In "Relic," English poet Ted Hughes considers the circle of life. The sight of a picked-clean fish jawbone on the beach leads the poem's speaker to reflect that it's a fish-eat-fish world out there—and that perhaps the only consolation for nature's brutality is the fact that new life arises from death. "Relic" first appeared in Hughes's second collection, Lupercal (1960).
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The Full Text of “Relic”
The Full Text of “Relic”
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“Relic” Summary
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“Relic” Themes
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Nature's Brutality
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-16
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The Circle of Life
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 8-11
- Lines 12-14
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Relic”
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Lines 1-4
I found this ...
... Continue the beginning. -
Lines 4-5
The deeps are ...
... does not hold. -
Lines 6-9
Nothing touches but, ...
... to the beach: -
Lines 10-11
This is the ...
... claws, carapaces, skulls. -
Lines 12-15
Time in the ...
... In the sea. -
Lines 15-16
This curved jawbone ...
... now a cenotaph.
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“Relic” Symbols
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The Ocean
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I found this jawbone at the sea's edge:”
- Line 2: “broken by the breakers or tossed”
- Lines 4-5: “The deeps are cold: / In that darkness camaraderie does not hold.”
- Lines 12-15: “Time in the sea eats its tail, thrives, casts these / Indigestibles, the spars of purposes / That failed far from the surface. None grow rich / In the sea.”
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The Jawbone
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “I found this jawbone at the sea's edge:”
- Lines 8-9: “Jaws / Eat and are finished and the jawbone comes to the beach:”
- Lines 15-16: “This curved jawbone did not laugh / But gripped, gripped and is now a cenotaph.”
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“Relic” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Irony
Where irony appears in the poem:- Lines 6-9: “And the jaws, / Before they are satisfied or their stretched purpose / Slacken, go down jaws; go gnawn bare. Jaws / Eat and are finished and the jawbone comes to the beach:”
- Lines 15-16: “This curved jawbone did not laugh / But gripped, gripped and is now a cenotaph.”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 15-16: “This curved jawbone did not laugh / But gripped, gripped and is now a cenotaph.”
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Lines 10-11: “This is the sea's achievement; with shells, / Vertebrae, claws, carapaces, skulls.”
- Lines 12-14: “Time in the sea eats its tail, thrives, casts these / Indigestibles, the spars of purposes / That failed far from the surface.”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 2: “broken,” “breakers”
- Line 6: “jaws”
- Line 8: “jaws,” “Jaws”
- Line 9: “jawbone”
- Line 16: “gripped, gripped”
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Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Line 2: “crabs, dogfish,”
- Line 8: “Slacken, go down jaws”
- Lines 10-11: “shells, / Vertebrae, claws, carapaces, skulls.”
- Line 12: “eats its tail, thrives, casts”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 2: “broken,” “by,” “breakers”
- Line 3: “half,” “hour,” “crust”
- Line 4: “Continue,” “deeps,” “cold”
- Line 5: “darkness,” “camaraderie,” “does”
- Line 7: “satisfied,” “stretched”
- Line 8: “Slacken”
- Line 10: “sea's”
- Line 11: “claws, carapaces,” “skulls”
- Line 12: “Time,” “tail”
- Line 14: “failed far”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “dogfish,” “tossed”
- Line 6: “touches,” “clutching”
- Line 8: “jaws,” “gnawn”
- Line 10: “sea's achievement”
- Line 11: “Vertebrae,” “carapaces”
- Line 12: “Time,” “sea eats,” “thrives”
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Synecdoche
Where synecdoche appears in the poem:- Lines 6-9: “And the jaws, / Before they are satisfied or their stretched purpose / Slacken, go down jaws; go gnawn bare. Jaws / Eat and are finished”
- Lines 15-16: “This curved jawbone did not laugh / But gripped, gripped”
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“Relic” 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.
- Breakers
- Camaraderie
- Their stretched purpose slacken
- Gnawn
- Vertebrae
- Carapaces
- Spars
- Cenotaph
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(Location in poem: Line 2: “broken by the breakers”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Relic”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Relic” Speaker
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“Relic” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Relic”
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More “Relic” Resources
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External Resources
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A Brief Biography — Learn more about Hughes's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
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Hughes's Legacy — Watch an event in which contemporary poet Alice Oswald discusses Hughes's work.
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The Ted Hughes Society — Visit the Ted Hughes Society to learn more about Hughes's work (and his continuing influence).
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An Interview with Hughes — Listen to a 1961 interview with Ted Hughes and his wife, fellow poet Sylvia Plath. The literary duo discuss their writing and their influence on each other.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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