Poem Analysis of Thistles by Ted Hughes

Thistles by Ted Hughes
The title ‘thistles’ refers to a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles. The poem is very short and is separated into four stanzas of three lines each. The poem does not have a rhyming pattern but uses much alliteration. The poem conveys a negative mood, one that is aggressive and violent.
In the first stanza, Hughes portrays an almost countryside atmosphere for the readers to experience. He uses alliteration: “hoeing hands” that describe the work of the people there digging up the thistle plant to remove it. The second line: “Thistles spike the summer air” it contrasts the image the writer describes. The summer air, often associated with calm, warm atmosphere which we would find relaxing, but the use of the word ‘spike’ cuts through the atmosphere and allows the reader to imagine fully how sharp thistles are. Also the word chosen is very violent. The final line of the stanza: “And crackle open under a blue-black pressure.” the word crackle creates and image for the reader. “Blue-black pressure” suggests wounds as you would relate blue-black colours to bruises which creates the image that the thistles are so powerful, despite ‘pressure’ put on it, it does not get affected so much.
The second stanza of the poem, describes the thistles as something that keeps coming back, almost like it is invincible. “Every one a revengeful burst/ Of resurrection,” this shows how we have tried to remove these thistles but they constantly ‘resurrects’ itself and it seems ‘revengeful’ which shows how the writer tries to link thistles to violence and how it continuously reappears. “Of splintered weapons” describes the thistles how the writer wants us to imagine them, as it they are these objects that cause pain and violence and to describe this plant growing he uses the words “thrust up” which is personification as it gives the reader the image that it is forcing itself out of the ground.
“From the underground stain of a decayed Viking.” in stanza three uses the historical group Vikings who were associated to violence and war, using this to describe the thistles growing suggests that the ‘stain of a decayed Viking’ is not only the buried body of the Viking but also the bloodshed by them through violence. The second line says “They are like pale hair” which again refers to the Vikings as the images we know of Vikings all had lighter hair, and contrasting the thistles to their hair shows the connection the writer tries to make. The final line of this stanza: “Every one manages a plume of blood.” suggests that each flower presents the blood that has spread. It also could be referring to the colour on the flower itself and how it resembles the colour of blood as the flower top are red tones fading towards pink.
The final stanza suggests the major theme of the poem is war. As “Then they grow grey like men.
Mown down, it is a feud.” suggests that the plant like the soldiers ‘grow grey’ become exhausted of their energy and are destroyed in battle. “Their sons appear/ Stiff with weapons, fighting back over the same ground.” shows how in battle one generations fight continues on to the next generation and they continue to fight the same battle with the same consequence of death. It is almost like a cycle of a never ending battle.