Hughes contrasts the gray color of the horses with the intense colors of the environment in which he finds them in “The Horses.” How does this color contrast convey the speaker’s impression of the horses?

Answer:

By making the horses gray while the sky and landscape blaze with reds, golds, and other vivid colors, Hughes makes them seem calm, ancient, and almost unreal. The contrast suggests that the speaker sees the horses as quiet, permanent presences that stand apart from the changing, dramatic world around them.