The elegiac aspect of Ted Hughes' poetry has been frequently overlooked, an oversight which this book sets out to rectify. Encompassing a broad range of themes, from the decline of nature and local industry to the national grief caused by the First World War, this book is a comprehensive addition to the study of Hughes' poetry.

EDWARD HADLEY is Associate Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature and Children's Literature at the Open University, UK. He completed his PhD on Ted Hughes at Durham University, where he has taught classes on Metaphysical Poetry and Shakespeare.