of myth and symbol. No wonder that his poetry is a tough nut to crack
because the modern poet tends to be more subtle and more elusive in the
expression of his ideas than the traditional poet. In any case, Hughes’s poetic
works have considerable enriched English poetry and enlarged its scope and its
bounds.
God Blessing you.......