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157th out of 975 books
—
1,012 voters
Crow (Faber Library)
by
Ted Hughes
The hero of Ted Hughes's Crow is a creature of mythic proportions. Ferocious, bleak, full of anarchic energy and violent comedy, Crow's story is one of the literary landmarks of our time.
Hardcover, 89 pages
Published
February 4th 1996
by Faber and Faber
(first published 1970)
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February 17th
A lamb could not get born. Ice wind
Out of a downpour dishclout sunrise. The mother
Lay on the muddied slope. Harried, she got up
And the blackish lump bobbed at her back-end
Under her tail. After some hard galloping,
Some manoeuvering, much flapping of the backward
Lump head of the lamb looking out,
I caught her with a rope. Laid her, head uphill
And examined the lamb. A blood-ball swollen
Tight in its black felt, its mouth gap
Squashed crooked, tongue stuck out, black-purple,
Strangled by it...more
A lamb could not get born. Ice wind
Out of a downpour dishclout sunrise. The mother
Lay on the muddied slope. Harried, she got up
And the blackish lump bobbed at her back-end
Under her tail. After some hard galloping,
Some manoeuvering, much flapping of the backward
Lump head of the lamb looking out,
I caught her with a rope. Laid her, head uphill
And examined the lamb. A blood-ball swollen
Tight in its black felt, its mouth gap
Squashed crooked, tongue stuck out, black-purple,
Strangled by it...more
Everywhere there is desolation, pain and human despair, there is Crow perched, laughing, musing on all around him. An ancient force like some commentator on creation.These poems are harsh but also have black humour, and with each reading I found myself understanding them better.
Crow's Song Of Himself
When God hammered Crow
He made gold
When God roasted Crow in the sun
He made diamond
When God crushed Crow under weights
He made alcohol
When God tore Crow to pieces
He made money
When God blew Crow up
He mad...more
Crow's Song Of Himself
When God hammered Crow
He made gold
When God roasted Crow in the sun
He made diamond
When God crushed Crow under weights
He made alcohol
When God tore Crow to pieces
He made money
When God blew Crow up
He mad...more
1 like · like · see review
In native American culture in particular, the Crow was seen as the eternal trickster, even a figure of malice in the forms of the Universe. In this pivitol collection, Hughes appropriates the Crow's mythic role and uses it as a mocking narrator to journey the horrors of the Twentieth Century, including the repressive events of Eastern Europe and the violent incursion of technology and post industrialisation into nature's den. There is a sadism in these poems, that initially arrests the reader, b...more
Crow is my favourite collection of poem. It influenced the novel I'm finishing now pretty heavily.
Most of the poems in Crow feature the central character, Crow. Crows are both predators and scavengers–they will eat anything. Crows are very intelligent. Some crows make tools from stiff leaves and grass, which they use to get more food.
Crows are black. The word black appears a lot in Crow. The first poem in the collection, “Two Legends”, calls Crow a “black rainbow.”
For me, Crow came to represent...more
Most of the poems in Crow feature the central character, Crow. Crows are both predators and scavengers–they will eat anything. Crows are very intelligent. Some crows make tools from stiff leaves and grass, which they use to get more food.
Crows are black. The word black appears a lot in Crow. The first poem in the collection, “Two Legends”, calls Crow a “black rainbow.”
For me, Crow came to represent...more
Crow again ..... and again. This is probably the sixth to tenth time I've read this collection of poems which is one of the most original and impressive ever written. I remember how moved I was the first time I read it. It opened up poetry for me to new possiblities that I had not imagined before, and it still has a similar impact after reading it several times before. This is one of a handful of books that I regularly re-read. Another is "The Book of Questions" by Pablo Neruda which with "Crow"...more
I rarely read poetry, but I enjoyed this strange little book by Ted Hughes. It's full of dark imagery, violence and unexpected humour. The poems read like myths of the origins of the world, except that at the middle of them all is Crow, this anarchic, chaotic, ugly, violent figure, playing tricks on God and turning creation upside-down.
I was reminded of the Anansi figure in West Indian Folk Tales, himself of course of West African origin. I suspect Hughes drew on a lot of mythological sources in...more
I was reminded of the Anansi figure in West Indian Folk Tales, himself of course of West African origin. I suspect Hughes drew on a lot of mythological sources in...more
One of those "classics" I'd not yet gotten around to reading, this is an amazingly dark and intense book, full of surreal and haunting imagery, but not without wry humor. It contains real horror and real emotion, and is mostly spoken in the voice of "Crow", who feels like a cross between a dark/negative Holy Ghost and a primal energy of the death that resides in all life -- not God, but a god, one who's ultimately a reflection of all that is egotistical, ugly, unconscious, on the edge of sanity...more
A Top Shelf review, originally published in The Monitor
Dark, Tragic Verse
Fifty years ago, poet Sylvia Plath killed herself by sealing the kitchen off from her two sleeping children, switching on the gas and sticking her head in the oven. She had separated from her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, seven months earlier when she learned he was having an affair. Hughes called her suicide “the end of [his] life,” but that darkness was compounded further when Assia Wevill, his lover, killed herself and t...more
Dark, Tragic Verse
Fifty years ago, poet Sylvia Plath killed herself by sealing the kitchen off from her two sleeping children, switching on the gas and sticking her head in the oven. She had separated from her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, seven months earlier when she learned he was having an affair. Hughes called her suicide “the end of [his] life,” but that darkness was compounded further when Assia Wevill, his lover, killed herself and t...more
the finest cycle of poetry I've ever read - warm, meaty, harsh and crawing likes it's title suggests - bullets wouldn't through this fleshy example of what one could do with verse, just don't forget to turn the gas off...
Ted Hughes combines primal human storytelling, cultural myths, and violence to create some of the most startling poetry that I've ever read. His themes of deception, fear, blood, and physical love (not to be confused with emotional love) touch the centre of human existence, giving the reader a profound sense of unease combined with familiarity.
Crow imagery dominates the collection, drawing motifs from Isles and Native American mythology, and Hughes proves his deep understanding of this dichotom...more
Crow imagery dominates the collection, drawing motifs from Isles and Native American mythology, and Hughes proves his deep understanding of this dichotom...more
Ye Gods, Ted Hughes was brilliant....
"Crow" is a collection of Hughes' poems, unsurprisingly about Crow: a distinctly unpleasant individual, who does have a habit of arguing with God....
These poems are incredibly dark, but there are definite flashes of humour within.Hughes switches throughout from traditional poetic structure to free verse, which makes the story of the book flow in an interesting way. Crow comes across as a right misanthrope (a bit like the caricature images of Hughes himself, w...more
"Crow" is a collection of Hughes' poems, unsurprisingly about Crow: a distinctly unpleasant individual, who does have a habit of arguing with God....
These poems are incredibly dark, but there are definite flashes of humour within.Hughes switches throughout from traditional poetic structure to free verse, which makes the story of the book flow in an interesting way. Crow comes across as a right misanthrope (a bit like the caricature images of Hughes himself, w...more
My all time fav - the book that got me 'into' poetry while a teen. I realised that poetry wasn't all airy-fairy girlie stuff but can be dark, violent, sad, funny, spooky.... TH's masterpiece written under very dark circumstances. Crow's one of my fav literary characters too. No matter what man, other creatures and God Himself throws at Crow, he bounces back. A true survivor.
I managed to track down the old cassette recording that TH made. Playing this while reading the book makes the hairs on th...more
I managed to track down the old cassette recording that TH made. Playing this while reading the book makes the hairs on th...more
I have not read such a masterpiece. I am so glad my professors suggested me to read this books. The Crow blew my mind off. There is something so dark and appealing to the main character that once started reading it, I couldn't let it go out of my sight. I have watch a youtube video about this book and it is also really cool. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to any one willing to learn about creation and life on this earth. It is really cool that Hughes was reading Shakespeare( I believe King L...more
This was the fourth book (adult) of poetry by Ted Hughes, and is easily the most bleak & disturbing. By ransacking the worlds folklore, the poet creates a figure that strides omnipresent through his own personal mythology, laying to waste all it perceives, including itself. Although this started as a Project for the American artist Leonard Baskin, it easily transcends it's original purpose & Crow re-appears as Shaman.
This is Crow as deicide, for ever tripping over it's own chaos, this is...more
This is Crow as deicide, for ever tripping over it's own chaos, this is...more
Sinfully decadent and disrespectful of the Divine. But, seriously, don't we all have the same underlying doubts and questions as Crow? Unlike Crow, we have the decorum not to show just how dark and ugly such doubts really are. So is Crow true to himself, thereby embodying the very truth he denies? Are we true to ourselves, thereby manifesting the depravity of man that Crow represents?
The book has been dedicated to the memory of Assia Wevill and her child Shura. I think Assia Wevill was really a challenging dramatic figure we can't ignore. The book starts with a poem called "Two Legends" I suppose these two legends are the legends of Sylvia Plath and Assia Wevill. The second legend is much darker and more tragic. A woman who commits suicide seven years after Plath's death and kills her child not to leave a trace. I think she was charming and impressive who caused the loss of...more
What a horrible lil' dreamscape. Seriously, this book SCAWED me!!! (I might get in trouble for saying this, but I also think it's an incredibly interesting bedfellow with Plath's Ariel - which gets read too often as a diary, but I think is, like Crow, a kind of apocalyptic terror dream invoking origin stories, etc.) Anyway, definitely my favorite Hughes so far.
I have read the majority of these poems in a larger compilation of Hughes's work but recently bought this edition in order to have all of the Crow poems in their entirety. Magnificent collection of poems about Hughes's mythology of the human survival instinct. The stupid flinty chip in our psyches that has ensured the fitness of our species since time immemorial.
This is, quite simply, my favourite book of poetry.
How to entice you into reading it.....
Well, it's muscular, passionate and abstract. Hughes wields his verse like weapons, and carves himself a new landscape still bloody around the edges. It is a fantastical meditation on life through the black burned psyche of crow.
It can also be pretty funny.
How to entice you into reading it.....
Well, it's muscular, passionate and abstract. Hughes wields his verse like weapons, and carves himself a new landscape still bloody around the edges. It is a fantastical meditation on life through the black burned psyche of crow.
It can also be pretty funny.
This is a classic case of a school ruining any pleasure that could be gained by over analysing every little thing, we worked on this one damn poem for at least a month, every day, and I hate it, and I despise Ted Hughes, who I fully accept is probably amazing.
These must be my favorite of Hughes' poems. Myth-making at its best, Hughes creates a creation myth that can encompass the whole sadness of the earth, a sadness that includes the extreme joy and general devastation we've created for ourselves. Crow must be some archetype for the soul, whatever it is, but also the human, the child, God, the godhead. Crow is before God, but after; before man and woman, but after; before earth, and even sky, but dependent on them, and after. He is born of the screa...more
This is a quick read. A modern mythology or creation story in line with the American Indian Trickster character or Beowulf, The Iliad, but written in 1972, this collection of poetry moves you through the birth of crow to the end of the world. Simple, free verse poems that trick you into wanting to read more and wrap you in an unexpected complexity.
This book contains several poems so powerful that if Hughes had never written anything other than a single one of them he would still be remembered. "Examination at the Womb-Door" certainly qualifies. Taken as a whole, it's a staggering little book.
The ultimate collection of poetry by ted hughes, avid fans and critics alike should procure a copy to both sate and educate their opinions of hughes at his best. There should be a copy of this book in every poets arsenal.
Holy fuck. Crow.
It's violent, and bloody, and raw, but of such a piercing beauty what will twist your insides, and lodge itself in you so as you still feel its rub long after Crow has had his way with you.
It's violent, and bloody, and raw, but of such a piercing beauty what will twist your insides, and lodge itself in you so as you still feel its rub long after Crow has had his way with you.
Crow is a collection of poems centered around the mythology/old ideas of the crow. It's dark, bleak and pretty damn miserable stuff, which is probably why I found myself quite engrossed in it.
Jul 17, 2009
Wayne
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone wanting to try a new type of speed
Recommended to Wayne by:
a teaching colleague
I am dying to reread this book.
A fellow teacher loaned it to me several years ago and I have never forgotten the experience of these dark, cruel, violent,bizarre,clever,funny, unexpected poems.I expected to be finally bored, wondering for just how long Hughes could sustain this persona, this line he had chosen to take...and he never let up, never disappointed. It just rolled on, poem after poem after poem.
I realise I have never quite recovered from it.
I want to test the waters again and just s...more
A fellow teacher loaned it to me several years ago and I have never forgotten the experience of these dark, cruel, violent,bizarre,clever,funny, unexpected poems.I expected to be finally bored, wondering for just how long Hughes could sustain this persona, this line he had chosen to take...and he never let up, never disappointed. It just rolled on, poem after poem after poem.
I realise I have never quite recovered from it.
I want to test the waters again and just s...more
Wonderful language and images. At times dark and gory, yet laced with wit and a mischievous sense of humour. Listen to an audio video of the poet reading some of the poems from this work on youtube.
The most fantastic collection of poetry which darkly brings together sex, love, death, philosophy and horror.
The character and concept of the crow are both genis in my opinion
The character and concept of the crow are both genis in my opinion
If you are celebrating National Poetry Month, this is definitely a book to read. Dark poetry that brings you to the edge of the abyss of illusory human existence.
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Edward James Hughes was an English poet and children's writer, known as Ted Hughes. His most characteristic verse is without sentimentality, emphasizing the cunning and savagery of animal life in harsh, sometimes disjunctive lines.
The dialect of Hughes's native West Riding area of Yorkshire set the tone of his verse. At Pembroke College, Cambridge, he found folklore and anthropology of particular...more
More about Ted Hughes...
The dialect of Hughes's native West Riding area of Yorkshire set the tone of his verse. At Pembroke College, Cambridge, he found folklore and anthropology of particular...more
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“In the beginning was Scream
Who begat Blood
Who begat Eye
Who begat Fear
Who begat Wing
Who begat Bone
Who begat Granite
Who begat Violet
Who begat Guitar
Who begat Sweat
Who begat Adam
Who begat Mary
Who begat God
Who begat Nothing
Who begat Never
Never Never Never
Who begat Crow
Screaming for Blood
Grubs, crusts
Anything
Trembling featherless elbows in the nest's filth”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Who begat Blood
Who begat Eye
Who begat Fear
Who begat Wing
Who begat Bone
Who begat Granite
Who begat Violet
Who begat Guitar
Who begat Sweat
Who begat Adam
Who begat Mary
Who begat God
Who begat Nothing
Who begat Never
Never Never Never
Who begat Crow
Screaming for Blood
Grubs, crusts
Anything
Trembling featherless elbows in the nest's filth”
Hughes just does not spare you.
He forces you to look into the jaws of whatever his subject matter is.
One to sit beside Crow!...more
Feb 12, 2009 12:56am