Last Letter

I’m really intrigued by the relationship between Plath and Hughes. Apparently there was a poem entitled “Last Letter” that was initially one of the “The Birthday Letters” but was withheld from the original publication. It was published recently. I hope everyone will check out the link to some information on the poem. I really enjoyed the news clip that was on the bottom of the page. It talks about the relationship between the two and also contains excerpts of “Last Letter.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/10/long-lost-ted-hughes-poem-focuses-on-sylvia-plaths-suicide.html

Here is also a link to the full text poem.

http://lovingsylvia.tumblr.com/post/1263482483/last-letter-by-ted-hughes

I can absolutely see how many people would blame Hughes with his infidelities for the death of Plath. I do think it is hard to ignore, however, that obviously Hughes suffered tremendously from her death. The very fact that he wrote “The Birthday Letters” seems to suggest that he never fully recovered from the loss. This is definitely emphasized by “Last Letter.” The last few lines just gave me chills! “Then a voice like a selected weapon/Or a measured injection/Coolly delivered its four words/Deep into my ear: ’Your wife is dead.’” (see link above)

I was also really touched by how Hughes lamented the loss of Plath as his children’s mother (“Life after Death”). He is really ripped apart by the position that his son is put in after Plath’s death. He says, “Great hands of grief were wringing and wringing/ His wet cloth of face…But his mouth betrayed you – it accepted/The spoon in my disembodied hand.”