A Picture of Otto
by Ted Hughes
‘A Picture of Otto’ by Ted Hughes is addressed to Sylvia Plath’s father, Otto. It contains Hughes’ disagreements about how he and Otto were depicted in Plath’s work.
Ted Hughes was an English poet and children’s writer born in August 1930. He was Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. He has often been regarded as one of the most important British writers of the mid-1900s. Famously, he was married to American poet Sylvia Plath. Read more about Ted Hughes.
‘A Picture of Otto’ by Ted Hughes is addressed to Sylvia Plath’s father, Otto. It contains Hughes’ disagreements about how he and Otto were depicted in Plath’s work.
‘Big Poppy’ speak of what happens when a Poppy in its full bloom and a bumblebee meet in Ted Hughes’s usual style of writing.
‘Crow Sickened’ is a brilliant example of Hughes’ playful style, in which Crow attempts to work out the cause of his misery.
In ‘Full Moon and Little Frieda,’ Ted Hughes describes his daughter’s observations of the world around her, reflecting on nature and family.
A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of a bucket -
And you listening.
A spider's web, tense for the dew's touch.
Ted Hughes’ poem ‘Her Husband’ is a spiteful poem reflecting on the paradoxical situation many married couples often face; being in a marriage with another person but having lost all love and compassion between each other.
‘Lovesong’ by Ted Hughes is a six stanza poem that is separated into uneven sets of lines. The text is framed by two-line couplets that contain increasingly longs verses towards the third stanza.
‘September’ by Ted Hughes is a moving poem that touches on a troubled and important relationship.
We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold:
No clock counts this.
When kisses are repeated and the arms hold
There is no telling where time is.
‘Snowdrop’ by Ted Hughes is a poem that uses juxtaposition and uncertainty to express the commotion that occurs at the end of life.
‘The Casualty’ by Ted Hughes describes an apathetic group of onlooker’s and their inability to assist when they witness a plane crash.
’The Thought-Fox’ by Ted Hughes is a creative poem that uses the symbol of a fox, and its quick, fleeting movements, to represent a writer’s muse.
‘Wodwo’ by Ted Hughes is a dramatic monologue that depicts a “Wodwo” or fictional human-like creature. The creature investigates his surroundings and repetitively questions his existence.