The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Hughes, Ted. “The Thought Fox.” All Poetry, allpoetry.com/The-Thought-Fox. Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.“

The Thought Fox” deals with the subject of artistic inception and creation. The speaker of the poem is believed to be a poet and representative of Hughes himself, but its themes can be applied to creatives of any discipline. Hughes has publicly said that the poem was inspired by a dream during his years studying at Cambridge. In his dream, a dying fox appeared to him and told him that his intensive study of poetic scholarship was destroying his innate creativity. This is reflected in the way the speaker waits patiently for the fox to appear, instead of forcing it or pursuing it through rigorous study.