PLATH, Sylvia.

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Typed letter signed, to Ted Hughes. This is the first surviving letter Sylvia Plath wrote to Ted Hughes, composed during their first separation since their marriage on 16 June 1956. Moving between practical concerns and declarations of devotion, it captures the intensity of their early relationship and the creative ambitions they shared.Plath brings Hughes the news that six of her poems have been accepted for publication by Henry Rago, editor of Poetry. The six poems ("Two Sisters of Persephone", "Metamorphosis", "Wreath for a Bridal", "Strumpet Song", "Dream with Clam-Diggers", and "Epitaph for Fire and Flower") appeared in the January 1957 issue of Poetry. Plath writes to her mother, Aurelia, the following day, describing the acceptance in both letters as "something wonderful" and crediting her relationship with Hughes for the breakthrough.The couple had spent part of their honeymoon in Paris with Aurelia, then travelled to Spain before visiting Hughes's parents at Heptonstall Slack in the Calder Valley. It was a period of intense creativity for both writers. Plath describes the acceptance as "the consecration of my new writing, which properly began with you [Hughes] and 'Pursuit' and ramped on through spring and summer", fondly adding, "'Epitaph for Fire and Flower' was begun on Benidorm beach; bless it".She also recalls the Yorkshire landscape, with its "great green meadows stretching outside the windows, the black bandit-faced sheep and all the moors and valleys I trampe

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