Football at Slack: Ted Hughes' Poem

Overview

• "Football at Slack" is a poem by Ted Hughes centred on an amateur football match.
• The poem uses vivid imagery and language to describe the setting, players, and weather.
• It discusses themes of nature, sports, memory, and the human experience.

Vocabulary

• Slack: Characterised by idleness or lacking seriousness; loose or not held tightly.
• Plunging: Pushing inwards or falling fast.
• Bareback: On an unsaddled animal.
• Bunting: Cloth flags used as decoration.
• Merry-coloured: Jovial, extreme delight.
• Sprouted: To develop or appear suddenly and in large numbers.
• Downwind: In the direction of the wind.
• Rubbery: Elastic, able to bend out of shape and return.
• Gulf: A deep ravine.
• Fiery: Fearsome, volatile.
• Glooms: Depressed mood, partial or total darkness.
• Steel press: A force to be reckoned with.
• Plastered: Stuck on.
• Tread: To step on something (past tense: trod).
• Glitter: Radiant, shimmering with reflected light.
• Bobbed: To appear and disappear, moving up and down.
• Humped: Arched, deformed, curved.
• Atlantic Depression: Weather term for where Atlantic and North Sea air meet in the UK, symbolic of vastness and emotional depression.
• Wingers: Attacking players on the sidelines.
• Bicycled: Football technique of kicking the ball backwards over the head.
• Holocaust: Forceful invasion or massacre.

Story Summary

• Men in bright colours play football on a hilly grassland between deep valleys.
• They jump like water spouts to head the inflated ball.
• The ball hangs in the wind, then falls back.
• Wind gathers, darkening the clouds and creating a sense of awe.
• Heavy rain falls, and the players splash in puddles.
• The landscape changes under the rainy weather.
• Forward players leap, and the goalkeeper dives to save the ball.
• The sun sweeps away the dark weather.

Speaker and Voice

• The speaker uses a third-person omniscient perspective.
• Focuses on the rugged hills, dramatic weather, and behaviour of the players.
• The players seem to enjoy the match despite the conditions, showing sportsmanship.
• The speaker initially focuses on the ball with verbs like "bounced" and "jumped" to maintain momentum.
• Pastoral imagery romanticises countryside life.
• The players remain united and enjoy the experience despite the weather.
• Nature is portrayed as a difficult but impressive force.
• Despite dark images of rain and the sky, the players are happy and wear "merry-coloured" clothes.

Language

• Weather is personified throughout the poem.
• Examples include: "sky mixed its mad oils" and "threw glooms".
• Personification demonstrates the oppressive atmosphere.

Pastoral Imagery

• Pastoral art depicts the countryside as beautiful and perfect, with simple, happy people.
• The sky is compared to a painter's oils.

Dynamic Verbs

• The poem uses verbs related to sporting action to describe the football match.
• The first stanza contains "plunging", "bounced", and "bounce".
• The second stanza includes "jumped", "sprouted", and "blew".
• The fourth stanza has "darkening" and "threw", along with "flew", "bobbed", and "foundering".

Repetition

• Alliteration and repetition are used.
• The phrase "blown ball bounced" repeats the "b" sound.
• Creates an onomatopoeia of a ball bouncing.

Structure and Form

• "Football at Slack" has eight stanzas and uses free verse.
• No fixed rhyme scheme gives it irregular line lengths.
• The irregular line lengths reflect the chaotic nature of the game.
• A dash and stanza break demonstrate the movement of the ball.
• The final two lines create a couplet, shifting focus to the sky.

Context

• Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was a modern poet.
• "Football at Slack" was published in Remains of Elmet in 1979.
• Hughes wrote the poem in middle age.
• This may have influenced the speaker's views of the game.
• The speaker is a spectator.
• The poem may be a reminiscence of a childhood event in Yorkshire.
• English football in the late 1970s was associated with violent fans.
• Hughes portrays football as a happy activity, reflecting on changes in the sport.

Attitudes

• Sports are fun but an important part of human experience.
• The poem has a joyful tone.
• It romanticises the players and their team unity and echoes a modern pastoral poem.
• Nature is powerful and to be respected.
• The skies change, using phrases like "mad oils" and "fiery holes in heaven".
• People should enjoy the moment, even during storms.

Themes

• Man and Nature
• Sports and sportspeople
• Football
• Memories
• Weather
• Fun and Joy
• Identity
• Unity and teamwork
• Storms and rain
• Different perceptions