When a new book of poems makes front-page headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, chances are that the reason for such a hubbub lies somewhere outside the realm of aesthetic appreciation. That is certainly the case with Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 198 pages; $20). Although Hughes, 67, Britain's poet laureate since 1984, commands a wide and respectful audience among readers of serious contemporary poetry, the appearances of his books have not, until now, been stop-the-presses affairs. What makes Birthday Letters different is its subject matter: Hughes' poetic meditations on his marriage with Sylvia Plath.
It was...