Ted Hughes

Introduction

Hughes, a literary giant of the twentieth century and one of the best poets of his period, made a lasting impression on the literary world. He was named Poet Laureate in 1984 in honor of his literary accomplishments, a title he retained until his passing. Hughes was named the fourth best British writer since 1945 by The Times in 2008. Sylvia Plath, an American poet, sadly committed suicide in 1963 at the age of thirty, ending their 1956 marriage. The final poem by Hughes, "Birthday Letters" (1998), is a moving and powerful piece that explores the nuances of their relationship and gives readers a profound view of the complexity of love, sorrow, and the human experience.

Early Years

Mexborough Grammar School was instrumental in helping Hughes develop his love of poetry and writing. He came across poets such as T.S. Eliot and Gerard Manley Hopkins with the guidance of his sister Olwyn and influential educators like Pauline Mayne, John Fisher, and Miss McLeod. Inspired by his experiences in the Mexborough area, Hughes's early works, such as "The Thought Fox" and "The Rain Horse," were published early in his writing career. His knowledge of animals was enhanced by his close connection with John Wholly and his stay at the Crookhill estate above Conisbrough. Hughes chose to serve in the national army instead of going to college, even though he had won an open exhibition in English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1946. Hughes read a great deal of Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats during his two years of RAF service (1949-1951) when stationed in east Yorkshire. This reading laid the groundwork for Hughes's eventual career as a poet.

Career

Edward Hughes attended Pembroke College in 1951 following his national service, where he was first taught English by the well-known balladic form expert M. J. C. Hodgart. Hughes felt constrained by the boundaries of literary academics and the apparent restrictions of literary tradition, even though he valued Hodgart's support. He momentarily gave up poetry because he felt constrained by the academic setting and was angry about the "terrible, suffocating, maternal octopus" that is literary tradition. Even if he was gifted at literary analysis, he thought it was a harmful endeavor. Hughes changed his major to Anthropology and Archaeology in his third year; these topics would subsequently inform his creative works.

Hughes struggled academically in 1954; he received a third-class grade in Part I of the Anthropology and Archaeology Tripos. But it was also at this time that some of his earliest poems were published, such as "The Little Boys and the Seasons" in Chequer. With this piece, he contributed to Granta under the alias Daniel Hearing. Hughes' post-university career took him to Cambridge and London, where he worked in a variety of jobs for the British cinema corporation J. Arthur Rank, including nightwatchman, rose gardener, and reader. Notably, he worked as a washer-upper at the London Zoo, where he was able to study animals on a regular basis.

Hughes and pals commemorated the publication of St. Botolph's Review, which included four of his poems, on February 25, 1956. He initially made the acquaintance of American poet Sylvia Plath, who was a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge, during this gathering. Hughes and Plath were instantly attracted to one another, but they would only cross paths again a month later when Plath was traveling through London on her route to Paris. As their relationship grew stronger over time, Hughes and Plath decided to get married on June 16, 1956, which launched an important new chapter in their personal and professional lives as writers.

After starting to date, Edward Hughes and Sylvia Plath were married on June 16, 1956, at St George the Martyr in Holborn. In remembrance of James Joyce, Bloomsday was selected as a date of particular importance. The only attendee at Plath's wedding was her mother, who also went to Benidorm on the Spanish coast for their honeymoon. Hughes was happy and supportive of Plath throughout their early marriage, even though he was not aware of her history of depression and suicide attempts. This was evident in Hughes's "Birthday Letters," which he wrote afterward, while they both worked toward becoming writers.

After moving back to Cambridge, the pair took up residence at 55 Eltisley Avenue. Poems by both were featured in prestigious magazines like Poetry, The Atlantic, and The Nation. Hughes's manuscript for his collection "Hawk in the Rain," which won a poetry competition and received positive reviews when it was published in September 1957, was typed by Plath. Hughes was given a Somerset Maugham Award for his achievements.

After coming back to England, the couple stayed in Heptonstall for a short while before moving into an apartment in Primrose Hill, London. Both were busy writers; while working on poems for "Wodwo" (1967) and "Recklings" (1966), Hughes also wrote essays, articles, reviews, and speeches. After his collection "Lupercal" was awarded the Hawthornden Prize in March 1960, Hughes started delving deeper into Buddhism, alchemy, shamanism, and mythology. Nicholas Farrar and Frieda Rebecca were the two children that Hughes and Plath raised. They bought Court Green, a home in North Tawton, Devon, in 1961.

However, Hughes' affair with Assia Wevill in the summer of 1962 was a game-changer. In the fall of 1962, Plath moved out of Hughes' apartment and started a new life with the kids in a different apartment. This affair put a strain on their relationship. In 2017, letters that Plath had written between February 18, 1960, and February 4, 1963, came to light, exposing claims that Hughes had physically abused her, especially in the days preceding her second child's 1961 miscarriage.

Death of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath tragically died on February 11, 1963, after attempting suicide on several occasions due to depression aggravated by her husband Edward Hughes's extramarital affair. "That's the end of my life. The rest is posthumous," is what Hughes wrote affectingly in a letter to a former Smith College classmate of Plath's. Hughes was the subject of controversy, with some claiming he may have been the reason Plath committed suicide. People who were offended that "Hughes" was etched on Plath's gravestone in Heptonstall repeatedly attempted to chisel off the word, leaving just the name "Sylvia Plath."

Included in the 1970 collection "Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement" was Plath's poem "The Jailer," which denounces her husband's cruelty. After releasing "Arraignment," a poem in which poet Robin Morgan accused Hughes of murder and abuse, there were lawsuits filed against Morgan, and his 1972 book "Monster," which included the poem, was banned. In 1989, there was a public dispute about threats made on Hughes's life in the letters section of The Guardian and The Independent by radical feminists using Plath's name.

Hughes took over management of Plath's personal and literary estates as her widower. He managed the release of her works, such as "Ariel" (1965). Given the claims of his involvement in Plath's untimely demise, some commentators questioned Hughes's decisions regarding the sequence of the poems and the ones he omitted, contending that he shouldn't be trusted with her literary legacy. In the foreword to "The Journals of Sylvia Plath," Hughes admitted to deleting the last volume of Plath's journal and justified his actions on the grounds that they were protecting their small children.

Hughes suffered three years of literary obscurity after Plath committed suicide, although he continued to be involved in broadcasting, writing critical essays, and running Poetry International. He and Leonard Baskin worked together in 1966 on the epic story "The Life and Songs of the Crow," which included poems based on Baskin's drawings of crows. While residing with Assia Wevill in 1967, Hughes produced two sculptures depicting a jaguar. But tragedy struck again on March 23, 1969, when Wevill, like Plath, committed suicide. Additionally, she killed Alexandra Tatiana Elise (Shura), the four-year-old daughter of her and Hughes. These incidents intensified allegations of Hughes's purported mistreatment of Wevill and Plath. When Hughes published "Cave Birds" in 1975, the Crow storyline was finished.

1970-1998

Ted Hughes had a period of significant advancements in both his personal and professional life from 1970 until his passing in 1998. He wed nurse Carol Orchard in August 1970, and the two of them stayed together until his death. Hughes continued to live in Court Green and also acquired the property Lumb Bank, which is located in West Yorkshire, close to Hebden Bridge. In addition, he founded Moortown, a tiny farm close to Winkleigh, Devon, which served as the inspiration for the title of one of his poetry books. Hughes presided over the nonprofit organization Farms for City Children, which his friend Michael Morpurgo founded in Iddesleigh. "Crow" was released as a compilation in October 1970.

In 1970, Hughes established the Rainbow Press with his sister Olwyn. Between 1971 and 1981, this publishing endeavor published sixteen titles with poetry by poets like Ted Hughes, Ruth Fainlight, Thom Gunn, Seamus Heaney, and Sylvia Plath. Because of his prolific writing, Hughes was named Poet Laureate in December 1984, taking the place of Sir John Betjeman. That same year, he was awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for "What is the Truth?" an illustrated anthology of children's animal poetry by R. J. Lloyd.

Through the Arvon Foundation, Hughes committed himself to promoting writing education and hosted residential writing workshops at his West Yorkshire property of Lumb Bank. He also engaged in creative collaborations with Peter Brook and the National Theatre Company. He read excerpts from his 1968 book "The Iron Man" during a rare 1993 television appearance for Channel 4, and he also appeared in the 1994 documentary "Seven Crows: A Secret." Hughes started to worry in 1994 about the local waterways near his Devonshire house having fewer fish. As a result, he became involved in the founding of the Westcountry Rivers Trust, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to restore rivers by working with nearby landowners and implementing thorough management practices.

Shortly before his death, Queen Elizabeth II named Hughes a member of the Order of Merit. He was diagnosed with colon cancer, among other health issues, but he never left his Devon house. Sadly, Hughes died on October 28, 1998, in Southwark, London, after suffering a severe heart attack in the hospital. Poetry colleague Seamus Heaney attended Hughes's funeral on November 3, 1998, at North Tawton church, and talked eloquently on the influence of Hughes on poetry. Hughes's passing was said to have "broken" the walls of education and "rented" the veil of poetry.

Hughes's son Nicholas Hughes, whom Sylvia Plath raised, committed suicide on March 16, 2009, adding to the personal tragedies surrounding the author. Nicholas had struggled with depression, and his sudden passing compounded the Hughes family's already severe losses. Carol Hughes broke her lengthy quiet on Ted Hughes's troubles in January 2013, announcing her plan to write a book about their marriage. Ted's brother Gerald also wrote a memoir, "Ted and I: A Brother's Memoir," which was released in late 2014 and is a heartfelt remembrance of the celebrated poet.

Ted Hughes's Work

The renowned English poet Ted Hughes had a multi-decade career that irrevocably altered the literary landscape. With the success of his first collection, "The Hawk in the Rain" (1957), he was awarded the Galbraith Prize in 1959. However, Hughes's literary trajectory was defined by his seminal piece, "Crow" (1970). This collection demonstrated Hughes's distinctive style, fusing simple poetry with deep topics, and was highly acclaimed for its apocalyptic, bitter, and surreal study of the world. "Crow" turned into a defining moment in Hughes's career, setting him apart in the field of English Nature Poetry.

In a 1971 interview with The London Magazine, Hughes identified the poets Blake, Donne, Hopkins, Eliot, Schopenhauer, Robert Graves's "The White Goddess" and "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" as among the inspirations for his literary vision. Additionally, Hughes spent ten years writing the prose poetry "Gaudete" with the intention of turning it into a movie. The story revolves around a changeling double for the vicar and explores elemental spirits and a "love coven." Hughes's collaborations with eminent presses and artists such as Leonard Baskin demonstrate his great interest in the nexus between poetry and book arts.

In addition to translating old European plays, Hughes also wrote children's books, most famously "The Iron Man." After Philip Larkin rejected to be named Poet Laureate, Hughes was chosen in 1984 following the death of John Betjeman and faced criticism. His masterwork of prose, "Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being" (1992), elicited conflicting responses; some praised it while others dismissed it as eccentric in its admiration of Shakespeare's works. His Laureate works were collected in "Rain Charm for the Duchy" that same year.

"Tales from Ovid" by Hughes won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 1998. His 1998 last collection, "Birthday Letters," broke his silence about his turbulent relationship with Sylvia Plath and was awarded the 1999 Whitbread Prize for Poetry. The whole "Collected Poems" was released posthumously in 2003, capturing Hughes's poetic legacy. The poem "Last Letter," a devastating 2010 discovery, illuminated the days leading up to Plath's untimely suicide. The release of previously unpublished letters in 2011 that provided insights into Hughes's creative process and the nuances surrounding Plath's legacy further served to reinforce his lasting influence.