In case you haven't noticed yet, the wind in "Wind" is pretty violent. It's like some tough-talking 1950s greaser, smoking a cigarette and flicking a switchblade. We don't know what exactly the wind might be capable of, but it can knock birds away and shuffle hills around. It's a bad dude, and you don't want to mess with it. The wind can trample fields like a bunch of wild horses and wield "blade-light" in the sky—which sounds like some sort of Dragon Ball Z-type thing. This is the wind as brought to you by Quentin Tarantino: a smash-happy, trash-talking collection of moving air. It will mess you up.
Questions About Violence
- Does the speaker think that violence the most definitive aspect of Nature? How can you tell?
- Which is more violent—Nature or humanity? How might our speaker answer this question?
- Do you think the speaker is afraid of Nature? What parts of the poem support your decision?
Chew on This
This poem proves it: violence is the most essential part of Nature.
Not so fast there. This poem actually shows us that the violence we find in Nature is only a reflection of our own, human fascination with violence.