Diverse Animals’ Imagery, Symbolism and Vitality in the Poetry of Ted Hughes
Abstract
The paper discusses the animal’s vitality in the poems of Ted Hughes from the perceptive of deconstruction and psychoanalysis. Additionally, the notion of animals’ vitality is expanded into mythological or religious dimensions, when animals intercede in human existence and assume an equal status to god. The paper also investigates how Hughes goes beyond animals’ identities and gives them extraordinary powers. Hughes’ representation (in this paper) of the animals such as “Pike,” “Swans,” which appear in A Primer of Birds (1981), “Little Whale Song,” which is included in the volume Wolf Watching (1989) attempts to evoke the power and egotism of animals. All metaphors and symbols linked to animals are the physical characteristics of animals and are based on the shamanist idea. His poems undermine the traditional binary antagonism between man and animal and show why animals are more powerful and spiritual than humans because they live according to their instincts.
Authors
Dr. Muhammad Sohail Ahmad
Research Fellow, Department of English, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, Challa Nam-do, South Korea
Dr. Taimur Kayani
Assistant Professor, Department of English, GIFT University, Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan