September : : By Ted Hughes : : : :
We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold:
No clock counts this.
When kisses are repeated and the arms hold
There is no telling where time is.
It is midsummer: the leaves hang big and still:
Behind the eye a star,
Under the silk of the wrist a sea, tell
Time is nowhere.
We stand; leaves have not timed the summer.
No clock now needs
Tell we have only what we remember:
Minutes uproaring with our heads
Like an unfortunate King’s and his Queen’s
When the senseless mob rules;
And quietly the trees casting their crowns
Into the pools. — Ted Hughes : : From allpoetry.com. : For Educational Purposes only.
“September” By English Poet & Children’s Writer Ted Hughes ( Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death ) is About end of the Time or troubled and important relationship. ‘September‘ was published in Birthday Letters in 1998. It was released only a few months before his death. It came after the death of his wife, Sylvia Plath, ( one of the most important feminist poets of all time. ) Rightly or wrongly, Hughes’s own reputation was tied to his treatment of Plath during their troubled marriage. ( Some believe that he was responsible for her suicide.) It was with this collection that he sought to redeem himself in public domain. This autobiographical book hit the top of best-seller lists. It was awarded the Forward Poetry Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, as well as several other prestigious awards. : The speaker describes how “we,” presumably him and his lover, sit and watch the world changing around them. There is no “clock” to count the changes that are occurring, it is something more emotional , transitory and short lived. : :
Hughes focuses on small moments, like the feeling of someone’s wrist, while repeatedly stresses that time means nothing. The captivating image of “trees casting their crowns / Into pools” which touches the change that Hughes has suggested. : :
it’s clear that Hughes has been dealing with an intense emotions while facing his own terminal illness and recalling Plath’s death 35 years ago. : : : :
Notes for each of the Stanzas Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India April 26 , 2023 : : : : : : : :
MADHU MALTI 