Ted¹ Hughes

I climbed through woods in the hour-before-dawn dark.

Evil air， a frost-making stillness，

Not a leaf， not a bird，——

A world cast in frost. I came out above the wood

Where my breath left tortuous² statues in the iron light.

But the valleys were draining the darkness

Till the moorline——blackening dregs of the brightening grey——

Halved³ the sky ahead. And I saw the horses：

Huge in the dense⁴ grey——ten together——

Megalith-still. They breathed， making no move，

With draped manes and tilted⁵ hind-hooves，

Making no sound.

I passed： not one snorted or jerked its head.

Grey silent fragments

Of a grey silent world.

I listened in emptiness on the moor-ridge.

The curlew's tear turned its edge on the silence.

Slowly detail leafed from the darkness. Then the sun

Orange， red， red erupted

Silently， and splitting to its core tore and flung cloud，

Shook the gulf⁶ open， showed blue，

And the big planets hanging——。

I turned

Stumbling in the fever of a dream， down towards

The dark woods， from the kindling⁷ tops，

And came to the horses.

There， still they stood，

But now steaming and glistening⁸ under the flow of light，

Their draped stone manes， their tilted hind-hooves

Stirring under a thaw⁹ while all around them

The frost showed its fires. But still they made no sound.

Not one snorted or stamped，

Their hung heads patient as the horizons，

High over valleys， in the red levelling rays——

In din¹⁰ of the crowded streets， going among the years， the faces，

May I still meet my memory in so lonely a place

Between the streams and the red clouds， hearing curlews，

Hearing the horizons endure.