Season Songs

by Ted Hughes

Spring will marry you. A promise!

Cuckoo brings the May.

O new clothes! O get your house ready!

Expectation keeps you starry.

But at which church and on what day?

In these poems Ted Hughes invites the reader to try and catch the spring (but she's elusive); to take a closer look at the March calf; to listen to the happiness of the summer grass; and to notice the 'weak-neck snowdrops' in winter. Earth is revealed in all its surprising richness and rawness, and so is humankind's own constantly changing relationship with the seasons.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Edward James Hughes was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death. In 2008, The Times ranked Hughes fourth on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
He married fellow poet Sylvia Plath in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England, in a tumultuous relationship. They had two children before separating in 1962 and Plath ended her own life in 1963.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK. There's some good poems, but also some that left me cold. But that's my problem with Hughes in the first place. Coldness. And this collection was meant for children? One other thing, as far as poets go, dude was prolific. Like Joyce Carol Oates. Oh well.

[Cheryl]

My edition from Viking, illustrated by Leonard Baskin. I couldn't get through it. Small font, dark pictures, all about atmosphere, no sense that I could derive. Maybe better for scholars and artists?

[Descending Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit different from his other works this is a book of poetry, a collection of twenty-eight poems grouped to represent the four seasons, but classed as a children's book. But it's not dumbed down or anything, the writing is beautiful and far stronger than the last couple works that I've read from Hughes. Highlights ~ "March Morning Unlike Others" "Spring Nature Notes" "April Birthday" "Hay" "Sheep" "The Harvest Moon" "Autumn Nature Notes" "A Cranefly in September" "December River" " Snow and Snow" and "The Warm and the Cold".

[Richard Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one seems quite as good to me as did The Hawk in the Rain and Crow - Hughes at the top of his game, then. The runt lamb doomed from birth, the swallows and the swifts, the (by most people) inexpressible feeling of the change of the season, all emerge vividly from the page. Seventy years on from his first publication, Hughes is still being read and loved and quite right too.

[Andrew Corsini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of Ted Hughes' best work is in this collection, ever so beautiful and lyrical, clear and evocative. This poetry collection evokes peace and placidity, not always recurring features in his work.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice first edition hardback scored for way less than I should at a local secondhand bookstore. Baskin illustrations are as sublime as the poems.

[An]

whirl-thump, eye-smile, oooooh cold cold

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally written and published for children, Ted Hughes's Season Songs has an equal appeal to adults. Poems like A March Calf, Sheep, and A Christmas Carol have become some of Hughes's most well-loved poems. One of my favourite of all Ted Hughes's poems, Snow and Snow is the penultimate poem in this marvellous collection: 'Then everything in the rubbish-heaped world / is a bridesmaid at her miracle. / Dunghills and crumbly dark old barns are bowed in the chapel of her sparkle, / the gruesome boggy cellars of the wood / are a wedding of lace / now taking place.'

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is hand's down my favorite book of ted hughes's poetry for children. it is everything that a good poetry collection should be: musical, evocative, complex, beautiful, transcendent and heavy all at once. can you imagine anything better than a line like "beautifully down in her shining she lies" to describe the grass of the new-mown hay? free verse poetry for children doesn't get any better than this. this is the one that will stay with you.

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The never-ending quest to become a Ted Hughes fan continues.

[Siobhán Mc Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb collection of seasonal poems from the masterful Ted Hughes. Love every poem in here.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fine stuff from Hughes. Revelling in nature, but with a dark edge to it.