The Full Text of “Anniversary”
The Full Text of “Anniversary”
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“Anniversary” Introduction
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“Anniversary” Summary
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“Anniversary” Themes
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Grief, Relationships, and Memory
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-17
- Lines 30-58
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Maternal Love, Worry, and Resentment
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-5
- Lines 15-47
- Lines 50-58
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The Cosmic Cycles of Life and Death
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2
- Lines 7-14
- Lines 48-49
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Anniversary”
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Lines 1-5
My mother in ...
... there they are. -
Lines 6-10
She is now ...
... in their orbits. -
Lines 10-14
The work of ...
... in their feathers. -
Lines 15-19
My mother is ...
... from the reservoir. -
Lines 20-24
And that is ...
... on the altar. -
Lines 24-29
And these ...
... the third time. -
Lines 29-33
She laughs ...
... all she missed. -
Lines 33-37
Now my mother ...
... to wear best." -
Lines 37-42
And: "Much of ...
... Look." -
Lines 43-48
And they pause, ...
... flame beside her. -
Lines 49-52
Their feathers throb ...
... this for her. -
Lines 53-58
She is using ...
... think me him.
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“Anniversary” Symbols
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The Pen
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 20-24: “And that is the horse on which I galloped / Through the brick wall / And out over the heather simply / To bring him a new pen. This is the pen / I laid on the altar.”
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“Anniversary” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “feathers,” “flame”
- Line 2: “Thirteenth”
- Line 3: “sister,” “lift”
- Line 4: “torn,” “brother,” “jotted”
- Line 5: “today,” “there,” “they”
- Line 7: “Sunday”
- Line 8: “everlasting,” “strolling”
- Line 9: “Listening,” “larks”
- Line 10: “cosmos”
- Line 11: “Creation”
- Line 13: “Pulses,” “flares,” “shudders,” “fades”
- Line 14: “Like,” “Lights,” “feathers”
- Line 17: “Down,” “deep,” “woodland”
- Line 18: “dark,” “dress”
- Line 19: “dragged”
- Line 25: “mass,” “marriages”
- Line 26: “was,” “once,” “guest,” “suddenly”
- Line 27: “She,” “scattering,” “coals,” “fingers”
- Line 28: “find,” “fallen”
- Line 29: “For,” “laughs”
- Line 30: “Helplessly,” “weeps”
- Line 38: “was,” “simply,” “sitting,” “window”
- Line 39: “Watching”
- Line 40: “Wonderful,” “was”
- Line 41: “Knowing,” “somewhere”
- Line 46: “skin”
- Line 47: “So,” “strangely,” “olive”
- Line 49: “softly,” “iridescent”
- Line 50: “face,” “glistening”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 2: “taller. Every”
- Line 3: “Miriam. I”
- Line 5: “today"—and”
- Line 8: “everlasting, they”
- Line 10: “orbits. The”
- Line 13: “flares, shudders”
- Line 16: “life, which,” “mine. Her,” “comes, piping”
- Line 18: “water-line, dark,” “dress, look”
- Line 23: “pen. This”
- Line 24: “altar. And”
- Line 26: “guest." Then”
- Line 29: “time. She”
- Line 30: “weeps. Miriam”
- Line 33: “missed. Now”
- Line 35: “shoes, or”
- Line 36: “thing," she”
- Line 37: “best." And: "Much”
- Line 39: “horizon. Truly”
- Line 40: “was, day”
- Line 41: “somewhere. It”
- Line 43: “pause, on”
- Line 44: “dew. They”
- Line 45: “mother, darker”
- Line 46: “hair, her”
- Line 52: “me. I”
- Line 54: “brother, through”
- Line 57: “her, and”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “My mother in her feathers of flame / Grows taller.”
- Line 4: “The torn-off diary page”
- Lines 9-10: “Listening to the larks / Ringing in their orbits.”
- Lines 13-14: “Pulses and flares, shudders and fades / Like the Northern Lights in their feathers.”
- Lines 16-17: “Her voice comes, piping, / Down a deep gorge of woodland echoes:”
- Line 27: “She is scattering the red coals with her fingers”
- Lines 43-44: “the brink / Of the starry dew.”
- Lines 45-50: “darker with her life, / Her Red Indian hair, her skin / So strangely olive and other-worldly, / Miriam now sheer flame beside her. / Their feathers throb softly, iridescent. / My mother's face is glistening”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 14: “Like the Northern Lights in their feathers.”
- Line 35: “Like pairs of shoes, or one dress after another”
- Lines 50-52: “My mother's face is glistening / As if she held it into the skyline wind / Looking towards me.”
- Line 55: “As if I were the shadow cast by this approach.”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 7-8: “In the perpetual Sunday Morning / Of everlasting,”
- Line 34: “Shows her the rosary prayers of unending worry,”
- Lines 53-54: “She is using me to tune finer / Her weeping love for my brother, through mine,”
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“Anniversary” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Diary page
- Jotted
- Larks
- Cosmos
- Anti-matter
- Northern Lights
- Piping
- Gorge
- Heather
- Madonna-like
- Rosary prayers
- Brink
- Sheer
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(Location in poem: Lines 3-4: “I lift / The torn-off diary page”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Anniversary”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Anniversary” Speaker
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“Anniversary” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Anniversary”
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More “Anniversary” Resources
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External Resources
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Gerald Hughes's Obituary — An obituary for Ted Hughes's older brother, which sheds light on the Hughes's family life and the relationship between the rival siblings.
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More About Ted Hughes — A short overview of Ted Hughes's life and work via the Academy of American Poets.
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The Art of Poetry with Ted Hughes — An interview with the poet which appeared in The Paris Review shortly after the publication of "Anniversary."
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Portraits of Ted Hughes — The National Portrait Gallery offers a variety of looks at the poet throughout his career.
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Ted Hughes's Obituary — The New York Times's 1998 obituary of Hughes explores the poet's controversial life and career.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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