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Horses
1.
2. Background
• Muir was born in 1887 on a farm in the
Orkney Islands where he lived a happy childhood.
• At the age of 14, he moved with his family to
Glasgow, which he came to regard as a descent from
Eden into hell.
• He became a critic and a translator as well as a poet.
• He died in 1959.
3. Summary
• The sight of the horses now, in the present,
leads the speaker to consider his feelings
towards horses when he was a child:
• “Perhaps some childish hour has come again.”
• Find a quote to justify this point.
4. Stanza 1
• Look up the meaning of “lumbering” and then
consider the way it contrasts with the
description in lines 3-4.
• Look closely at the meanings of “terrible”,
“wild” and “strange.”
5.
6. Stanza 2
• There is a shift in time in Stanza 2.
• The rest of the poem deals with the speakers
recollection of his feelings as a child.
• What impression do you feel is created by the
simile of the “pistons”?
7. Stanza 3
• In this stanza there are references made to the
pre-industrial age.
• Can you find any examples?
• “conquering hooves”, “ritual”, “seraphim of
gold” and “mute ecstatic monsters”.
8. Stanza 4 and 5
• What do you think about the tone in stanza 4.
• List all the words that are used to describe the
horses, what does this reveal about the
speakers attitude?
9. • What contrast is signaled by the use of “But
when at dusk…” at the beginning of stanza 5?
• What do you make of “mysterious fire” here
and the “magic power” attributed to the
present day horses in stanza 1?
10. Stanza 6
• Analyze the effectiveness of the imagery: the
“cruel apocalyptic light” of their eyes and the
personification of the wind.
11. Stanza 7
• Read the whole poem again in pairs.
• Having studied closely the previous stanzas,
how do you now feel that the final stanza
should be spoken?
• How does the tone here differ to the tone in
other parts of the poem.
