Observations placeholder
Hughes, Ted - Crow - When the eagle soared clear
Identifier
000100
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Written at the time when his relationship with Sylvia Plath was at its lowest ebb and she committed suicide – see the main description of his life.
The poem is an allegory about all sorts of birds and their symbolic meaning. It also shows the correlation between people and birds – birds as people.
A description of the experience
Ted Hughes - Crow
When the eagle soared clear through a dawn distilling of emerald
When the curlew trawled in seadusk through a chime of wineglasses
When the swallow swooped through a woman’s song in a cavern
And the swift flicked through the breath of a violet
When the owl sailed clear of tomorrow’s conscience
And the sparrow preened himself of yesterday’s promise
And the heron laboured clear of Bessemer’s upglare
And the blue tit zipped clear of lace panties
And the woodpecker drummed clear of the rotovator and the rose farm
And the pewit tumbled clear of the Laundromat
While the bullfinch plumped in the apple bud
And the goldfinch bulbed in the sun
And the wryneck crooked in the moon
And the dipper peered from the dewball
Crow spraddled head down in the beach garbage
Guzzling a dropped ice cream.
The source of the experience
Hughes, TedConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Commonsteps
References
Ted Hughes – Crow [illustrated edition]