"The Thought-Fox" by Ted Hughes

"The Thought-Fox" describes, in an indirect manner, the process

by which a poem gets written. What a poet needs to write a poem
is an inspiration. A poet waits for the onrush of an idea through his
brain. And, of course, he also needs solitude (loneliness) and
silence around him. Solitude and silence are, however, only
contributory circumstances. They constitute a favourable
environment, while the poem itself comes out of the poet's head
which has been invaded, as it were, by an idea or thought. The
idea or thought takes shape in his head like a fox entering a dark
forest and then coming out of it suddenly. That is why the phrase
"The Thought-fox" has been used as a title for this poem. The fox
embodies the thought which a poet expresses in his poem. The fox
here serves as a symbol.

The opening line contains the following image; "I imagine this
midnight moment's forest'. The opening words of the poem 'I
imagine' confirm what we have already been alerted to in the title,
that this is not, primarily, a poem about a fox, but a poem about
writing a poem, about the kind of thinking which produces poems,
or produced them for Hughes at that stage of his career.

In this poem, the poet imagines that he is sitting in a forest at

midnight. Then follow the images of the lonely clock, the blank
page, and the feeling that something else is also alive around the
poet: 'I imagine this midnight moment's forest:/ Something else is
alive'

The poet perceives the fox continuing to move forward, and with its
attention focused on one particular thing, it suddenly enters the
dark hole of his head. Even now there are no stars to be seen in
the sky through the window. The clock is still ticking. But now the
page before the poet is no longer blank. There was no fox at all. It
was just a thought which has entered the poet's mind just as a fox
enters a forest and then jumps out of it. That thought had then
found expression in a poem in which his fingers had been moving.
The thought which entered the poet's head has been embodied as
a fox, or been given the shape and the body of a fox; and that is
why the poem bears the title "The Thought –Fox".

He is alone, and the clock is ticking and his fingers moving on a

blank page are the only living things, beside himself. In the second
stanza, it seems to Hughes that there is something else also is
alive: 'Through the window I see no star:/ Something more near'

The poet looks up to the sky through the window of his room,
there are no stars visible to him. Hereafter. He feels that there is
something that moves through the darkness towards him, to
interrupt his loneliness or solitude, he uses a metaphor of "Is
entering the loneliness" as an image of a creature. He perceives
that a fox is coming through the forest.

It is about a fox, obviously enough, but a fox that is both a fox

and not a fox. What sort of a fox is it that can sit right into my head
where presumably it still sits… smiling to itself what the dogs bark.
It is both a fox and a spirit. It is a real fox, as I read the poem I see
it move, I see it setting its prints. I see its shadow going over the
irregular surface of the snow. The words show me all this, bringing
it nearer and nearer. It is very real to me. The words have made a
body for it and given it somewhere to walk.

“The Thought –Fox” is a poem about writing a poem and its theme
is 'inspiration'. The fox metaphorically stands for the inspiration,
which the poet hopes to get poetic creation. The poet feels that the
fox's nose has toughed twig, and, next, a leaf; "A Fox's nose
touches twig, leaf; / Two eyes serve a moment, that now ."The
poet writes a good poem as a vivid, clear description until its last
stanza. He feels very happy at the end of the poem because he
finishes his poem.