Ted Hughes" poem Fulbright scholars, is an effective and honest account of his first sight of his wife, Sylvia Plath.
He writes this poem like a series of flashbacks, in a rather jumbled manner as if he is setting his thoughts down on paper, trying to make sense of what exactly happened that day. .
Straight away from the first line, "Where was it, in the strand?" we know that he is trying to recall a distant memory, and is not trying to act as if it is still fresh in his mind, he is telling us right away that he is having trouble remembering the exact detail. The particular question seems unimportant but it establishes a distance between the two of them and between Hughes and his memories.
He then goes on to say how "for some reason" the pictures of the Fulbright scholars stood out, as if unknowingly he was attracted towards this picture. However he asks the question, "Were you among them?" this emphasizes the point of how he is not going to pretend that she stood out in particular to him and that he is just wanting to honestly remember the first time he ever saw her.
He says "Maybe I weighed you up, feeling unlikely" this suggests that at the time he probably felt that he was no where near the level she was at, and that she probably wouldn't look twice at him. She is obviously not only beautiful but smart and intelligent, as were the rest of the fulbright scholars so it is likely that he was feeling overwhelmed by them all, and trying to take them all in at once.
Hughes remembers disinterestedly surveying her photograph, her grin false 'for the cameras, the judges, the strangers, the frighteners'.
I feel that it is as if then he just saw her for her face and now he knows her and is indicating that not many people know her as well as he does.
The idea of his thoughts been jumbled is echoed following this when he says "with their luggage? It seems unlikely" here again we see this distance between himself and the memories and he is writing his thoughts and visions of that day straight down onto paper.
HISTORY: in its broadest sense, is the story of humanity's past. It also refers to the recording of that past. The diverse sources of history include books, newspapers, printed documents, personal papers, and other archival records, artifacts, and oral accounts. Historians use this material to form...
