An episode from 1/10/24: Tonight, I read seven poems from Ted Hughes's collection of farming poems, Moortown Diary, first published in 1978. His books Crow, Moortown Diary, Remains of Elmet, and River contain his best poetry, and they are models for any artist in how handle nature, animal life, myth, and autobiography in their work. The poems that I read from Moortown Diary are: Rain Bringing in new couples Surprise Ravens February 17th Birth of Rainbow A monument This is a revision and complete re-recording of an episode first posted in January of 2021, which included only five poems. I've used the opportunity to read from Hughes's preface and notes to the book, as well as a letter written to his friend, Keith Sagar about the collection. I also include audio of Hughes from the BBC/British Library recordings collected as The Spoken Word: Ted Hughes, Poems and Short Stories. You can support Human Voices Wake Us here, or by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Email me at [email protected].

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