3. IN THE LIFE OF TED HUGHES…
• Ted Hughes born on the 17th August 1930
• British author and poet
• Ted Hughes wrote a poem inspired by a photograph of six young men
taken at Lumb Falls near Hebden Bridge early last century.
• His father fought in the first world war and was scarred for life following the
deaths of all his friends.
5. STANZA 1:
The celluloid of a photograph holds them well - Celluloid (protection overlay used in
artwork), these two lines conveys
Six young men, familiar to their friends. protection of the men which is ironic as
the men in the photo are dead yet they
still have a shield of protection over
them.
Four decades that have faded and ochre-tinged Time has progressed yet the men have not changed.
Despite the dull changing colour of the photograph, the
This photograph have not wrinkled the faces or the hands. men remain youthful and immaculate.
They stand proud and the reference to the out of date
fashion re-affirms the time change.
Though their cocked hats are not now fashionable,
Their shoes shine. One imparts an intimate smile,
One chews a grass, one lowers his eyes, bashful,
One is ridiculous with cocky pride –
The hyphen creates suspense and ends the positivity
in the previous lines. The following line brings the
Six months after this picture they were all dead. poem into perspective and also the sudden change
could represent the sudden death of the six young
men.
6. ANALYSIS OF STANZA 1:
*Language:
“shoes shine”-”cocky pride”-”intimate smile”
Then the language contrasts with the last line in the stanza,
“six months after this picture they were all dead.”
I think that Hughes does this to set the scene and convey how dramatically
the scene can change, as for many of the “familiar” “friends” and family
the death of these young men would have been sudden and even though
death would have been expected it would have been unexpected at that
particular time.
*Imagery:
“faded and ochre-tinged”, old and depreciating.
“Cocked hats”, idea of being formal and sophisticated. Which gives an
insight into the background of the young men. “chews grass”, bashful”,
again describing and characterising the men, which are being portrayed as
modest, shy and innocent. This provoking emotion knowing they died.
*Structure:
The use of Hyphens and commas creates suspense and separates words
and lines which convey the idea of remembrance and reflection. “holds
them well-”, “cocky Pride-”
7. STANZA 2:
All dressed up for a
All are trimmed for a Sunday jaunt. I know pleasurable Sunday.
That bilberried bank, that thick tree, that black wall,
Hughes is stating that
the place where the
Which are there yet and not changed. From where these sit
picture has been taken
You hear the water of seven streams fall
has not changed.
To the roarer in the bottom, and through all
Therefore again like in a
The leafy valley a rumouring of air go.
lot of Edward Thomas
poems (Ao3) Nature is
Pictured here, their expressions listen yet,
significant and implies
And still that valley has not changed its sound
that human life will die
Though their faces are four decades under the ground.
out but nature will
always remain.
8. ANALYSIS OF STANZA 2:
*Language:
“bilberried bank, that thick tree, that black wall,”
Bilberried is not word therefore its possible that Hughes coined this
word to emphasise the amount of berries on the tree, the following
words, “thick and black” do not portray positivity and have
connotations of heavy , big, dark and mysterious which then may
indicate suffocating and suffering both of which the young soldiers
and those friends and families grieving would have gone through,
including the Hughes family. Therefore the bilberried being a new
word to describe lots of and the idea of suffocating. Which Hughes
Father suffered mental illnesses after returning from the war.
“ through their faces are four decades under the ground” raw and
honest, suggesting that what the narrator is looking at is real and the
lives and image mean something and will always remain, both in the
photograph and “under the ground”, which is linking the human life
and nature together.
*Imagery:
reiterating the idea of the suffocating and the idea that nature
doesn’t change. Yet the mention of “water”-”streams fall”, depicts
the idea of the innocence of nature and of the photograph being
naïve to the events which have occurred and the idea that the
celluloid is still protecting the previous image and the surrounding
from what has happened. “And still the valley has not changed its
sound”. Implying that life will continue as it is and has been.
9. STANZA 3:
The narrator knows exactly how
each man died, therefore it
suggests a form of connection;
Which makes the poem even
This one was shot in an attack and lay more emotive. The poem is
Calling in the wire, then this one, his best friend, made up of 5 stanzas and the
Went out to bring him in and was shot too; poem is called “six young men”
suggesting that the narrator is
And this one, the very moment he was warned the sixth man.
From potting at tin-cans in no-man’s land,
Fell back dead with his rifle-sights shot away.
The rest, nobody knows what they came to,
But come to the worst they must have done, and held it
Closer than their hope; all were killed.
10. ANALYSIS OF STANZA 3:
*Language:
The repetition of “this one” relays a sense of casualness as there is no specific detail of whom
the soldier being referred to is. Which contrasts greatly as within this stanza the narrator is
giving explicit detailing as to how each soldier died, “shot in attack” for example. This creates
impact as the causal “this one” creates emotion as the two words are suggestive for singling out
“one” from many.
“the rest, nobody knows what they came to,” conveying that there is more than what is being
described within this stanza, yet also being reflective as to what happened after the event and us
readers are unaware of what happened after just like those family members would also only be
told generic details. Also, linking back to the symbolism of the photograph a picture can only
illustrate what is happening whilst words can give a more detailed account, therefore Hughes
may be holding back in this stanza as a way of acting like a camera.
*Imagery:
repetition of “shot” conveys the futility of war and the violence which occurred.
“no-mans-land” and “lay calling” depicts the atmosphere to be bare and lonely which may be a
reflection as to how the soldiers felt.
*Structure:
Again commas creating the tone of reflectiveness and creates tension, as well as the enjambment
lines representing that no matter what is happening and being stated life and the poem will go
on further.
11. STANZA 4:
Here see a man’s photograph, Again reiterating the idea
The locket of a smile, turned overnight of protection.
Into the hospital of his mangled last The soldier suffering in
pain and how sudden this
trauma came around.
Agony and hours; see bundled in it The picture is keeping him alive.
His mightier-than-a-man dead bulk and weight: And that the picture conveys his
And on this one place which keeps him alive strength, power and
determination yet the stanza
(In his Sunday best) see fall war’s worst contrasts as he is in “agony”.
Thinkable flash and rending, onto his smile
Forty years rotting into soil.
Linking back to the day of
the picture and how the
appearance is a key
element.
12. ANALYSIS OF STANZA 4:
*Language:
“locket” conveys protection and someone would usually wear a locket around
their neck, close to their hearts with a picture in it. Hughes writes, “locket of a
smile”, therefore suggesting that the locket is the photo which is protecting the
smiles and the image of the soldiers.
“agony and hours”, these two words have a deep sound of the “o” which sound
lengthy and painful.
“flash” again a feature of a camera yet the “flash and rending” illustrate fast and
painful.
“forty years rotting in the soil” blunt, raw and again reference to the time scale
which has past. But also Hughes could be using the word “rotting” because the
connotations of rotting are decaying, which could represent many of those
opinions of the soldiers who died, as many people’s memories are fading about
those who died and fought in the war.
13. STANZA 5:
Hughes is making the point
That man’s not more alive whom you confront that not everyone lives forever,
And shake by the hand, see hale, hear speak loud, and that one day we will be no
more than smiles on an old
Than any of these six celluloid smiles are, picture.
Nor prehistoric or, fabulous beast more dead;
No thought so vivid as their smoking-blood:
“Dement”- deteriorate
To regard this photograph might well dement,
mentally.
Such contradictory permanent horrors here
Smile from the single exposure and shoulder out
One’s own body from its instant and heat.
14. ANALYSIS OF STANZA 5:
*Language:
“not more alive whom you confront”-everyone is equal and we all end up the
same way.
“smoking blood”- the idea that blood is continuous and that again one day
that will stop.
*Imagery:
“blood” dominant red colour which could forebode the lives of the
readers, they are going to die.
“dement” the idea that the soldiers and the picture is going to fade out-age-be
forgotten and the idea that a new generation will come along and just like
“cocked hats” we will be out of fashion.
Ultimately this is linking to the idea that the nature of life and the life cycle
will always remain and be consistent.
