(born Aug. 16, 1930, Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, Eng.—died Oct. 28, 1998, Devon) British poet. The son of shopkeepers, he studied at Cambridge University. He married the American poet Sylvia Plath in 1956.
His first volumes of verse were The Hawk in the Rain (1957) and Lupercal (1960). After Plath's 1963 suicide he wrote little for three years, then began publishing prolifically, often in collaboration with illustrators or photographers. His collections include Wodwo (1967), Crow (1970), Cave Birds (1975), Gaudete (1977), and Wolf Watching (1989). His most characteristic work emphasizes the cunning and savagery of animal life in harsh, sometimes disjunctive lines. He wrote many volumes for children (including The Iron Man, 1968) and edited the journal Modern Poetry in Translation. In 1984 he became Britain's poet laureate. Birthday Letters (1998), published shortly before his death, consists of revealing poems about his relationship with Plath.
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