Rebecca Huckett

SIX YOUNG MENTED HUGHES

SIX YOUNG MENTED HUGHES

Rebecca Huckett

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.

Futility of war

Death

Memories

THEMES:

STANZA 1:

The celluloid of a photograph holds them well -Six young men, familiar to their friends.

Four decades that have faded and ochre-tingedThis photograph have not wrinkled the faces or the hands.

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 –

Six months after this picture they were all dead.

Celluloid (protection overlay used in artwork), these two lines conveys 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. Time has progressed yet the men have not

changed. Despite the dull changing colour of the photograph, the men remain youthful and immaculate. They stand proud and the reference to the out of date fashion re-affirms the time change.

The hyphen creates suspense and ends the positivity in the previous lines. The following line brings the poem into perspective and also the sudden change could represent the sudden death of the six young men.

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-”

STANZA 2:

All are trimmed for a Sunday jaunt. I knowThat bilberried bank, that thick tree, that black wall,

Which are there yet and not changed. From where these sitYou hear the water of seven streams fallTo the roarer in the bottom, and through allThe leafy valley a rumouring of air go.

Pictured here, their expressions listen yet,And still that valley has not changed its soundThough their faces are four decades under the ground.

All dressed up for a pleasurable Sunday. Hughes is stating that the place where the picture has been taken has not changed. Therefore again like in a lot of Edward Thomas poems (Ao3) Nature is significant and implies that human life will die out but nature will always remain.

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.

STANZA 3:

This one was shot in an attack and layCalling in the wire, then this one, his best friend,Went out to bring him in and was shot too;And this one, the very moment he was warnedFrom 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 itCloser than their hope; all were killed.

The narrator knows exactly how each man died, therefore it suggests a form of connection; Which makes the poem even more emotive. The poem is made up of 5 stanzas and the poem is called “six young men” suggesting that the narrator is the sixth man.

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.

STANZA 4:

Here see a man’s photograph,The locket of a smile, turned overnightInto the hospital of his mangled last

Agony and hours; see bundled in itHis mightier-than-a-man dead bulk and weight:And on this one place which keeps him alive

(In his Sunday best) see fall war’s worstThinkable flash and rending, onto his smileForty years rotting into soil.

Again reiterating the idea of protection.The soldier suffering in pain and how sudden this trauma came around.The picture is keeping him alive. And that the picture conveys his strength, power and determination yet the stanza contrasts as he is in “agony”.

Linking back to the day of the picture and how the appearance is a key element.

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.

STANZA 5:

That man’s not more alive whom you confrontAnd shake by the hand, see hale, hear speak loud,

Than any of these six celluloid smiles are,Nor prehistoric or, fabulous beast more dead;No thought so vivid as their smoking-blood:

To regard this photograph might well dement,Such contradictory permanent horrors hereSmile from the single exposure and shoulder outOne’s own body from its instant and heat.

Hughes is making the point that not everyone lives forever, and that one day we will be no more than smiles on an old picture.

“Dement”- deteriorate mentally.

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.