TED HUGHES PAST PAPERS CONTEXT N PAST PAPER

TED HUGHES PAST PAPERS CONTEXT

You went on and on. Here were reasons
To recite Chaucer. Then came the Wyf of Bath,
Your favourite character in all literature.
We were rapt. And the cows were enthralled. (2004) CHAUCER

We came where the salmon were so many,
So steady, so spaced, so far aimed
On their inner map, England could add
Only the sooty twilight of South Yorkshire
Hung with the drumming drift of Lancstars
Till the world had seemed capsizing slowly.(2005) THAT MORNING

A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of bucket
And you listening
A spider's web tense for the dew's touch.
A pail lifted, still and brimming - mirror
To tempt a first star to a tremor.(2006) FULL MOON AND LITTLE FRIEDA

Till with a sudden sharp bot stink of fox
It enters the dark hole of the head
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.(2007) THOUGHT FOX

....................There the body
Separated, golden and imperishable,
From its doubting thought a spirit beacon
Lit by the power of salmon(2008) THAT MORNING

And how did you stop? I can't remember
You stopping, I Imagine they reeled away -
Rolling eyes, as if driven from their fodder.
I imagine I shooed them away.(2009) CHAUCER

I imagine this midnight moment's forest
Something else is alive
Beside the clock's loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.(2010) THOUGHT FOX

..... England could add
Only the sooty twilight of South Yorkshire
Hung with the drumming drift of Lancaster
Till the world had seemed capsizing slowly.(2010) THAT MORNING

Through the window I see no star:
Something more near
Though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness: (2010) THOUGHT FOX

I imagine I shooed them away. But
Your sostenuto rendering of Chaucer
Was already perpetual, what followed
Found my attention too full
And had to go back into oblivion.(2010-supp) CHAUCER

..... You went on ---
And twenty cows stayed with you hypnotized.
You stopping.(2011) CHAUCER

Solemn to stand there in the pollen light
Waist-deep in wild salmon swaying massed
As from the hand of God.(2011-supp) THAT MORNING

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the hedges
with their warm wreathes of breath
A dark river of blood, many boulders,
Balancing unspilled milk.(2012) FULL MOON AND LITTLE FRIEDA

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox
It enters the dark hole of the head
The windows is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.(2012-SUPP) THOUGHT FOX

And you could not stop. What would happen
If you were to stop? Would they attack you,
Scared by the shock of silence, or wanting more?(2013) CHAUCER

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the
hedges with their warm wreatches of breath.(2014) FULL MOON AND LITTLE FRIEDA

Your voice went over the fields towards Grantchester,
It must have sounded lost. But the cows
Watched, then approached: they appreciated Chaucer.(2015) CHAUCER

The windows is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.(2016) THOUGHT FOX

PAST PAPER QUESTIONS

1. Write a critical note on the use of animal imagery for symbolic purpose in the poetry of Ted Hughes.(2004)

2. "He is famous for violence in style and subject -- matter"? Discuss in the light of Ted Hughes's poems in the syllabus?(2005)

3. 'Ted Hughes interests in dreams and his recourse to occult symbolism are lined with the practice of many other modern poets'. Discuss.(2006)

4. The 'Though -- Fox' has often been acknowledged as one of the most completely realized and artistically satisfying of the poems. Discuss.(2007)

5. Discuss the poet's relationship with his subject in Chaucer and Full Moon and Little Freida.(2008)

6. The "Thought Fox" is a poem about metaphor. Discuss.(2009)

7. The salmon function as poetic inspiration in "That Morning". Discuss. (Hughes)(2009-SUPP)

8. 'That Morning' and 'Thought Fox' exemplify the importance of energy and single minded concentration in Hughes. Explain.(2010)

9. Compare and contrast 'Chaucer' and 'Full Moon' and 'Little Frieda'. (Hughes)(2010-SUPP)

10. Compare the power of salmon in 'That Morning' with the power of the fox in 'Though Fox'.(2011)

11. Explore the poet's relationship with the object of his observation in 'Thought Fox' and 'Chaucer'.(2011-SUPP)

12. Artist's observation is a common theme between Hughes' poems 'Chaucer' and 'Full Moon' and 'Little Frieda'. Explain. (Ted Hughes)(2012)

13. Focus and sustained observation is a running concern in the poetry of Ted Hughes. Comment. (Ted Hughes)(2012-supp)

14. Discuss "Thought Fox" and "That Morning" as journeys to fulfillment.(2013)

15. 'The Though Fox' is a poem about metaphor. Discuss.(2014)

16. Discuss the relationship between 'the artist' and 'the work of art' in the poetry of Ted Hughes.(2015)

17. How does Hughes use animals in his verse? Answer with detailed textual reference.(2016)