Unpublished poetry, prose and notes

Partly typewritten, partly autograph poetic and prose drafts, the majority unpublished; lists and notes, some about animals (including mindmaps) written in five notebooks and on loose papers. Although undated, material appears to date throughout Hughes's life. Includes a draft of a letter to Caroline and Matthew [Evans]; some illustrations that may have been done by Leonard Baskin; notes about Eliot and Yeats and notes entitled 'Act IV Temple of the Eagle's Foot (Palace of History)'. Some of the material includes references to 'a Book of the Dead' and 'Bardo Thodol'. A red exercise book contains prose draft entitled 'D of B', which may stand for 'Difficulties of a Bridegroom' and another contains drafts of a poem about the Queen Mother. Notes about Crow and Oedipus are also included. Notes made on the reverse of an envelope with date stamp '13th December 1962' may relate to Hughes's idea about mysticism in Shakespeare's work. A large notebook containing notes on Hindu scriptures, the Upanishads, unpublished poetry and some notes about Hughes's work, which may relate to archival material that he decided to send to Emory, is also included.

Unrestricted