The wind (symbol)
The wind, the poem's most potent symbol, represents nature's unrestrained, unmitigated power. But it also symbolizes the potent and seemingly uncontrollable conflict that's raging inside the speaker's house. By using the wind as a symbol of this domestic conflict, Hughes portrays human relationships as subject to nature: not the calm, happy nature of a summer day, but the violent, destructive, and unpredictable nature of a stormy night.
The house (symbol)
The house, isolated on a rural landscape, symbolizes the relationship between the speaker and the second figure. Their powerful emotions have alienated them from the surrounding world: they are trapped within their home, unable to venture far outside due to storm, and isolated emotionally because of their collapsing relationship. And yet the house does not shield them: as the wind threatens to destroy the house, the character's unresolved conflict also spells ruination for their relationship.
The fire (symbol)
The fire, traditionally a symbol of warmth and comfort, represents the speaker and the second figure's shared anger, or the object or event on which their conflict centers. In the midst of their house's destruction, the characters "sit on" and "watch the fire blazing," concentrating on their anger instead of developing a plan to protect their home and themselves.
