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Summary The hug (Thom Gunn)
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The hug (Thom Gunn) - analysing the poem and background information.
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The Hug by Thom GunnLines 1 - 5
Title fitting to the poem? Yes, the whole The first line of the poem suggests that it
poem surrounds a moment the speaker was a birthday party, the couple had drunk
was in bed entwined in a hug with another and one of their friend helps them to a
person. SACAI 2022 room nearby which the poet reaches in a
single stride which signifies the poet’s urge
to sleep.
The Hug is a intimate poem that I
hypothesize to be something the poet
Lines 6 - 18 Thom Gunn wrote for his wife. It is short
and insightful, with a hint of nostalgia, as
Then he suddenly wakes up to a warm hug evidenced by the line "As if we were still
from behind in which the full lengths of twenty-two / When our grand passion had
their bodies were pressed and the poet’s not yet / Become familial." It highlights the
heel meets his partner’s instep and the obvious intimacy between Gunn and his
poet’s shoulder blades against his partner’s wife - they get drunk together and sleep
chest . The poet clearly explains that it was together, yet is not explicit in any way.
not sex, but unconditional love that he fails
to put into words. The poet says that he
can feel his partner’s warmth on his body Lines 19 - 22
as if they are still twenty two interlacing
each other. The poet says that their grand After waking up, he had understood that he
passion for each other had still not made had forgotten few memories and the only
them a family. thing which he remembers was ‘the stay of
your (the partner’s) secure firm dry
embrace.
, The poem is written in the past tense.
The Hug by Thom Gunn A hug woke the speaker up from his
slumber. SACAI 2022
The poet is reminiscing/looking back upon
this moment. SACAI 2022
The reasons why the speaker would sleep
over. SACAI 2022
Repetition
The speaker is reinforcing/emphasising
the fact that they had fallen into a
MOOD
slumber very easily SACAI 2022
The poem ‘The Hug’ is a simple nostalgic
love poem written by Thom Gunn. As the
title suggests.
Body parts that touched during the hug. The poem is about how a couple had spent
SACAI 2022 their night after a birthday party
Indicates their relationship had
become so familiar that their initial
passion had cooled. SACAI 2022
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