Download Full Moon and Little Frieda_notes_26 Jan 2011

Full Moon and Little Frieda_notes_26 Jan 2011
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FULL MOON AND LITTLE FRIEDA by TED HUGHES
THEME
The poem describes very movingly and vividly Ted Hughes' excitement in observing his
daughter's joy and surprise at seeing a full moon suddenly coming into her view against
the canvas of a picturesque English countryside.
TONE
Calm and serene. Peaceful and tranquil
STRUCTURE
3 stanzas. The first two are of similar length, consisting of 5 lines each. These first two
stanzas describe the pastoral setting. The last stanza consists of a continuous sentence of
two lines. The brevity of the third stanza is to clinch the main message of the poem
which is the poet’s wonder at the centre of the scene, the artistic creation of his daughter.
RHYTHM
The lines flow smoothly, some longer, some shorter to express descriptive details that
make up a picturesque scene in a rural setting. Each break signals the end of a
descriptive detail. For example lines 1 & 2 in stanza one describe the silence of the
evening broken only by the sound of a dog barking and the clank of a bucket while Frieda
listens intently. Shorter lines are punctuated by hyphen, commas or full stops. These
breaks separate the descriptive details e.g. ‘A spider’s web, tense for the dew’s touch.’
and ‘A dark river of blood, many boulders,’
RHYME
There is no rhyme scheme
IMAGERY
The poem is rich in imagery such as metaphors to capture the sounds and sights of the
country scene.
QUOTE
EFFECT
Shrunk to a dog bark
Shrunk has the effect of telling us how utterly quiet the night
and the clank of a
was, with the only sounds being minimal, that of a bark and
bucket
a single clank.. The silence gives the setting that makes
Frieda’s cry of ‘Moon, moon’ startling and astonishing.
A spider’s web, tense
The effect is to bring out the poet’s attention to detail. No
for the dew’s touch
detail is too small to escape his notice. The visual image is
of a taut, tense, and therefore freshly spun spider’s web at
evening time before dew had fallen. So many ideas are
conveyed in this compact line.
A pail lifted, still and
This is an effective personification of a full pail of water
brimming – mirror To (brimming) which is waiting to reflect the first star of the
tempt a first star to
evening. ‘To tempt’ has the effect of luring or enticing the
tremor
star as if the water has a life of its own.
Full Moon and Little Frieda_notes_26 Jan 2011
QUOTE
Looping the hedges
with their wreaths of
breath
A dark river of blood,
many boulders
Balancing unspilled
milk
Moon! Moon!
Last 2 lines
EFFECT
In this visual metaphor we see vividly the rings of breath
from the cows as their breath condenses in the cold night air.
The poet is building one detail after another of a picturesque,
calm and peaceful nature scene, using a few words to paint
vivid details.
The metaphor has the effect of describing the dark brown
cows moving in a line, with their heavy shoulders compared
to boulders. There is a sense of foreboding and a sense of
apprehension brought out in ‘dark’ and ‘blood’. The
alliteration of blood and boulders is for emphasis.
The cows have not yet been milked which explains
‘unspilled’ milk. The effect is to make us smile. It could
also have a literal meaning of cows yoked carrying pails of
milk.
The silence is broken by Frieda’s cry which is all the more
startling because of the contrast of the deep quiet all around.
The poet succeeds in the effect of creating surprise and
amazement.
The moon is a symbol for the poet himself. Just as he is
filled with wonder at his daughter’s gift of speech, so too is
the moon awed by the artistic creation of Frieda. Through
this personification the poet is suggesting that Frieda is
related to the universe. A similar reference is to the star in
stanza one. Both references to heavenly bodies tell us that
they respond to little Frieda, emphasizing the poet’s wonder
and awe at this artistic creation. Hence he places her in
picturesque country setting. In the last two lines Ted Hughes
imagines that the moon looks down from the sky like an
artist who admires the painting he has just completed
painting. Just as Ted Hughes the poet has created a beautiful
picturesque painting of the English countryside with words
the moon is compared to the artist who has painted the same
picture with its beautiful moonlight. And of course the centre
of attraction in the moon's artistic creation is Frieda.
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