'February' Presentation - Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes

"february"

Grace J. & Wren J.

february

The wolf with its belly stitched full of big pebbles; Nibelung wolves barbed like black pineforest Against a red sky, over blue snow; or that long grin Above the tucked coverlet—none suffice. A photograph: the hairless, knuckled feet Of the last wolf killed in Britain spoiled him for wolves: The worst since has been so much mere Alsatian. Now it is the dream cries “Wolf!” where these feet Print the moonlit doorstep, or run and run Through the hush of parkland, bodiless, headless; With small seeming of inconvenience By day, too, pursue, seige all thought; Bring him to an abrupt poring stop Over engravings of gibbet-hung wolves, As at a cage where the scraggy Spanish wolf Danced, smiling, brown eyes doggily begging

A ball to be thrown. These feet: deprived, Disdaining all that are caged, or storied, or pictured, Through and throughout the true world search For their vanished head, for the world Vanished with the head, the teeth, the quick eyes - Now, lest they choose his head, Under severe moons he sits making Wolf-masks, mouths clamped well onto the world.

Summary

In the poem, Hughes writes about the last wolf in Britain being killed. He discusses the domesticated dog and compares it to the wild wolf. The poem seems to discuss the wildness of the wolf and the brutality of man.

what first impressions do you get from the poem?

The wolf with its belly stitched full of big pebbles; Nibelung wolves barbed like black pineforest Against a red sky, over blue snow; or that long grin Above the tucked coverlet

february - first stanza

"The wolf with its belly stitched full of big pebbles"

This line might be referring to the Brothers' Grimm Tale, "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids". In the story, a wolf attacks a group of young goats. The wolf disguises itself as the mother goat and eats the children. The mother then proceeds to cut open the wolf and free her children. She fills the wolf's stomach full of stones and sews him back up. When the wolf then goes to drink from the well, he falls in and drowns, too heavy to get out.

"Nibelung wolves barbed like black pineforest"

Nibelung refers to a Germanic heroic legend. Media usually depicts wolves as rather tame but German myth depicts them in a more violent light, more reminiscent of a beast rather than a character.

"that long grin above the tucked coverlet"

This line is a reference to the Brothers' Grimm Tale, "Little Red Riding Hood", a story where the wolf attempts to disguise itself to eat its victim. However, the wolf is cut open by the lumberjack, freeing the Grandmother and Red Riding Hood.

The first stanza consists of references to fairytales from the Brothers’ Grimm Tales and Germanic legend.

how could these fairy tales apply to the poem and what effect do you think they have?

The repeated reference to fairytales seems to imply that the wolf is always framed as the villain, when in reality, it is just trying to survive, to be wild. Hughes writes about the wildness of nature in many of his poems, and this theme is particularly present here too. The image of a "barbed like black pineforest" wolf is menacing and sharp, making the wolf appear fierce and large with pointed ears and fur. It depicts the wolf in a Nibelung style, more beast and monster than the classic wolf. This line seems to emphasizes the wild nature of the wolf, unable to be contained by humans and so must be made extinct - or tamed to remove any trace of the wolf's wildness. The references could imply the speaker's anger or frustration at the tellings, perhaps how many Western fairytales do not understand the complexity of the wolf, choosing to instead always frame them as villains.

A photograph: the hairless, knuckled feet Of the last wolf killed in Britain spoiled him for wolves: The worst since has been so much mere Alsatian. Now it is the dream cries “Wolf!” where these feet

february - second stanza

discuss the second stanza with others. what do you believe it is about, what themes and ideas are present?

domesticated dogs vs wild wolf

The second stanza seems to be comparing domesticated dogs to wolves, and how dogs are a poor version of the superior wild wolf. The third line seems to imply how the closest animal to the wolf still isn't comparable, it doesn't begin to achieve the same threat as its ancestor. Alsatians are a breed of dog that closely resemble the wolf. It might imply how even a dog that is closely related and resembles a wolf is still a poor example of one perhaps because it has been domesticated, tamed. The alliteration of "much mere" might highlight the difference between the Alsatian and the wolf, and how the dog is not even comparable to the wolf's grand nature and wildness.

Print the moonlit doorstep, or run and run Through the hush of parkland, bodiless, headless; With small seeming of inconvenience By day, too, pursue, seige all thought;

february - third stanza

The third stanza seems to focus on the domesticated dog, however the language used by Hughes makes it difficult to decipher the meaning of this stanza. "Through the hush of parkland, bodiless, headless" This line seems to discuss the domesticated dog, "parkland", by referring to human ideas and areas "doorstep". The line could be implying how the domesticated dog isn't "whole" because it lacks the wildness of the wolf. The adjectives "bodiless" and "headless" suggest that the dog is missing parts of itself, which might be the wildness and nature of the wolf. The listing of the adjectives might highlight how these are essential parts of the dog, key to its whole presence and being - without them, the dog is left empty and hollow.

Bring him to an abrupt poring stop Over engravings of gibbet-hung wolves, As at a cage where the scraggy Spanish wolf Danced, smiling, brown eyes doggily begging ball to be thrown. These feet: deprived, Disdaining all that are caged, or storied, or pictured, Through and throughout the true world search For their vanished head, for the world Vanished with the head, the teeth, the quick eyes - Now, lest they choose his head, Under severe moons he sits making Wolf-masks, mouths clamped well onto the world.

february - final stanzas

depiction of the wolf and domesticated dog

These stanzas seems to be discussing the domesticated dog, one wanting to again be it's wild, much more superior version - it makes a 'wolf-mask' to imitate it's long lost ancestor as it is the closest the dog can get to being wild, a wolf. In the fourth stanza, the Spanish wolf might be shown a picture of its ancestor, hung up on a gibbet. There is a drastic contrast between the violent imagery of the hung wolf and the happy Spanish wolf. The stanza seems to compare the Spanish wolf to the domesticated dog, both unaware of the horrors of the previous line, and both happy to be caged and made a pet. However, the next stanza might imply how the Spanish wolf might disdain the cage. It is unclear when the perspective changes, and when the speaker moves onto different animals. So, it could either be interpreted as the Spanish wolf's stanzas or the domesticated dog, waiting for the humans to turn on either one. Despite the subject, it is presented as weak and silly in the fourth stanza and solemn in the final ones.

humans vs nature

The poem ends on a solemn note, perhaps discussing the domesticated dog or wolf, waiting for the humans to turn on it and make them extinct as they did the wolves in Britain. The humans are depicted as violent and needlessly cruel to nature as they try to control its wildness. Unlike the fairytales, the humans are depicted as the villain of the poem, attempting to trick and control the wildness of the wolf by any means necessary. The contrast between the two opposing ideas might emphasise human brutality, as "history is written by the victors". The poem depicts humans as almost egotistical, disturbed by the nature of the wolf to the point of making them extinct and domesticating their descendants to try and control the wildness. Not only do the humans control the domesticated dog and kill all the wolves in Britain, they frame the wolf as the villain, and what they have done as a moral good, necessary for their survival. The poem ends on the dog or wolf, waiting for its death and desperately holding onto any wildness, any part of its nature and identity it has left.

this poem can be compared to Ted Hughes' other poem "the jaguar" as they share similar themes such as imprisonment, human brutality and the force of nature

Ted Hughes - 'February'

thank you

Grace J. & Wren J.