| Sylvia Plath is buried in St.Thomas' Churchyard, Heptonstall, West
Yorkshire, England. (See map...ref no.
28) Her grave bears the name 'Sylvia Plath Hughes' as she was married to fellow poet Ted
Hughes. The pair met in 1956 when Plath studied at Newnham College Cambridge on a
Fulbright scholarship from the United States. The name 'Hughes' has
repeatedly been chiselled off the headstone by her supporters. They blamed Ted Hughes' adultery with Assia Wevill as
the cause of Plath's death. (Assia Wevill also later committed suicide.) The name 'Hughes' now appears in bronze lettering -
to prevent it being removed.
Plath committed suicide on the 11th of February, 1963 by gassing herself at
her flat in London. She was 30 years old. Before killing herself, Sylvia left
food and drink out for her children Nicholas and Frieda, and made sure they were
safe in their bedrooms. She had previously made two suicide attempts and
bore a scar on her cheek as proof. Plath's collections included Crossing the Water, Winter Trees
and Ariel. Ariel was published two years after her
death and contained many of her famous poems such as: Lady Lazarus,
Daddy, The Bee Meeting and Tulips.
She frequently wrote about: child birth, hospitals and suicide
and employed disturbing and distorted imagery. Her work has often been
compared to that of Anne Sexton. Larkin called
her the 'Horror Poet'.
Her relationship with Ted Hughes has recently been turned into a
feature film (Ted and Sylvia) starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
Gravestone of Sylvia Plath
Photographs by Tim Simpson
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