Finally, I thought I'd mention one more thing about my dearly departed darling Sylvia Plath. The aforementioned friend once attended a tea party she held when she was studying in Cambridge, and he described her as a self-centred, arrogant litte prig. He was probably right, but that didn't prevent her from being one of the most brilliant, sincere and lyrical poets of the 20th century. I suppose there is another lesson: not all poets are capable of holding congenial tea parties. A lesson worth learning.

Have you ever read 'Birthday Letters' by Ted Hughes... I assume any Sylvia Plath/poetry fan would have done so. Don't you think that looking at Ted Hughes' last work makes the likes of 'Ariel' pale into insignificance? Whether Hughes was a bastard or not (and I'd bet money that the infidelities were not entirely unprovoked), you have to admit that Hughes' work is entirely more thoughtful, emotionally charged and perceptive than Plath's. Poems like 'Oijui' (sp?)and 'Epiphany' easily eclipse the likes of 'Daddy' (the most over-rated of Plath's poems) and 'Lady Lazarus', although maybe 'The Arrival of the Bee Box' comes close. Even compared to the likes of Seamus Heaney she tend to pale by comparison. Looks at 'Digging' and compare it to 'Ariel', doesn't Plath seem a little childish, lacking in perception, clumsey even. While I appreciate that Plath is a VERY good poet, I think it is a little odd to call her one of the most brilliant poets of the 20th Century. The only reason I can see that she has been awarded this status in so many people's eyes is because of her value in history... i.e. her marriage to Ted Hughes and subsequent suicide. As for Plath's self-centredness and arrogance. Do you not think that she could bge allowed to be a little self-centred given all that she went through in her life? If her pain was enough to make her constantly wish to commit suicide then I think it was probably more important than anyone elses. As for arrogance... it seems evident, through her poetry, if not her auto-biography (or whatever the hell it is), that she was totally self-depricating and lacking in self-worth, any arrogance was likely to have been a cover to prevent other people from noticing what was gonig on underneath. "...and of course everyone felt appropriately shocked and saddened by the women's affliction..." The Happy Reaper +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+