discussion of ted hughes poem 'daffodils'.
... them’, as though it was a mistake and something of which he is regretful. He also uses imagery to describe the man who used to buy the daffodils off them, boss-eyed, his blood purpling to beetroot’. The significance of the comical reference to his blood pressure is to explain that he too would die the same year as her. At the beginning of the second stanza Hughes uses the word, ‘Besides’. This word suggests that they were not sure what they wanted to do with their lives and still had many things they needed to work out and do together. They needed to make decisions. ‘Still nomads- still strangers to our whole possession’. We learn here that they are not settled. Their possessions do not belong to them and they are ‘still nomads’ always drifting, never settling in the one place. The daffodils seemed to be their only release. They were like a ‘treasure trove’, they describe them as though they fell from heaven and they were their salvation in gaining food and shelter. Hughes realises that they were ‘a last blessing’ and that they should not have been sold. Hughes frequently reminds her and himself of the last time she did certain things. ‘In the rain of that April - your last April’. The dash allows an extra bit of information to be given. That it was not just any April, but her ‘last’ one. This shows pathos he has towards her. He shows that he is tender and emotional. Hughes also uses alliteration to create certain atmosphere. ‘Soft shrieks’ and ‘shocks shaken’, both these reflect the rain which is pouring down on them in that wet day in April as they both pick the daffodils. Hughes is describing the flowers of shrieking as their stems are pulled from the ground. This could be similar to how Hughes is reacting after the death of his wife. He is ‘shaken’ and he wants to shout out as she was taken too early, just as the dragonflies were opened too early. The fourth stanza is full of very naturalistic description from Hughes but it also reveals part of his relationship. The poem is a showcase for Hughes portrayal of nature and description and it is apparent especially in this stanza. He beautifully describes how the daffodils are cut and bunched together. The description almost makes them appear too beautiful so when they are put into a bucket of water and sold for ‘seven pence a bunch’ it hardly seems fair. Here is the last description of something that he and his wife had done together. It is full of passion. However the tone suddenly changes and becomes unpleasant and cold. ‘Wind- wounds, spasms from the dark earth’. This describes the feeling Hughes had when she died. How she was taken by the dark, underground earth and that after that everything seemed cold. The reference to the crop thickening faster than they could thin it is a beautiful piece poetry which has double meaning. Hughes refers to the ‘crop’ as death. It spread too fast before they could do anything about it. They could not ...