Barely a twelvemonth after
The seven days war that put the world to sleep,
Late in the evening the strange horses came.
By then we had made our covenant with silence,
But in the first few days it was so still
We listened to our breathing and were afraid.
On the second day
The radios failed; we turned the knobs; no answer.
On the third day a warship passed us, heading north,
Dead bodies piled on the deck. On the sixth day
A plane plunged over us into the sea. Thereafter
Nothing. The radios dumb;
And still they stand in corners of our kitchens,
And stand, perhaps, turned on, in a million rooms
All over the world. But now if they should speak,
If on a sudden they should speak again,
If on the stroke of noon a voice should speak,
We would not listen, we would not let it bring
That old bad world that swallowed its children quick
At one great gulp. We would not have it again.
Sometimes we think of the nations lying asleep,
Curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow,
And then the thought confounds us with its strangeness.
The tractors lie about our fields; at evening
They look like dank sea-monsters couched and waiting.
We leave them where they are and let them rust:
'They'll molder away and be like other loam.'
We make our oxen drag our rusty plows,
Long laid aside. We have gone back
Far past our fathers' land.
And then, that evening
Late in the summer the strange horses came.
We heard a distant tapping on the road,
A deepening drumming; it stopped, went on again
And at the corner changed to hollow thunder.
We saw the heads
Like a wild wave charging and were afraid.
We had sold our horses in our fathers' time
To buy new tractors. Now they were strange to us
As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield.
Or illustrations in a book of knights.
We did not dare go near them. Yet they waited,
Stubborn and shy, as if they had been sent
By an old command to find our whereabouts
And that long-lost archaic companionship.
In the first moment we had never a thought
That they were creatures to be owned and used.
Among them were some half a dozen colts
Dropped in some wilderness of the broken world,
Yet new as if they had come from their own Eden.
Since then they have pulled our plows and borne our loads
But that free servitude still can pierce our hearts.
Our life is changed; their coming our beginning.
In the first section, the poet establishes the saga form. A biblical and archaic register is present right from the beginning with the use of the word “twelvemonth” in the first line to set the tone of the saga. This is used alongside “covenant” in the fourth line which initiates an old atmosphere as it is a bible reference. This again is in sync with the saga form created by the poet. A euphemism is used, “that put the world to sleep” to nullify the event although the reader is aware of the devastating effects of a nuclear war. This is also ironic as being put to sleep is associated with animals that are suffering and not human beings.
The second section of the poem deals with the flashback to the seven days war. Further biblical references are used at the start with the association with Genesis; on the second day…On the third day… On the sixth day”. This connotes the idea that the war is the reversal of creation and it might be God’s way of destroying a civilization that had gone wrong. An eerie mood is created in the following lines by the shocked silence: “We listened to our breathing and were afraid”. This underlines there fear of the world being plunged into a sudden silence that meant they could hear themselves breathing. The syntax also plays a big part in this section as it indicates halts in the narration which keeps in with the mood. The shortness of line seven suggests a gulp before the narrator can continue and the caesurae in lines ten and eleven connote the narrator’s inability to believe this could happen. The enjambment of “Thereafter nothing” also emphasis’s the finality of the words, hence there is nothing left. The warship and plane are used as symbols of war to show the destruction at this point. The idea of the “Dead bodies piled on the deck” also adds to the eerie tone as it is a disturbing image. In line twelve the personification of the radio’s as “Dumb” forms them into a symbol of the technology of man which is partly responsible for the war in the first place. The end of this section introduces a sadder and reflective tone with the vivid image of the nations lying dead, unburied: “curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow”. “Curled” suggests the fetal position − which is the way people naturally fall if they feel threatened − to imply the idea of fear. This is used alongside “blindly” which is ironic in that man’s moral blindness has caused the war in the first place. However a consequence is that people would become blind from the blast, so blindness was both cause and result.
The penultimate section discusses the arrival of the horses and their meaning. The start refers back to the saga register with the used of the phrase “…that evening late in the summer”. This is used to remind the reader the poem is being told from a survivor’s point of view. The juxtaposition of the phrase is used to show that the horses have only come when society has realised its mistake and is willing to start over again. This is further stressed by the line layout which suggests that a period of time has passed for lessons to be learned. The horses’ approach is very important as the reader uses emotive language, first sound then sight: “distant tapping…deepening drumming…hollow thunder”. This crescendo of noise emphasises the power of the coming horses and their striking confidence. The simile “like a wild wave charging” underlines the sheer strength of the horses with their manes combined to form crashing waves on the shore. The following similes contribute to the strangeness of the horses as seen by society: “As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield or illustrations in a book of knights”. This sets up the horses as symbols representing the old ways of the people and as though the horses are back to give the community a second chance at life setting up a time before technology ruined mankind. The horses are then personified as “stubborn and shy” to give the idea that they were sent by ancestors to add to the fact that they are back to help. The use of the word “colts” adds to this new generation as the horses will continue to breed which will start new life.
The epilogue hosts the oxymoron “free servitude”. This emphasises the horses’ free spirit, unexploited by humans but they still serve them by ploughing fields and pulling carts. The phrase “our life is changed” is also used to show how an effect has been made by the horses for the better as “their coming our beginning” is also used. This stresses that society believes they have been given another chance and will use it instead of destroying it like the last time.
In conclusion, Muir has used the saga form to create a believable story in which a nuclear war has destroyed the world by the technologies of mankind. The solution he offers suggests he believes humans should depend more on nature and less on technology. Man is forgiven in the poem to show he believes God is compassionate and should be loved.
The seven days war that put the world to sleep,
Late in the evening the strange horses came.
By then we had made our covenant with silence,
But in the first few days it was so still
We listened to our breathing and were afraid.
On the second day
The radios failed; we turned the knobs; no answer.
On the third day a warship passed us, heading north,
Dead bodies piled on the deck. On the sixth day
A plane plunged over us into the sea. Thereafter
Nothing. The radios dumb;
And still they stand in corners of our kitchens,
And stand, perhaps, turned on, in a million rooms
All over the world. But now if they should speak,
If on a sudden they should speak again,
If on the stroke of noon a voice should speak,
We would not listen, we would not let it bring
That old bad world that swallowed its children quick
At one great gulp. We would not have it again.
Sometimes we think of the nations lying asleep,
Curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow,
And then the thought confounds us with its strangeness.
The tractors lie about our fields; at evening
They look like dank sea-monsters couched and waiting.
We leave them where they are and let them rust:
'They'll molder away and be like other loam.'
We make our oxen drag our rusty plows,
Long laid aside. We have gone back
Far past our fathers' land.
And then, that evening
Late in the summer the strange horses came.
We heard a distant tapping on the road,
A deepening drumming; it stopped, went on again
And at the corner changed to hollow thunder.
We saw the heads
Like a wild wave charging and were afraid.
We had sold our horses in our fathers' time
To buy new tractors. Now they were strange to us
As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield.
Or illustrations in a book of knights.
We did not dare go near them. Yet they waited,
Stubborn and shy, as if they had been sent
By an old command to find our whereabouts
And that long-lost archaic companionship.
In the first moment we had never a thought
That they were creatures to be owned and used.
Among them were some half a dozen colts
Dropped in some wilderness of the broken world,
Yet new as if they had come from their own Eden.
Since then they have pulled our plows and borne our loads
But that free servitude still can pierce our hearts.
Our life is changed; their coming our beginning.
An analysis of The Horses by Edwin Muir
“The Horses” by Edwin Muir is a powerful poem written in a specific poetic form. It is a saga of a disturbed future in which a nuclear war has taken place and horses have arrived to replace machinery. It deals with the contrasting themes of destruction and hope and is set on a remote island in Scotland. The use of the saga form along with word choice and imagery helps the reader to appreciate the feelings conveyed by the poet.In the first section, the poet establishes the saga form. A biblical and archaic register is present right from the beginning with the use of the word “twelvemonth” in the first line to set the tone of the saga. This is used alongside “covenant” in the fourth line which initiates an old atmosphere as it is a bible reference. This again is in sync with the saga form created by the poet. A euphemism is used, “that put the world to sleep” to nullify the event although the reader is aware of the devastating effects of a nuclear war. This is also ironic as being put to sleep is associated with animals that are suffering and not human beings.
The second section of the poem deals with the flashback to the seven days war. Further biblical references are used at the start with the association with Genesis; on the second day…On the third day… On the sixth day”. This connotes the idea that the war is the reversal of creation and it might be God’s way of destroying a civilization that had gone wrong. An eerie mood is created in the following lines by the shocked silence: “We listened to our breathing and were afraid”. This underlines there fear of the world being plunged into a sudden silence that meant they could hear themselves breathing. The syntax also plays a big part in this section as it indicates halts in the narration which keeps in with the mood. The shortness of line seven suggests a gulp before the narrator can continue and the caesurae in lines ten and eleven connote the narrator’s inability to believe this could happen. The enjambment of “Thereafter nothing” also emphasis’s the finality of the words, hence there is nothing left. The warship and plane are used as symbols of war to show the destruction at this point. The idea of the “Dead bodies piled on the deck” also adds to the eerie tone as it is a disturbing image. In line twelve the personification of the radio’s as “Dumb” forms them into a symbol of the technology of man which is partly responsible for the war in the first place. The end of this section introduces a sadder and reflective tone with the vivid image of the nations lying dead, unburied: “curled blindly in impenetrable sorrow”. “Curled” suggests the fetal position − which is the way people naturally fall if they feel threatened − to imply the idea of fear. This is used alongside “blindly” which is ironic in that man’s moral blindness has caused the war in the first place. However a consequence is that people would become blind from the blast, so blindness was both cause and result.
The penultimate section discusses the arrival of the horses and their meaning. The start refers back to the saga register with the used of the phrase “…that evening late in the summer”. This is used to remind the reader the poem is being told from a survivor’s point of view. The juxtaposition of the phrase is used to show that the horses have only come when society has realised its mistake and is willing to start over again. This is further stressed by the line layout which suggests that a period of time has passed for lessons to be learned. The horses’ approach is very important as the reader uses emotive language, first sound then sight: “distant tapping…deepening drumming…hollow thunder”. This crescendo of noise emphasises the power of the coming horses and their striking confidence. The simile “like a wild wave charging” underlines the sheer strength of the horses with their manes combined to form crashing waves on the shore. The following similes contribute to the strangeness of the horses as seen by society: “As fabulous steeds set on an ancient shield or illustrations in a book of knights”. This sets up the horses as symbols representing the old ways of the people and as though the horses are back to give the community a second chance at life setting up a time before technology ruined mankind. The horses are then personified as “stubborn and shy” to give the idea that they were sent by ancestors to add to the fact that they are back to help. The use of the word “colts” adds to this new generation as the horses will continue to breed which will start new life.
The epilogue hosts the oxymoron “free servitude”. This emphasises the horses’ free spirit, unexploited by humans but they still serve them by ploughing fields and pulling carts. The phrase “our life is changed” is also used to show how an effect has been made by the horses for the better as “their coming our beginning” is also used. This stresses that society believes they have been given another chance and will use it instead of destroying it like the last time.
In conclusion, Muir has used the saga form to create a believable story in which a nuclear war has destroyed the world by the technologies of mankind. The solution he offers suggests he believes humans should depend more on nature and less on technology. Man is forgiven in the poem to show he believes God is compassionate and should be loved.
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