Ted Hughes published "Fulbright Scholars" in his last poetry collection, Birthday Letters (1998), shortly before his death. The collection meditates on his six-year marriage to American poet Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide in 1963, following their estrangement. In "Fulbright Scholars," which is addressed directly to Plath, Hughes recalls a photo in which he may have spotted his future wife for the first time, before meeting her in person. His uncertainty about what he saw reflects the unreliability of memory as well as the way hindsight shapes our perceptions of past experiences. The poem also contrasts surface appearances with underlying realities—perhaps in an attempt to dislodge black-and-white readings of Plath's life, death, and relationship with Hughes, all of which the media sensationalized after her death.
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The Full Text of “Fulbright Scholars”
The Full Text of “Fulbright Scholars”
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“Fulbright Scholars” Summary
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“Fulbright Scholars” Themes
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Naïveté, Hindsight, and Memory
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-29
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Appearance, Reality, and Gender
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 11-18
- Lines 24-29
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Fulbright Scholars”
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Lines 1-6
Where was it, ...
... some of them. -
Lines 7-12
Were you among ...
... The girls. -
Lines 12-15
Maybe I noticed ...
... what it hid. -
Lines 16-18
It would appear ...
... strangers, the frighteners. -
Lines 19-23
Then I forgot. ...
... sun, hot pavements. -
Lines 24-27
Was it then ...
... believe how delicious. -
Lines 28-29
At twenty-five I ...
... the simplest things.
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“Fulbright Scholars” Symbols
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The Photograph
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “A display / Of news items, in photographs.”
- Lines 4-5: “A picture of that year's intake / Of Fulbright Scholars.”
- Lines 19-20: “Yet I remember / The picture”
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The Peach
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 24-29: “Was it then I bought a peach? That's as I remember. / From a stall near Charing Cross Station. / It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted. / I could hardly believe how delicious. / At twenty-five I was dumbfounded afresh / By my ignorance of the simplest things.”
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“Fulbright Scholars” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 5: “arriving”
- Line 6: “Or,” “arrived,” “Or,” “them”
- Line 7: “them”
- Line 12: “Maybe I”
- Line 13: “Maybe I”
- Line 18: “the,” “the,” “the”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “display / Of”
- Lines 4-5: “intake / Of”
- Lines 8-9: “wondering / Which”
- Lines 10-11: “Not / Your”
- Lines 11-12: “particularly / The”
- Lines 17-18: “American / Grin”
- Lines 19-20: “remember / The”
- Lines 22-23: “walking / Sore-footed”
- Lines 28-29: “afresh / By”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 1: “it, in,” “Strand? A”
- Line 2: “items, in”
- Line 5: “Scholars. Just”
- Line 6: “arrived. Or”
- Line 7: “them? I”
- Line 8: “minutely, wondering”
- Line 10: “thought. Not”
- Line 11: “face. No”
- Line 12: “girls. Maybe”
- Line 13: “up, feeling”
- Line 14: “hair, loose”
- Line 15: “bang. Not”
- Line 16: “blond. And”
- Line 18: “cameras, the,” “judges, the,” “strangers, the”
- Line 19: “forgot. Yet”
- Line 20: “picture: the”
- Line 21: “luggage? It”
- Line 22: “team? I”
- Line 23: “Sore-footed, under,” “sun, hot”
- Line 24: “peach? That's”
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Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Line 7: “Were you among them?”
- Lines 10-11: “Not / Your face.”
- Lines 12-18: “Maybe I noticed you. / Maybe I weighed you up, feeling unlikely. / Noted your long hair, loose waves— / Your Veronica Lake bang. Not what it hid. / It would appear blond. And your grin. / Your exaggerated American / Grin for the cameras, the judges, the strangers, the frighteners.”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Line 15: “Your Veronica Lake bang. Not what it hid.”
- Lines 24-27: “Was it then I bought a peach? That's as I remember. / From a stall near Charing Cross Station. / It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted. / I could hardly believe how delicious.”
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“Fulbright Scholars” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- The Strand
- Fulbright Scholars
- Minutely
- Weighed you up
- Veronica Lake bang
- The frighteners
- Charing Cross Station
- Afresh
- Dumbfounded
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “Where was it, in the Strand?”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Fulbright Scholars”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Fulbright Scholars” Speaker
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“Fulbright Scholars” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Fulbright Scholars”
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More “Fulbright Scholars” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life and Career — The Poetry Foundation's biography of Ted Hughes.
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An Introduction to Birthday Letters — Read a British Library article on Hughes's final book of poems.
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"Fulbright Scholars" Manuscript Draft — Browse the notebook drafts of various poems from Birthday Letters, including "Fulbright Scholars."
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A Portrait of Plath in Poetry — A New York Times review of Birthday Letters.
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"Getting Over Sylvia Plath": Hughes Before and After Plath — An Atlantic article discussing the overlap of Ted Hughes's and Sylvia Plath's work, and why it's important to consider Hughes's other influences.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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