95 PLATH, Sylvia. Typed letter signed, to Ted Hughes. [22 October 1956] the last surviving letter from Sylvia Plath to Ted Hughes A contrastingly measured letter from Sylvia Plath to Ted Hughes about her dreams. This is the last surviving letter from Sylvia Plath to Ted Hughes. In sharp contrast to her anguished letter of the previous day (see previous item), Plath acknowledges she is “calm, now, and it is a fresh day”. Plath tells Hughes that she has written two poems this morning, “Evergreens” (which “is particularly written to send to the new yorker”) and “Sheen & Speck” which “describes my walk yesterday morning”, before recounting her dreams from the
previous night. Plath’s dreams were a source of fascination for Hughes, who encouraged her to record and report them to him. Her second dream is vividly recounted and evokes the concerns which preoccupied her. In it, she and Hughes were living with her favourite tutor Dr Krook, “both of us being a kind of sorcerer’s apprentice; she was, we decided, a magic, dangerous witch, and we would discover her power, but hide our intention, as she kept us working mercilessly and always was appearing just as we thought we were alone”. She continues: “it came as close to any dream I’ve had for years in giving me the delight and breathless soaring I used to have in my flying dreams”. A revealing letter showing both Plath’s creative and pragmatic sides. 2 typed sides of blue letter paper over a single sheet folded horizontally, totalling approximately 560 words, signed “Sylvia”. £35,000 [151517]
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