September by Ted Hughes

‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a moving poem that touches on a troubled and important
relationship.

‘September‘ was published in Birthday Letters in 1998. It was released only a few months
before his death. It came after the death of his wife, Sylvia Plath, and the establishment of her
legacy as one of the most important feminist poets of all time. Rightly or wrongly, Hughes’s own
reputation was tied to his treatment of Plath during their marriage. (Some believe that he drove
her to kill herself through his emotional abuse and affairs.) It was with this collection that he
sought to redeem himself in the eyes of the public.

The book is autobiographical in nature and it immediately hit the top of best-seller lists. It was
awarded the Forward Poetry Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, as well as several other
prestigious awards.

Summary
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a beautifully complex poem that speaks on the end of a period of
time, or perhaps of an important relationship.
The poem takes the reader through a series of images that outline a state of being outside of
time and within memory. The speaker describes how “we,” presumably him and his lover, sit and
watch the world changing around them. There is no “clock” to count the changes that are
occurring, it is something more emotional and ephemeral.

Hughes focuses on small moments, like the feeling of someone’s wrist, while repeatedly
emphasizing that time means nothing. The poem concludes with the entrancing image of “trees
casting their crowns / Into pools” which alludes to the change that Hughes has been hinting at
throughout the piece.

Themes
In ‘September,’ Hughes addresses themes of relationships and time. The latter is the most
obvious, but it is also paired with change and tragedy, two things which are commonly
associated with Hughes and his most famous relationship, his marriage to Sylvia Plath. It is a
well-known fact that many of the poems in his collection Birthday Letters were either about Plath
or directed to her.
While it is not stated explicitly that this is the case with ‘September,’ it is quite easy to connect
the imagery in the poem to their relationship. He speaks on the power of memories and how
one can live outside time within them. The imagery in this poem is complicated, leading readers
to many different conclusions in regards to what Hughes was getting at with the text. But, no
matter what one’s interpretation of the poem is, it’s clear that Hughes still dealing with
overwhelming emotions while facing his own terminal illness and recalling Plath’s death 35
years prior.

Structure and Form

‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a four stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines,
known as quatrains. These quatrains follow a simple rhyme scheme of ABAC, changing end
sounds from stanza to stanza. There is no single metrical pattern that unites all of the lines, but
generally, the first and third lines are longer than the second and fourth. But within these, the
number of syllables varies between nine and eleven in the odd-numbered lines and four and six
in the even-numbered lines.
Literary Devices
Hughes makes use of several literary devices in ‘September’. These include but are not limited
to enjambment, imagery, and alliteration. The first of these, enjambment, refers to the way that a
poet uses or doesn’t use end-punctuation. For example, the transition between lines three and
four of the first stanza and line four of the third stanza, and line one of the fourth stanza

T
Ted Hughes
September by Ted Hughes
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a moving poem that touches on a troubled and important
relationship.

‘September‘ was published in Birthday Letters in 1998. It was released only a few months
before his death. It came after the death of his wife, Sylvia Plath, and the establishment of her
legacy as one of the most important feminist poets of all time. Rightly or wrongly, Hughes’s own
reputation was tied to his treatment of Plath during their marriage. (Some believe that he drove
her to kill herself through his emotional abuse and affairs.) It was with this collection that he
sought to redeem himself in the eyes of the public.

The book is autobiographical in nature and it immediately hit the top of best-seller lists. It was
awarded the Forward Poetry Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, as well as several other
prestigious awards.

September by Ted Hughes

Explore September
1 Summary2 Themes3 Structure and Form4 Literary Devices5 Detailed Analysis6 Similar Poetry
Latest Articles

Summary
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a beautifully complex poem that speaks on the end of a period of
time, or perhaps of an important relationship.
The poem takes the reader through a series of images that outline a state of being outside of
time and within memory. The speaker describes how “we,” presumably him and his lover, sit and
watch the world changing around them. There is no “clock” to count the changes that are
occurring, it is something more emotional and ephemeral.

Hughes focuses on small moments, like the feeling of someone’s wrist, while repeatedly
emphasizing that time means nothing. The poem concludes with the entrancing image of “trees
casting their crowns / Into pools” which alludes to the change that Hughes has been hinting at
throughout the piece.

You can read the full poem here.

Themes
In ‘September,’ Hughes addresses themes of relationships and time. The latter is the most
obvious, but it is also paired with change and tragedy, two things which are commonly
associated with Hughes and his most famous relationship, his marriage to Sylvia Plath. It is a
well-known fact that many of the poems in his collection Birthday Letters were either about Plath
or directed to her.

While it is not stated explicitly that this is the case with ‘September,’ it is quite easy to connect
the imagery in the poem to their relationship. He speaks on the power of memories and how
one can live outside time within them. The imagery in this poem is complicated, leading readers
to many different conclusions in regards to what Hughes was getting at with the text. But, no
matter what one’s interpretation of the poem is, it’s clear that Hughes still dealing with
overwhelming emotions while facing his own terminal illness and recalling Plath’s death 35
years prior.

Structure and Form

‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a four stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines,
known as quatrains. These quatrains follow a simple rhyme scheme of ABAC, changing end
sounds from stanza to stanza. There is no single metrical pattern that unites all of the lines, but
generally, the first and third lines are longer than the second and fourth. But within these, the
number of syllables varies between nine and eleven in the odd-numbered lines and four and six
in the even-numbered lines.
Literary Devices
Hughes makes use of several literary devices in ‘September’. These include but are not limited
to enjambment, imagery, and alliteration. The first of these, enjambment, refers to the way that a
poet uses or doesn’t use end-punctuation. For example, the transition between lines three and
four of the first stanza and line four of the third stanza, and line one of the fourth stanza.

Alliteration is another formal technique that is concerned with the use and reuse of the same
consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “clock counts” in line two of
the first stanza and “telling” and “time” in line four of that same stanza.

Imagery is one of the most important techniques at work in ‘September’. It can be seen
throughout the stanzas when Hughes uses phrases like “dark slowly unfold” and “Under the silk
of the wrist a sea”.
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold:

(…)

There is no telling where time is.

T
Ted Hughes
September by Ted Hughes
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a moving poem that touches on a troubled and important
relationship.

‘September‘ was published in Birthday Letters in 1998. It was released only a few months
before his death. It came after the death of his wife, Sylvia Plath, and the establishment of her
legacy as one of the most important feminist poets of all time. Rightly or wrongly, Hughes’s own
reputation was tied to his treatment of Plath during their marriage. (Some believe that he drove
her to kill herself through his emotional abuse and affairs.) It was with this collection that he
sought to redeem himself in the eyes of the public.

The book is autobiographical in nature and it immediately hit the top of best-seller lists. It was
awarded the Forward Poetry Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, as well as several other
prestigious awards.

September by Ted Hughes

Explore September
1 Summary2 Themes3 Structure and Form4 Literary Devices5 Detailed Analysis6 Similar Poetry
Latest Articles

Summary
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a beautifully complex poem that speaks on the end of a period of
time, or perhaps of an important relationship.
The poem takes the reader through a series of images that outline a state of being outside of
time and within memory. The speaker describes how “we,” presumably him and his lover, sit and
watch the world changing around them. There is no “clock” to count the changes that are
occurring, it is something more emotional and ephemeral.

Hughes focuses on small moments, like the feeling of someone’s wrist, while repeatedly
emphasizing that time means nothing. The poem concludes with the entrancing image of “trees
casting their crowns / Into pools” which alludes to the change that Hughes has been hinting at
throughout the piece.

You can read the full poem here.

Themes
In ‘September,’ Hughes addresses themes of relationships and time. The latter is the most
obvious, but it is also paired with change and tragedy, two things which are commonly
associated with Hughes and his most famous relationship, his marriage to Sylvia Plath. It is a
well-known fact that many of the poems in his collection Birthday Letters were either about Plath
or directed to her.

While it is not stated explicitly that this is the case with ‘September,’ it is quite easy to connect
the imagery in the poem to their relationship. He speaks on the power of memories and how
one can live outside time within them. The imagery in this poem is complicated, leading readers
to many different conclusions in regards to what Hughes was getting at with the text. But, no
matter what one’s interpretation of the poem is, it’s clear that Hughes still dealing with
overwhelming emotions while facing his own terminal illness and recalling Plath’s death 35
years prior.
Structure and Form
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a four stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines,
known as quatrains. These quatrains follow a simple rhyme scheme of ABAC, changing end
sounds from stanza to stanza. There is no single metrical pattern that unites all of the lines, but
generally, the first and third lines are longer than the second and fourth. But within these, the
number of syllables varies between nine and eleven in the odd-numbered lines and four and six
in the even-numbered lines.

Literary Devices
Hughes makes use of several literary devices in ‘September’. These include but are not limited
to enjambment, imagery, and alliteration. The first of these, enjambment, refers to the way that a
poet uses or doesn’t use end-punctuation. For example, the transition between lines three and
four of the first stanza and line four of the third stanza, and line one of the fourth stanza.

Alliteration is another formal technique that is concerned with the use and reuse of the same
consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “clock counts” in line two of
the first stanza and “telling” and “time” in line four of that same stanza.

Imagery is one of the most important techniques at work in ‘September’. It can be seen
throughout the stanzas when Hughes uses phrases like “dark slowly unfold” and “Under the silk
of the wrist a sea”.

Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold:

(…)

There is no telling where time is.

In the first stanza of ‘September,’ the speaker begins by using the first person plural pronoun
“we” to refer to himself and another. This other person is sometimes interpreted as his wife,
Sylvia Plath, but without evidence to confirm this is the case, it shouldn’t be assumed. Time is
the primary theme in this stanza and those which follow. In fact, in each stanza, a close reader
can find one or more words that directly reference “time”. In this case, Hughe actually uses the
words “time” and “clock”. He describes how his speaker and their lover sit up late at night in one
another’s arms. They watch the “dark slowly unfold,” around them. This is a wonderful example
of imagery
Hughes’s speaker emphasizes the fact that in moments like this there is no “time”. It has no
meaning when he is with his lover and they’re existing very simply together. The word “arms” is
one of the most important in this stanza, referencing their arms holding one another as well as
the arms/hands of a clock. It might also relate back to the word “unfold” in the first line.Readers
might also find themselves interpreting the phrase “dark slowly unfolds” in different ways. It
might refer to the night, to a change of seasons, or to a change of circumstances. Perhaps the
upcoming end of a relationship
Stanza Two
It is midsummer: the leaves hang big and still:

(…)

Time is nowhere.

In the second stanza of ‘September,’ the speaker goes on to give more details about the scene.
But, the specific time and place are less important than the experience them. It is “midsummer”
the speaker says. The leaves are still in the trees and there is no fall breeze yet blowing through
them. Time is paused in between spring, summer, and fall, progressing nowhere—only existing.
The speaker emphasizes this by focusing on the imagery of the “eye,” “star,” and the “silk of the
wrist”. These are tiny parts of their world that are capable of consuming them
Stanza Three
We stand; leaves have not timed the summer.

(…)

Minutes uproaring with our heads