Meyers, Jeffrey. “Ted Hughes: War Poet”. The Antioch Review Winter 2013: 30+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 April 2015.

In this source Meyers discusses the impact of Hughes’ father on his writing. His father survived World War I, and the war stories that he shared with his son, Ted, were so graphic that he felt he himself had experienced the carnage. This early exposure to the horrors of war forever held his fascination. It is apparent in his poetry that “war was his ideal subject: the burning away of all human pretensions in the ray cast by death”. The violence and graphic viewpoint on the world that Hughes possesses can be traced back to his childhood, and the graphic nature of his poetry is explained by Meyers as “ seeking relief and consolation, as his father could not, in his furious art, propelled by emotion recollected in emotion”.

 

 

Vendler, Helen. “Raptures and Rendings”. The New Yorker 60.48 (31 Dec. 1984): 68. Rpt. In Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski and Foger Matuz. Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale, 1986. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 18 April 2015.

“Raptures and Rendings” delves into Hughes prose and his poetry’s structure. He is well known for violent phrasing, thick sounds, and explosive verbs that make for dynamic and graphic poetry. Vendler describes the two perspectives prevalent throughout his works as “the watcher” and “the watched” because of the flipped perspectives Hughes gives reader in his poems. Hughes channels horror into nature by suggesting that animals are better off because at least they do not know when they are going to die. Much like his father, whom was deeply psychologically scarred after his experiences in war, Hughes argues in much of his work that “the intellectual side of ourselves is aligned with fate, and only our physical, sensual being ever escapes into freedom”.

 

 

Zinnes, Harriet. “And He Shivered with the Horror of Creation: The Poetry of Ted Hughes”. Hollins Critic34.4 (Oct. 1997): 1-13. Rpt. In Poetry Criticism.Volume 89. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 April 2015.

This critical essay explores some of the religious facets of Hughes work in regards to human beings and our place in this Earth. One common feature of Hughes’ poetry is the method in which he portrays men and animals equally: “cries of all wild creatures as well as peoples’ prayers are directed at God”. Instead of sticking to the typical religious ideas of heaven and hell, Hughes’ main focus resonates on something more primal and existential. According to Zinnes, “energy and vitality of Hughes’ language and rhythms not only arise out of remembered violence and death, but are in themselves expressions of defiance, of an indomitable lust for life”

 

Orr, David. "Love, Your Ted". The New York Times. 14 November, 2008.

This article is a tribute of sorts to Hughes work. It discusses his marriage to the late Sylvia Plath, his work, and the way that his peers viewed him throughout his life. This article reflected on the poet's life in anticipation of the release of his "Letters" in 2008.