The Yorkshire Shaman: Ted Hughes' Animal Poetry Overcoming Social, Political and Economic Alienation

Abstract

This paper explores the way in which animal figures, a key element in the poetry of Ted Hughes, are used to tackle the author's contemporary issues. Hughes led a very troubled life, both because of personal and external factors, and therefore an imprint of such experiences is to be expected. This imprint, we reckon, is a perception of the alienated reality that surrounded Hughes. More importantly, the traumatic experiences troubling the poet's sensitivity would have constituted prime catalysts for his career to acquire the current canonical status. Taking the premise of Alienation being one of the crucial elements inliterary creation throughout the 20th century as a basis, this paper offers some analyses orreadings on three of Hughes' early animal poems, so as to illustrate his insights when confronted with war, the overall debasement of human nature, the disconnection from the natural world, or even the disappearance of empathy in European politics. For this paper's purposes, Hughes, as a "shaman" of sorts, would have recurred to the use of animal figures -totems- in his poems by enacting a sort of dream-like sequence, ultimately leading towards hope for mankind's self-restoration.