Edwin Muirs Poem The Horses Essay -- Horses Edwin Muir Essays

Edwin Muirs Poem The Horses The Horses is a poem by Edwin Muir. It tells the story of a world ravaged by nuclear war, where the few survivors live hopelessly in a desolate reality. Their outlook is changed by the arrival of the horses, a relic of the past which lets them rediscover humanitys bond with nature.The Horses, as well as being a very beautiful and moving poem, has an important kernel to convey. The poet uses various methods to illustrate this.Throughout the poem, there are many biblical references. The nuclear war is described as a seven eld war, which is an each(prenominal)usion to Genesis, the creation and destruction of the world in seven days. This musical theme is furthered by the use of the phrases our fathers land and our fathers time. The word covenant has connotations of the Arc of Covenant, the Israelites sacred profanity to God. And later in the poem, the horses are described as appearing from their experience Eden, another biblical reference.This illustr ates the importance of the poems subject matter, by introducing a line of latitude to the Bible. It bears a resemblance to when God flooded the world, to wipe out all sin and allow the few on Noahs Ark to rebuild a new, break off world.This poem also shows the totality of nuclear war. Although there are survivors, the ammount of expiry and destruction is immense. It takes so little time to destroy the world, in a way a punishment for mankinds vanity and arrogance. Technology, for so long impression to be a d...