Summary
In the first stanza, the speaker narrates a powerful storm that ravaged his home over the course of the previous night. He describes the surrounding forest "crashing through darkness" from the force of the wind, which was "stampeding the fields" beneath his window. In the second stanza, as the sun rises the next day, the speaker recognizes the wind's devastating consequences on the landscape. He describes the wind, still raging, as a weapon moving to attack, "flexing like the lens of a mad eye."
Analysis
In the first line, the speaker establishes tone and setting with a metaphor that likens his house to a ship that has been "far out at sea all night." This image of the house in a dark, desolate landscape, pummeled by tempestuous wind and rain, creates a grave, somber mood that will only grow more serious in the body of the poem. By narrating the woods and wind with verbs commonly attributed to animals, such as "crashing," "stampeding," and "floundering," the speaker likens these natural forces to a pack of animals charging in panic with no regard for the objects or people in their paths. This violent language also contributes to the poem's perilous tone and atmosphere.
However, in the second stanza, the speaker's sharp, delicate language echoes the wind's brief reprieve. Because of the speaker's powerful verb usage in the previous stanza, it's easier to imagine the landscape's devastation: the image of the hills that "had new places" beneath the bright morning sky suggests that the speaker's surroundings have been literally rearranged by the wind's uncompromising force. The wind, whose actions are now described as akin to a deadly knife, can now be envisioned as a tangible opponent. In line 8, the wind is "flexing like the lens of a mad eye," displaying its strength, preparing for its next assault upon the speaker's home.
In these first two stanzas, Hughes lays the groundwork for the poem's symbolism by firmly establishing the setting, conflict, and atmosphere. Hughes' strategic use of active language, concrete imagery, and implied metaphor makes it possible for the reader to clearly imagine where the poem takes place and picture the wind "stampeding" through the fields. The energy of these initial lines is made palpable through the poem's evocative language and rhythm. The thematic and conceptual framework resounds through to the end, when the leap to the poem's symbolic dimension must occur to grasp the depth of "Wind."
