Eating Crow: Analyzing Biblical Imagery in the Life and Songs of Ted Hughes's Crow Poems Anonymous

Ted Hughes's book, Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow, is a collection of 67 disturbingly dark poems that explore the evil aspects of life, and human tendency towards violence. The book, dedicated to Hughes's dead second wife Assia Wevill and his daughter Shura, was published in 1972, three years after their deaths. While many of the poems have no mention of Crow, most of them are stories about Crow's life told from an omniscient perspective. The question of Crow's actual identity is an open debate among literary critics. He has been labeled a trickster figure, a preternatural, god-like being, and even Satan himself. While none of these definitions can entirely sum up the essence of Crow, they each offer an insight into his complex personality. He is portrayed as God's pupil ("Crow's First Lesson"; 11), God's equal ("Crow Hears Fate Knock on the Door"; 14), and even as God's superior ("Crow Blacker than Ever"; 63). Since the timeline of Crow runs from the events in the book of Genesis to a post-apocalyptic mating-scene ("Notes for a Little Play"; 81), there are numerous references to divinity and spirituality. The source for these references is...