River
Poems by Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
- First
- published
- in
- 1983,
- River
- celebrates
- fluvial
- landscapes,
- their
- creatures
- and
- their
- regenerative
- powers.
Inspired
- by
- Hughes's
- love
- of
- fishing
- and
- by
- his
- environmental
- activism,
- the
- poems
- are
- a
- deftly
- and
- passionately
attentive
- chronicle
- of
- change
- over
- the
- course
- of
- the
- seasons.
- West
- Country
- rivers
- predominate
- ('The
- West
- Dart'
and
- 'Torridge'),
- but
- other
- poems
- imagine
- or
- recall
- Japanese
- rivers
- or
- Celtic
- rivers,
- and
- 'The
- Gulkana'
- explores
an
- ancient
- Alaskan
- watercourse.
- At
- its
- core
- the
- sequence
- rehearses,
- in
- various
- settings,
- from
- winter
- to
- winter,
the
- life-cycle
- of
- the
- salmon.
All
- this,
- too,
- is
- stitched
- into
- the
- torn
- richness,
The
- epic
- poise
That
- holds
- him
- so
- steady
- in
- his
- wounds,
- so
- loyal
- to
- his
- doom,
so
- patient
In
- the
- machinery
- of
- heaven.
from
- 'October Salmon'
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