Choose a poem which forces you to consider a social or political issue. What was the issue and show how the poetic techniques used in the poem helped you to understand the issue and the poet's viewpoint towards it.

"The Horses" by Edwin Muir is a poem which forces its readers to consider both a social and political issue, that of nuclear war and the resulting breakdown of civilisation. In the poem, the speaker describes how a nuclear war has led to the destruction of modern civilisation and how through the arrival of a group of mysterious horses, the survivors begin to rebuild their lives. The poem also reflects the fear of such a catastrophe actually taking place, which was present during the 1950's Cold War stand-offs between the USA and the USSR.

In line two of the poem, Muir describes the war...