Hughes Poems

Explore the different perceptions of the creatures in the poems "Ghost Crabs" and "Horses"

Hughes' perception of each of the creatures in his poems is one of awe. However, this awe is focused in different directions in each of the poems. In "Horses" Hughes feels an unprecedented respect towards the creatures; yet in "Ghost crabs" he feels a fear toward the crabs, which makes him feel in awe at their presence.

Hughes feels the "Giant crabs" are the dominant power on Earth. Although they are only ghosts, Hughes describes them as being glistening, powerful creatures, "packed trench[es] of helmets" as if they are warriors, emerging triumphant from the sea as a "bristling surge." The power emanated by these creatures is immense, and this inspires Hughes, yet at the same time he is fearful. Hughes' fear stems from the fact that these creatures can kill with such casual indifference and brutality. "They stalk...they fasten...they mount...they tear each other to pieces."

However, in "Horses" the mood is much more calming, and Hughes feels a type of reverence towards the horses. He feels that they are far more spiritual, and they represent a stability, which at the time of writing the poem, he may have felt he lacked in his life. The horses are "grey silent fragments of a grey silent world" and show the reader that Hughes is amazed at them, as they stand "Megalith still" despite the changing of the world around them.

Contrary to "Horses," "Ghost Crabs" does not represent stability, it represents change, a change over which we have no control. Hughes sees the crabs as a menace, something to be feared, yet something that wields far more power than we could ever grasp. "They are God's only toys." This is why Hughes feels such trepidation towards the crabs. He feels insecure about the fact that they stalk round after he is in bed, even though he can't see them. Despite this fact, he knows that they are there, and is perturbed that there is something beyond his own human perception. Something that he is aware of, yet cannot quite grasp.

In "Horses" Hughes is again toying with the idea of something beyond our own perception. Yet this time, that something is a lot less disconcerting, and Hughes finds reassurance in the fact that the horses are always there; undisturbed by the eruption of the sun, and the realisation that the earth is really a "big planet hanging" in space, with nothing to hold it up except a large "gulf."

In both the poems Hughes is observing creatures, yet in "Horses" the creatures he refers to are ones that offer him security, in a type of monotony. Since everything is "Grey" and "Silent" it re-establishes the fact within Hughes that everything must be safe. However, with the introduction of colour into the poem, Hughes no longer feels the security of the setting, until he sets eyes once more upon the