[John Isbell]

I don’t hate Hughes, I just find his poetry bores and sometimes vaguely nauseates me - an interesting combination. But he is most certainly hated by a good number of Sylvia Plath fans.
I’ll take a look at Crow. That may be the book I disliked enough not to open Hughes again for decades. “perfect / pike in all parts” I thought was very nice, but “terrifying are the thrushes on the lawn” I thought remarkable bombast - or as Horace puts it, ridiculus mus.

Cheers,
John

[Roger Slater]

I think Hughes' "translation" of Ovid is sensational. It's often dissed among our crowd because it's done in free verse and apparently isn't the most "accurate" of the bunch, but I found it beautiful and enthralling nonetheless.