HORSES by EDWIN MUIR
THEME
The memory of horses in the poet’s past brings back a range of feelings he has of horses. He
finds them magical, other –worldly, admirable and awe-inspiring.
SUMMARY
The sight of horses in the present leads the poet to consider his feelings towards horses when he
was a child. ‘Perhaps some childish hour has come.’
TONE (attitude of the poet to his subject)
The attitude of the poet is first of awe as he looked at the horses with the eyes of a child. The
wonder and awe turned to admiration, to a feeling that the horses were magical and belonged to
another world. The final stanza expresses sadness and longing for the past.
STRUCTURE
The poem is in 7 stanzas of rhyming verse. The first stanza is the sight of horses in the present.
Each of the remaining stanzas contains a distinct feeling and thought about the horses of his
memory.
RHYME SCHEME
The 1st and 2nd lines rhyme and the 3rd and 4th lines rhyme.
The rhymes give a sense of unity to the poem.
IMAGERY
POINT: In stanza 1, the sight of horses in the present leads the poet to remember the horses of
his past
QUOTE
EFFECT
Lumbering horses in
‘lumbering’ gives the impression that the horses are moving in a
the steady plough
slow, heavy and awkward way so that the plough is kept
‘steady’.
They seemed terrible,
These lines contrast with the description of the ‘lumbering’
so wild and strange
horses. Far from being heavy farm horses, they instill awe and
Like magic power
cause the poet to think they have magical powers.
Terrible – exciting awe
POINT: Stanza 2 describes the movement of the horses’ hooves.
QUOTE
EFFECT
Their hooves like
Simile - to compare the up and down movement to pistons give
pistons in an ancient
the effect of the power of the horses tramping as well as the
mill
regular movement which seemed automatic.
Move up and down,
The apparent contradiction can be understood as the poet is
yet seem as standing
trying to hold the scene in his mind’s eye, to keep it ‘standing
still.
still’.
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HORSES by EDWIN MUIR
POINT: Stanza 3, the poet admires the strength of the horses. In addition he shows a reverence
for them.
QUOTE
Their conquering
hooves which trod the
stubble down
Were ritual that turned
the field to brown
Seraphims of gold
Or mute ecstatic
monsters
EFFECT
The effect of the word ‘conquering’ brings out the strength
of the horses as if they are overcoming a weak opponent.
‘Ritual’ means religious rite and the effect is that they poet
looks on the horses with reverence.
The poet draws on legendary creatures to compare the horses
with. His reverence for the horses continue with the image
of angels of gold ‘seraphims of gold’ and rapturous
legendary creatures ‘mute ecstatic monsters’.
POINT: Stanza 4 the ‘rapture’ conveys a sense of the poet worshipping these horses.
QUOTE
They marched broadbreasted to the sinking
sun!
The light flowed off
their bossy sides in
flakes;
EFFECT
The effect is similar to that in the earlier line of ‘conquering
hooves’. The horses are conquerors who march in triumph at
the end of the day as their work is done.
The effect of the glow from the setting sun on the horses’
sides is that they are bathed in gold.
POINT: In stanza 5, the poet sees the horses as mysterious and magical.
QUOTE
They seemed gigantic
in the gloam
And warm and
glowing with
mysterious fire
That lit their
smouldering bodies in
the mire.
The furrows rolled
behind like struggling
snakes
EFFECT
Again the poet refers to the enormous size ‘gigantic’ which
echoes the earlier description of ‘great hulks’ .
He continues the idea in the earlier stanza that they looked
golden in the sunset (‘gloam’). ‘Glowing with mysterious
fire’ links with ‘magic power’ in stanza 1.
Smouldering bodies continues the image of the horses
looking as if they were on fire.
The effect is of the magical and awesome appearance of the
horses.
Snuggling snakes give the sense of the power of horses.
POINT: Stanza 6 presents the horses as powerfully destructive in a religious way.
QUOTE
Their eyes as brilliant
and as wide as night
EFFECT
Simile – the effect echoes the earlier impressions of the
horses as powerful and mysterious
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HORSES by EDWIN MUIR
QUOTE
Gleamed with a cruel
apocalyptic light
Their manes the
leaping ire of the wind
Lifted with rage
invisible and blind.
EFFECT
This is a new idea that the horses are cruel with the ability to
destroy as seen in the biblical reference ‘apocalyptic light’
The image of the destructive power of the horses continue
with their manes flying in the wind. The wind is personified
as feeling wrath
The manes ‘lifted with rage’ continues the idea of intense
anger that is ‘blind’ or without cause.
Apocalyptic - predicting disaster or total destruction
POINT: Stanza 7
QUOTE
Ah, now it fades! It
fades!
And I must pine
Dread country
crystalline
EFFECT
The repetition ‘it fades’ suggests loss, the fading of his
memory.
‘pine’ means to feel a lingering, often nostalgic desire.
The poet tries to hold on to the memory of the country that
he held in awe and which was still crystal clear in his
memory.
Were bright and
The last line sums up the feelings of the poet toward his past
fearful presences to
country life – happy (bright) and full of awe and reverence
me.
(fearful).
Dread (used in the archaic sense) to hold in respectful awe
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