Sylvia Plath | Autograph letter signed, to Edith & William Hughes, "now ... his first BOOK", 27 February 1957

Sylvia Plath

Autograph letter signed, to Edith and William Hughes ("Dear Ted's mother & dad")

on the news that Ted Hughes had won the 92 St. Y/Harper’s poetry contest, the award being the publication of his first book ("...It is called 'The Hawk In the Rain'..."), 4 pages, 8vo 177 x 140mm), blue writing paper, [55 Eltisley Avenue, Cambridge,] "Wednesday morning" [27 February 1957], tiny stain in top right corner

"...Isn't he wonderful! You know, the telegram came Saturday, exactly a year after our first meeting at the St. Botolph's party celebrating Ted's poems & I knew then - having read his poems even before I met him - in a kind of intuitive vision I saw that he could be a great poet - like Yeats, or Dylan Thomas & probably better. On our wedding day, last June, Ted's first poem was accepted by Poetry - and now, hundreds of typed pages later, his first BOOK!..."

SYLVIA PLATH CELEBRATES A TURNING POINT IN THEIR LIVES AND CAREERS. When Plath had first heard about the Harper's poetry competition she knew Hughes should enter, and immediately believed he would win (see lot 17). Her astonishing confidence in his gifts now began to be proved right. She goes on to explain that the judges "are not mealy-mouthed little poets (who I honestly believe are scared to publish Ted's work for fear his brilliance will eclipse their own piddling poems) - nor un-poet editors - but the 3 greatest living poets today" - although her previous comments on the judges had been somewhat less complimentary (see lots 14 and 17). She goes on to point out the coincidence that she has met all three (Auden, Marianne Moore, and Stephen Spender). She goes on to describe their celebrations on receiving the telegram, and to emphasise (correctly) the great prestige that would come with publication in such impressive circumstances. The Hawk in the Rain would make Hughes's name: it was dedicated to Plath, who had played an enormously important role in getting it into print.

LITERATURE:

The Letters of Sylvia Plath: Volume Two, pp.77-78