So a few days ago, Taylor ("bounding, as usual," Kevin's super accurate description of Taylor) bounds into my room to see if I've heard of/can I find the exact text of the new, so far unpublished last poem of Ted Hughes. Last Letter, about the night Sylvia Plath died, finishes with a definite punch to the gut. We googled and googled for the actual text, but apparently, it's only in the hard copy of the magazine, The New Statesmen from Oct 7th. Anyone have it? Even know how to get it? I looked and couldn't find it on stands anywhere...and by anywhere...I mean in the 2 places I looked in St Andrews.
I'm a fan of both their works. Though I'm not a fan of philanderers, I know that no relationship is just what it looks like from the outside. And almost everything has more shaded grey area than I'd personally prefer for real life. So I suppose any kind of artistic endeavor that allows you to make sense of those shades isn't as exploitative as it may first appear.
Here is the closest I can find to the bulk of the text, read by Jonathan Pryce intermittently throughout the below news story.
about halfway down - http://www.metafilter.com/96421/Your-Wife-is-Dead - is that what you're looking for?
ReplyDeleteit's hard to imagine making sense of the draft pictured here! http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/06/2107644/poem-by-ted-hughes-details-sylvia.html
They actually did have a full version of the poem read aloud on youtube, and I must say it is quite utterly amazing. Unfortunately, they took the video down due to copyright issues. But it is very very long, and very beautifully written. Quite sad though, if i do say so myself.
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