The Horses
by Edwin Muir
Nicole Monette
Theme
Good things come after hard times
Alliteration
"Plane plunged" (11)
They knew that bad things were beginning to happen
"Great gulp" (20)
Everyone was affected
"Wild wave" (37)
They were afraid to accept the change
Imagery
"They look like dank sea-monsters" (25)
Nothing looked or seemed the same to them anymore
"Distant tapping" (33)
Change began to come slowly
"Rusty ploughs" (28)
Everything they once had was completely forgotten
Figurative Language
"Nations lying asleep" (personification, 15)
The world seemed to have shut down
"That world that swallowed its children" (personification, 19)
Everyone was involved in the war
"They'll moulder away and be like other loam" (hyperbole, 27)
Everything they once owned will disappear
Why I like this poem
I like this poem because it shows that no matter what happens, change can come after hard times. The horses are a message of a good future.