Ted Hughes
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Edward James Hughes, referred to normally as Ted Hughes (August 17, 1930 – October 28, 1998) was an English poet and children's writer. He is considered by some to be one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was Poet Laureate in England from 1984 until his death. He was also famously married from 1956–63 to the American poet Sylvia Plath and was believed by many feminists of helping to cause Plath's suicide (and also his lover Assia Wevill's suicide). He explored his complex relationship with Plath in his last book of poems, Birthday Letters (1998).
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Hughes' Early Life
Hughes was born on August 17, 1930 in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire and raised among the farms in the area. According to Hughes, "My first six years shaped everything." [1] (http://www.zeta.org.au/~annskea/timeline.htm). When Hughes was seven his family moved to Mexborough, Yorkshire, where they ran a newspaper and tobacco shop.
Hughes' Personal Life
Hughes studied English, anthropology and archaeology at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he met fellow poet Sylvia Plath. They married on June 16, 1956 and separated in the autumn of 1962. Hughes' role in Plath's suicide in 1963 has long been a subject of much speculation by feminist critics. As Plath's widower, Hughes became the executor of Plath’s personal and literary estates. He oversaw the publication of her manuscripts, including Ariel (1966). He also destroyed the final volume of Plath’s journal, detailing their last three years together.
6 years after Plath's death, on March 25, 1969, Assia Wevill (Hughes's lover) killed herself and their daughter, Alexandra Tatiana Eloise Wevill, nicknamed Shura, who had been born on March 3, 1965,
In August 1970, Hughes married Carol Orchard, a nurse. They remained together until his death on October 28 1998.
Hughes died after an 18-month-long battle with liver cancer.
Hughes' Writings
Hughes's earlier poetic work is rooted in nature and, in particular, the innocent savagery of animals (Tennyson's phrase "nature, red in tooth and claw" could have been written for Hughes). His later work is deeply reliant upon myth and the bardic tradition.
Hughes's first collection, Hawk in the Rain (1957) attracted considerable critical acclaim. In 1959 he won the Galbraith prize which brought $5000. His most significant work is perhaps Crow (1970). See Crow (poetry).
Tales from Ovid (1997) contains a selection of free verse translations from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Birthday Letters, Hughes broke his silence on Plath, detailing aspects of their life together and his own behaviour at the time. The cover artwork was by their daughter Frieda.
In addition to poetry, Hughes wrote classical opera librettos and children's books. One of these, The Iron Man, became the basis of Pete Townshend's rock opera of the same name, and the animated film The Iron Giant.
Hughes was appointed as Poet Laureate (the British Queen's official poet) in 1984 following the death of John Betjeman (although it was later hinted that Hughes was second choice for the appointment after Philip Larkin, the preferred nominee, declined, feeling his poetic gifts spent). Hughes served in this position until his death in 1998.
His definitive 1333-page Collected Poems (Faber & Faber) appeared in 2003.
Bibliography
Poetry
- (1957) The Hawk in the Rain
- (1960) Lupercal
- (1967) Wodwo
- (1968) The Iron Man
- (1970) Crow
- (1977) Gaudete
- (1979) Moortown Diary
- (1979) Remains of Elmet (with photographs by Fay Godwin)
- (1986) Flowers and Insects
- (1989) Wolfwatching
- (1992) Rain-charm for the Duchy
- (1994) New Selected Poems 1957-1994
- (1997) Tales from Ovid
- (1998) Birthday Letters
Anthologies edited by Hughes
- Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson
- Selected Verse of Shakespeare
- A Choice of Coleridge's Verse
- Seneca's Oedipus
- Spring Awakening by Wedekind (translation)
- Phedre by Racine (translation)
- The Rattle Bag (edited with Seamus Heaney)
- The School Bag (edited with Seamus Heaney)
- By Heart: 101 Poems to Remember
Prose
- A Dancer to God
- Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being
- Winter Pollen: Occasional Prose
- Difficulties of a Bridegroom
- Poetry in the Making
Books for Children
- How the Whale Became
- Meet my Folks!
- The Earth Owl and Other Moon-people
- Nessie the Mannerless Monster
- The Coming of the Kings
- The Iron Man
- Moon Whales
- Season Songs
- Under the North Star
- Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth
- Tales of the Early World
- The Iron Woman
- The Dreamfighter and Other Creation Tales
- Collected Animal Poems: Vols. 1-4
- Shaggy and Spotty
External links
- Ted Hughes homepage by Ann Skea (http://www.zeta.org.au/~annskea/THHome.htm)
- Feminist dissection of Hughes' life and poetry (http://www.1Lit.com/tedhughes)
- Critique of Hughes' poem Song (http://www.cosmoetica.com/TOP43-DES40.htm)
- Biography of Ted Hughes (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/thughes.htm)
| Preceded by: John Betjeman | British Poet Laureate 1984–1998 | Succeeded by: Andrew Motion |