Ted Hughes

Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death. In 2008 ''The Times'' ranked Hughes fourth on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until her death by suicide in 1963 at the age of 30. Some admirers of Plath and critics blamed him for her death after the revelation of letters written by Plath, which mention that Hughes had beaten her two days before she had a miscarriage in 1961, and that he also told Plath he wished that she were dead. His last poetic work, ''Birthday Letters'' (1998), explored their relationship. These poems make reference to Plath's suicide, but none addresses directly the circumstances of her death. A poem discovered in October 2010, "Last Letter", describes his version of what happened during the three days before her death. Provided by Wikipedia