Crow. Read by Ted Hughes (audio)
Author: Hughes, Ted
Published by Faber/Penguin, 1997
2 audio cassettes
This is an outstanding new recording. The two tapes for the first time include parts of the unpublished link narrative which is sometimes referred to in interviews and several works of criticism (Faas, Sagar, etc.). Hughes used to include parts of the narrative in early public readings of Crow.
Hughes has made some very interesting changes to the sequence of poems and included poems not published in the original editions of Crow such as "Bride and Groom" and "The Lovepet" (which appeared in Cave Birds and Moortown), thus re-establishing the link between Crow and other works.
The tape makes painfully apparent, what a great work the Crow sequence could have been, had Hughes found a way to continue with it.
The set is highly recommended for classroom use/students. The link narrative clarifies several poems, as well as their place and relationships within the sequence and within Ted Hughes's work as a whole.
I've compiled a list of the poems as they appear on the tape (
download here, PDF).
See also
Crow (LP),
Crow (book).
Contents:
SIDE A
- Two Legends
- Lineage
- Examination at the Womb-door
- A Kill
- Crow and Mama
- The Door
- A Childish Prank
- Crow's First Lesson
- Crow Alights
- That Moment
- Crow Tyrannosaurus
- Crow's Account of the Battle
- The Black Beast
- A Grin
SIDE B
- Crow Communes
- Crow's Account of St. George
- A Disaster
- The Battle of Osfrontalis
- Crow's Theology
- Crow's Fall
- Crow and the Birds
- Criminal Ballad
- Crow on the Beach
- The Contender
- Oedipus Crow
- Crow's Vanity
- A Horrible Religious Error
- Crow Tries the Media
- Crow's Nerve Fails
- In Laughter
SIDE C
- Crow Frowns
- Magical Dangers
- Crow Goes Hunting
- Crow's Elephant Totem Song
- Owl's Song
- Robin Song
- Tiger-Psalm
- Conjuring in Heaven
- Dawn's Rose
- Crow's Undersong
- Crow's Playmates
- Crowego
- The Smile
- Crowcolour
- Crow's Battle Fury
- Crow and Stone
- Crow Blacker than ever
- Revenge Fable
- A Bedtime Story
- Crow's Song about Himself
SIDE D
- Crow Sickened
- Truth Kills Everybody
- Crow and the Sea
- Crow's Last Stand
- Apple Tragedy
- Notes for a Little Play
- Fragment of an Ancient Tablet
- Crow Paints Himself into a Chinese Mural
- Lovesong
- The Lovepet [from Moortown]
- Bride and Groom Lie Hidden for Three Days [from Cave Birds]
- Littleblood
- How Water Began to Play