This comprehensive volume explores the life and literary contributions of Ted Hughes, a pivotal figure in twentieth-century British literature. It delves into his works and examines his critical reception, providing insights into his influence and legacy. Through this survey, readers can appreciate the depth of Hughes's writing and his role in shaping modern poetry.
This text seeks to discover what different notions of nature actually underlie contemporary poetry, and how they relate to traditional assumptions about "nature" in the poetry of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. It also asks what new contributions to British nature poetry have been made by Black and Asian poets, by women and radical green poets. The author argues that the traditions of Pope and Goldsmith are continued in the present day by the likes of R.S. Thomas, George Mackay Brown, John Montague and Norman Nicholson. Patrick Kavanagh and others work in an "anti-pastoralist" tradition of Crabbe and Clare. Defining a "post-pastoral" poetry are Seamus Heaney, the successor to Wordsworth, and Ted Hughes, successor to Blake. In Scotland, Sorley Maclean's poetry has taken Gaelic nature poetry into the age of the nuclear threat. A chapter examining the attitudes towards the environment of 16 contemporary poets concludes the book.
Exploring the intersection of nature and gender, this groundbreaking ecocritical work delves into the writings of D. H. Lawrence. It examines how his poetry and novels reflect ecological themes and the complexities of gender relationships, offering fresh insights into his literary contributions.