Ted Hughes in bed with lover on night Sylvia Plath died - biography

Poem about the night poet’s first wife died inspired by row couple had about Plath leaving the country - and him

The poem written by Ted Hughes about the night his first wife, poet Sylvia Plath, died was inspired by a row the couple had about Plath leaving the country, according to a new biography. The poem, entitled Last Letter, was unearthed by Melvyn Bragg for the first time in 2010 and describes what happened during the three days leading up to Plath’s suicide in February 1963.

Last Letter begins with the line: “What happened that night? Your final night?” and ends with the moment Hughes is informed of Plath’s death: “Then a voice like a selected weapon or a measured injection, coolly delivered its four words deep into my ear: ‘Your wife is dead.’”

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