11 - English - The Poetry of Ted Hughes: Poetry and analysis

Introductions to the major collections and editions of Hughes's poetry from a range of writers and scholars.

A criticism of the poem "The Thought-Fox" by Ted Hughes is presented. Topics include Hughes' use of animals as heroic animals in his poetry, the narrative elements of the poem, and the poet's visual imagination. Other topics include the poem's rhythm, sequence of events, and sense of action. Hughes' other poems featuring animals, such as "The Hawk in the Rain," "The Horses," and "Ghost Crabs," are discussed.

In this article the potential of a creative connection between ecocriticism and nature poetry is raised in the context of teaching Ted Hughes' poem Pike. I consider how an ecocritical approach can open up the text to environmental debates comparing this with an example of a lesson based in a literacy strategy model. The paper argues for stronger attention to pupils' experiences of the environment through a more open and interdisciplinary approach to teaching poetry. More widely, I assess the prospects for English to contribute to critical understanding about the environment and animals.

Examines Ted Hughes' translation of Jean Racine's play 'Phedre,' where the tragic heroine subverts the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur to express her adulterous passion for her stepson, Hippolytus. Hughes' emphasis on Phedre's pathological disorder in his choice of words; Confrontation of the space the separates man from his primitive, animal self; Background of Hughes' attraction to the Minotaur myth.

This book opens with a section on Hughes's life, including an authoritative treatment of the relationship with Sylvia Plath and the effect of her suicide on his poetry and reputation, followed by a review of Hughes's artistic strategies, his poetic language, and influences on his work, including his openness to mythology and the poets of Eastern Europe. The body of the book offers an approach to reading New Selected Poems (1995), taking in turn each of the remarkable and remarkably varied works from which the poems were selected—The Hawk in the Rain, Lupercal, Wodwo, Crow, Cave Birds, Season Songs, Gaudete, Remains of Elmet, Moortown Diary, River and Wolfwatching. It concludes with a review of Hughes's reception, and a six-page bibliography.

A summary and analysis of The Thought-Fox.

A summary and analysis of Pike.

Discusses the poem 'Hawk Roosting,' by Ted Hughes. Satirization of human pretentions; Man's meta-physical speculation about the nature of things a posteriori; Dramatization of the extent to which experience shapes abstract concepts; Creation of irony through the reader's recognition of the speaker's limitations.

This Companion consolidates Hughes's life, writings and reputation. International experts from a variety of literary fields here confront the key questions posed by Hughes's work. New archival evidence is provided for fresh readings of his oeuvre with close attention to language, forms and the function of myth. Featuring a chronology and guide to further reading, this book is a valuable and insightful companion for those studying and reading Hughes in the context of his role in the development of modern poetry.