The Deadfall by Ted Hughes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2023
- Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was an English poet and writer who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential poets of the 20th century. He was born on August 17, 1930, in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England.
Hughes had a deep connection with nature from an early age, which played a significant role in his poetry. He attended Mexborough Grammar School and later won a scholarship to study English at Pembroke College, Cambridge. During his time at Cambridge, he met fellow poet Sylvia Plath, whom he married in 1956.
In 1957, Hughes' first collection of poetry, "The Hawk in the Rain," was published to critical acclaim. The collection established him as a major poetic voice and set the tone for his subsequent work. His poetry was often marked by its visceral and powerful imagery, exploring themes of nature, myth, and the human experience.
Hughes and Plath had two children together before their marriage ended in separation in 1962 and later in divorce in 1963. Tragically, Plath took her own life in 1963. The events surrounding their relationship and Plath's suicide deeply affected Hughes and became a central theme in his work.
Hughes served as the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1984 until his death in 1998. Throughout his career, he published numerous collections of poetry, including "Wodwo" (1967), "Crow" (1970), and "Birthday Letters" (1998), which explored his relationship with Plath. His work often drew inspiration from mythology, folklore, and the natural world, and he had a distinctive and powerful voice that resonated with readers and fellow poets.
In addition to his poetry, Hughes also wrote plays, prose, and children's literature. His most famous children's book is "The Iron Man" (1968), which has been adapted into various forms, including a stage play and an animated film.
Ted Hughes received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1974 and the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry in 1998. His contribution to English literature continues to be celebrated, and his poetry remains influential to this day.
Sadly, Ted Hughes passed away on October 28, 1998, in London, England, but his legacy as one of the most significant poets of the 20th century lives on.
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I live a few miles from Ted’s childhood experience… my home backs onto the wooded valley side. I won’t walk in the wood since feeling watched there and sensing some of the old magic of the place. So, this story and your wonderful reading and afterthoughts are much appreciated.
Awesome
thank you for commenting on this
Thank you Tony Walker for being of excellent quality such that you have a Patron. Thank you Gavin for supporting the arts; I especially appreciate your taste & contribution to helping unfold the pages of powerful writers & veils of the imagination! Cheers both of you!
What vivid imagery! "The dark tracks of rabbits in the heavy dew" paints an evocative image of that moment in early morning.
A great writer.well done tony.First Ted Hughes story I have heard.
I'm excited to have a story to help me through yet another summer cold. Thank you Tony 💜
19 October 2023 - An excellent reading. Listening from central Kentucky on a windy, blue-yellow autumn day.
You were taking about the different themes in this story, and another facet of this story occurred to Me.
The Brother tried to waken the ‘Ancient Breton’, he longed for the experience of witnessing and/or interacting with the dead-and-gone Past of Their Family, People, Lives and Beliefs.
We’re told that (at one time) the Brother tried to dig-up the Breton - and he goes on to attempt a resurrection/summoning-ceremony when the Boys camp/hunt near the historical Family land.
The ‘Ancient Breton’ does not seem to act work the gift of wine and fire, he does not obey Their summons - but later that night the Ghost Fox (Ancient Spirit-Animal of that Land) comes to them, inviting the Storyteller and welcoming his interaction; the Spirit of Fox responding to their call.
I think that this thread of the story is drawn through - right to the end, as Both Brothers recognize the deep significance (and value) of this spiritual-interaction.
…Instead of gloating and celebrating their longed-for Trophy, the would be Hunters return to the campsite/burial-mound/alter… where (in honour, kinship and protection), they burry the body of the Fox.
I love many faceted stories, whose richness lies (both) in the writing, words-chosen - and the subtle-complexity of Symbolism!
This was a great-one; Thank-You!
Thanks to Gavin, and thank you Tony. I loved this story...the fox is a life-long totem for me, and I am so very tired this evening, so listening and resting has been a treat. I think some people take their beliefs to extremes (the ramble about eating) but if they leave me alone, I don't care.
A fox comes to my door every night. A stunning creature who brings me joy.
I hate thinking of them being killed. The hatred some have for them is appalling. Vile.
I absolutely loved this story. Poor beastie. Animals are magical and must be treated properly. Teddy bears picnic is such a good song and you have a good voice for it.
thank you for the compliment about my singing :)
I take it the fox gets squashed, so I'll stop listening. 😢
I love this story. Thanks Tony.
Thanks for making it so
A lovely woven tale. A rich tapestry of wonder with a touch sadness and mystery as told through the golden voice of T. Thank you, Gavin.
I read it maybe 25 years ago and although very simple it has that magical twist in the middle. Hughes was a proper Northerner, so when I first started listening to Tony it was in the back of my mind that he'd do it justice. Which he did!
@@GavCritchley Yes, he did it justice.
Thank you very much, Gavin! And Tony for the wonderful reading.
Tony has the talent, and having met him he is as nice as you'd expect.
Just extraordinary. My infinite thanks to you for bringing this story to me. I had no idea that Hughes had written this kind of material, and your reading is absolutely perfect.
You are very welcome, Rohan.
Wow, that was a brilliantly written story!
…It was brilliantly Read, as well!!!
😉
I love listening to You ‘tell Tales’, Tony.
I imagine You as a child - listening to the Tales told by Your Grandfather, Uncles, Father.
…We who listen are Blessed by those dark and golden fancies, told in the long-hours before bedtime.
Thank-You!
What a Friday night treat thank you Tony for all your hard work
I don’t know about in Britain, but in Japan, China, and Korea at least of East Asia, they once believed in Fox People, mischievous characters and spirits. Amazing story, Tony. Thanks so much.
Reynard the Fox was a popular trickster hero in Europe, dating back to the Middle Ages. : )
Ps. In North America, the coyote supplants the fox in similar tropes.
@@mzeewatk846 yes, your right. Interesting because I think there are North American foxes, though I reckon the coyote is more mischievous and something more akin to even a jackal.
@@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz yeah, we have foxes, but coyotes are much more prevalent. : )
@@mzeewatk846 true
Just as vivid and gripping narration and enjoyable, informative "ramblings", also this time around. Thank you again, and again for all of your hard work for us.
So enjoy your narration & 'afterchat'.
Glad you enjoy it!
I love the commentary ('blather') after the reading!
I'm glad you've said that because I've had a few people contacing me via email and instagram to explain (more in sorrow than anger) that 'no one' likes my commentaries, and 'we all' skip them.
An extraordinary story. Thank you Gavin and Tony for bringing it to us!
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks dear Tony 🌳
This story sounds like softly pouring fire and honey, as blackberry wine to quench one’s ancient thirst
Love Ted Hughes
Thanks!
thank you 🙏
I'm on board with the idea of It being healthiest for most humans to eat meat and limit carbs. My husband and I now feel better eating this way. Growing up in Montana I hunted deer and smaller animals to eat, along with my dad, but now I'm quite happy to buy our meat.
I feel healthier when i limit carbs
"Magically wild": deeper, wider perspective each time, listening. Of long-forgotten, long buried, hidden exprience. "Calling my name".
I thought this was a brilliant tale! Very realistic and believable. Atmospheric and quite spiritual really ☺ Ted Hughes certainly seemed to capture the 'Spirit of place' wonderfully!
Enjoyed the chat - after 16 years of being vegetarian I've recently taken up the Keto diet! Very Very low carb and high fat! My research has informed me of the severe danger to health of carbs and mis- truths we've been fed about meat and fats!
Amazing story and narration. Thanks, Gavin and Tony!
This story reminds me so much of being a kid growing up in the country and investigating everything! The descriptions of nature and the animals are amazing. I love foxes and find them so elegant and beautiful.
Listening to this story was a wonderful way to close a Thursday evening with a good Rye whiskey.
I have never heard this story before. I am so glad that Ted Hughes wrote about his mother's visions because, though I never tell anyone, I have had the same experiences throughout my life. Great narration, thanks so much, Tony.
I've longed forever to see a ghost. So far no. I live in a building in Italy constructed in 1298. I was sure there would be a ghost here. 9 years and counting. No ghost.😢
@@elenalatici9568 Don't search it will come to youx
I've only had one encounter my whole life, when my dad died. Didn't even believe until then. You have to go to a place with known activity and even then they probably won't cooperate!
@@elenalatici9568 Keep hoping!
@@qwertiuiops Spooky, isn't it?!
This was marvelous. The story, the narration. Everything perfect.
Love shape-shifting stories. Have you ever heard a fox laugh/make happy sounds? 😊❤
no, I haven’t. i’ve recently heard them barking j the wild woods though
There's a wonderful website on TH-cam called Save a Fox. The woman whose site it is rescues foxes from fur farms. A lot of the foxes are have become pets. Finnegan is the top fox. He laughs all the time. If you love foxes you'll love the site. The poor little fox cub knew its mother was dead. So sad
@phalanxcenturionMating foxes sound like a woman screaming. Chilling. Foxes laughing make the most delightful sound
Thank you so much Tony, looking forward to listening to this tonight 🙏💛
Great story, thanks Gav!
Thanks Tony. Excellent- keep them coming .🇮🇪
Another good one. Thanks.
Thank you, Gavin! for supporting this channel and enabling me to listen to a story I have read about, yet never read.
Wonderful story, with the flavor of a time when life and death were Natural and accepted, even at a young age. I wish today’s kids were as well balanced as those kids were, instead of being raised with so many modern yet irrational taboos.
Well said.
You are so right. Things were different and in many ways a lot better than they are today.
Really enjoyed this one. Thanks 🙂
In deciding which story to listen to, my final decision was based solely upon this adorable fox.
+Andrea Shinault ha ha. that was. y evil plan
Adorable fox squashed under a huge stone. 😢😢
Thank you for the story! I appreciate it so much.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Deliciously mysterious and beautifully narrated. Thank you Tony! Well done 👏❤️.
Glad you enjoyed it
"Unseen Sylvia Plath letters claim domestic abuse by Ted Hughes"
What a wild man, that Ted Hughes!
Indeed. Contemptuous and hardly supportive of her poetry. "Wild man," if one is into domestic abuse.
Oh my, I'm sorry in advance for such a long comment, but there's just so much to address!
Firstly, thanks to both of you -- Tony and Gavin, for more than just this story. You've opened up the world of an entirely new writer/poet for me. As someone attracted to the topic of mental health I've read much of Sylvia Plath; as I related so much to her, I've never bothered pick up anything by Ted Hughes (Sylvia also wrote about their marriage).
This was a mistake. As a lover of any kind of non-fancy-pants nature writing I'm thrilled to have a new source to mine from. Ted's work also seemed surprisingly reminiscent of listening to Frank McCourt, to my ears anyway. There is a musical cadence to it that's so hypnotic. No wonder Sylvia was so in love with him. Also, I too thought of kitsune during this story; the writer had to have had this folklore in mind as he wrote.
When you were talking about mortgage rates I believe the concept you were looking for is the dreaded Social Contract we all adhere to. We are (at least in western society) indeed so fixated on preserving it that it's easy to forget that it's just a construct, made real only by our belief in it. I do love it when you ramble, Tony. Please don't ever stop. I do miss listening to your turning of pages though. I've always been comforted by that sound.
Lastly, I was once conflicted, being a lover of animals, but I reflected on it pretty much the same as you have. I knew that all animals must eat other life to live, but what got me over that inner conflict was hearing a Ted Talk on socially mindful eating. It was said that if the western world's omnivores ate meat only on the weekends/holidays, it would be like half the population choosing vegetarianism. It would be a huge improvement ethically/environmentally without a huge sacrifice of our modern needs socially/industrially.
Until recent history this was how the world ate meat: while it's always been part of the human diet meat has never been so abundant that we could eat it with every meal (again, speaking through the perspective of a westerner). Physiologically we don't need half the animal protein we currently consume. So this is what I've done for the past decade. It makes the most sense to me (I've also felt significantly healthier). Perhaps your daughters would accept this practice as a compromise?
Again, sorry for the book. Sometimes I just can't help myself.
Ted Hughes had a deep connection with nature. He was satarised for it in the UK. Almost all of his nature poetry ends up with one animal killing another. I love this story. It reminds me of camping as a child in summer, and the silver moonlight on dew, and everything seeming magical and other worldly. Its a dificult story to find, and the Hughes estate are a bit touchy, so I'm glad Tony managed to do it and get it out. If it leads you to more of his work I'm pleased.
Lovely thoughtful comment. Nice to read. I could say “ditto”, hear & there as well. (Just is listener who likes reading other people attracted to Tony’s splendid storytelling artistry & commentary. Cheers!
@@GavCritchley I also got the same magical childhood camp vibes. That's no easy feat -- especially because half a century has past since I've been one. I loved that the story didn't betray itself with forced nobility of spirit so many authors like to romanticize with. It really drove home the observation that we are all just big dumb animals ourselves. If Frank McCourt and John Fante had a love child. Thanks again, so much, for bringing this to me.
@@evelanpatton The man is brilliant. So well-read and emotionally generous without being goofy. Or jarring (unless it's called for...Mrs. Danvers). I'm just glad he's got a huge body of work so I can binge whenever my own emotions are in crisis mode. So much better than ASMR -- and with none of the creepy lip-smacking!😅
Loved that story! So down to earth even with the ghosts.
The little tune in the younger brother's head: "Teddy Bears' Picnic". ❤❤
When I was very young, my mother, who like the author, was born in 1930, used to play that song from an old 78 rpm scratchy sounding thick black "record".
It brings back old memories and it was quite pleasant to hear you sing that short bit, Tony.
Thank you to both you and Gavin. 😊💕
Love the afterword on this! I didn't think I would, but I listened anyways & enjoyed it quite a bit. I also might have an answer for your query about the Neopagan movements, at least in the U.S. American Neopagan beliefs range the full spectrum - from solid & literal belief to symbolic belief with open-mindedness towards literal belief, to basically being atheists who like to dress up. The vast majority of us do have some degree of literal belief, but are not quite the sort who blames every bump in the night on a hidden spirit, if that makes any sense. We have faith, we also believe is science, & we try to balance the two. Most of us.
Thank you for this. I am very attracted to
all that nature worship
@@ClassicGhost It's a wonderful path; it's not THE one true path for everyone. I'm a strong believer that every belief has some truth & that different things work better for different people. That everyone, regardless of belief or disbelief, can stand to benefit both from indulging in what they believe is right & from keeping an open mind to very different beliefs.
Lovely story! Thank you
Thank you for the story.
❤
Welcome back Tony! I have been away too mum is now free from skin cancer!!!! Thank you so much for your patience and looking forward to catching up with your episodes SO much! Thank you so much and forgive my absence, all my life I thought that if my mum died that I would want to join her…. ☮️💜☯️
@@THEPAGEBURNER1979 💯 right!! Thank you so much 😊
Pleased to hear your mum is okay, Maria. It's such a worry when your parents get older.
@@ClassicGhost it really is even though we know all our lives that time will come we never think about it!!
Thank you for the escape, I’m sitting here in Dallas Texas and it’s 105°F and I wish to travel to the wonderful places that are so often in your stories. I’m not joking about traveling to those places, any suggestions?
It seems that the spirit of the Mother Fox presented herself in a form that the boy would follow, knowing that he would not have followed even a talking fox.
I enjoyed the analysis. It was better than the story. You sound like a truther.
Vegetables are complex carbohydrates. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread are the carbs that that that break down into sugar, not vegetables.
Such a yummy story and your delivery had me cozy inside and out. When it ended I was quite surprised to "come to" in front of the game I was playing all along but had forgotten.
Fantastically well read, as usual! And a good story. It’s just beginning to storm here. Perfect for listening to ghost stories.
I have a question: are you aware of the kinds of advertisements that are attached to your stories? Or do you have any choice? I just wondered, because I’m pretty sure you would disapprove of the conservative, racist ad that was on the front of this story. Just wanted you to know.
I suppose you might consider me a neo-pagan; I consider myself just a good, solid pagan. I studied with a celtic group (who was recognized by the government as a legal nonprofit) in the early nineties. One of the founders had a Master's degree in psychology. We recognized four major gods and four major goddesses corresponding to the four major quarters or directions. What we did in the beginning were eight guided meditations where we were led to that particular god or goddess, without any specific instruction, except as to appearance. We silently communed with them and were eventually led back. What this is all leading to is the answer to your question, "Do pagans really believe these gods are real?" Yes, I do. I've met them.
I hate to leave another comment after such a lengthy one, but I looked through your description for your poetry channel link and I can't find it. I am half-blind...but it seems everything leads me this channel's homepage. Did I miss it?
at the bottom of Classic Ghost Stories youtube page there are links to other podcasts we like. it’s one of those
@@ClassicGhost Thank you! I wasn't thinking podcast so I probably skimmed right over it.
I live in Luddenden village, literally the next village to mytholmroyd. Now, i don't expect you to go back and record this all over again...... but its pronounced
My thum (soft TH - like "them") royd.! We have some very strange place names around these ere parts, and ive heard far funnier pronunciations of odd local names!
:)) really appreciate this :) made me smile and useful too . i didn’t know it was a /𝛿/ rather than a /θ/ . what’s the etymology?
@@ClassicGhost well at least I kind of got my point across with the best descriptive gibberish i could come up with! Pleased with myself lol. Etymology wise, apparently its Norse or old English, and means clearing or plain by the river. Or rivers. Junction of rivers. I'm not totally certain because it seems almost every local name has the same or very similar meanings! Luddenden comes from ludding dene. "Valley of the loud river. "
Midgley also means "cleared glade" or similar. There is Hebden, Luddenden, Todmorden (which apparently sounds like "death and murder " in German!!?) Ovenden, Mixenden and more. Lots of "dens"! Which, as the rumour used to be , signifies a place with a witches coven! I liked that but it's not true, den means pasture I think. The mixen part of Mixenden meant dung heap, unfortunately for the residents! Sorry to WAFFLE. And I'm likely wrong, but that's what I know!
very interesting!
I'm in Italy, and I have a fox who visits my door every night. The image of a red fox squashed flat was awful and sad
Is this Ted Hughes the husband of Sylvia Plath?
Yes, it is he
Milk & honey is food that doesnt need to be killed.
So the ways that cows are kept in milking shape for so long is to take their calfs early. The calfs then go to live 'on a farm in canada' next to a veal factory. I'm actually switching to plant based milks at the moment. As for honey, we steal the honey reserves that they make for winter, and usually swap it with fondue made from sugar. Beekeepers usualy have a regicide every month or so as new or old queens need to be managed. Ted Hughes was right on it.
The modern Pagans I know consider the Lord and Lady of the forest as symbolic, not literal living beings.
Thanks!
thank you very much 🙏