CROW’S THEOLOGY learn to accept this inglorious view of their crow-like selves and discover the meaning, dignity

rn to accept this inglorious view of their crow-like selves and discover the meaning, dignity and
mystery of existence within the premises of the natural physical self.
As a post World War II, Edward James Hughes was acutely aware of the fragmenta on, disorienta on
and disillusioned consciousness of contemporary humans. By contrast, due to his close acquaintance
with nature in his childhood and adolescence at the Pennine Moorlands of Mytholmroyd in the Upper
Calder valley, his sharing of experiences with his elder brother and his own brief phase of occupa on
as a washer at the London zoo, he had frequently integrated consciousness of the feral creatures. In
his poetry, therefore, he o en counterpoints the fu lity, nihilism and trauma of the post-modern man
with the unified consciousness of wild "birds" and beasts, addressing primarily the physical,
survivalis c needs. His poetry appears to be a metaphorical revitalisa on of the debilitated
consciousness of contemporary the release of their repressed energies through impact of the
primordial.

The most memorable modern myth created by Ted Hughes is the character of the crow, in his collec on
tled “ from the life and songs of the Crow”, symbolizing the deep psychological and existen alist crisis
of post modern man, facing a hos le and alien world that has become totally bere of all tradi onal
ideals and assurances. Combining the qualifier of a trickster, a survivor , a des tute, a self proclaimed
creator, a narcissist and a sa rist, the crow emerges as the most enigma c myth of Ted Hughes.

‘Crow's Theology' is a poem that ques ons the tradi onal religious view regarding God's almigh ly
power and the absoluteness of His will. In many of the Crow as in "Crow's Theology' Ted Hughes
mocks, challenges and derogates the tradi onal crea on myth and ideologies about divinity. The
opening lines of the poem is a pseudo-acceptance of the tradi onal theological assurance about God's
love for his creatures. In a minimalis c language Hughes men ons” Crow realized God loved him-
/Otherwise, he would have dropped dead." The biblical asser on that God had created man, in his
own image is mocked by Crow's realiza on that “God spoke crow”. Instead of represen ng God as an
idealized abstrac on, as represented in theology, Hughes defines God as the naturalis c survival
ins nct. This is suggested in the line,” Just exis ng was His revela on" and Crow's concentra on on his
own "heartbeat", that is a palpable manifesta on of life-force. In the poem Hughes leads us to
encounter the dark, unspeakable void and nothingness of life in the lines, “ And what spoke that
strange silence/A er his clamor of caws faded?" and "What spoke the silence of lead? .The poem
deliberately violates tradi onal monotheis c faith in the observa on, “ Crow realized there were two
Gods." In a tone of Sardonic Sa re and mockery, Hughes comments on the survivalis c Darwinian
truth about 'Might is Right' in Crow's contempla on that one of the two Gods is much bigger than the
other." He loves his "enemies" because he has " all the weapons”. This is an affront to the tradi onal
idea about God's encompassing forgiveness extended even to sinners.

Calvin Bedient has observed that in Crow’ Theology Hughes “sets about expressing his sense of
modern man's inner world" which is a world that has been "Stripped off any media ng language
between itself and the universe." It highlights "modern man's feeling of aliena on" from the "deep
powers” both “within himself” and in “the outer world". The volume symbolically describes man's
disorien ng confronta on with the fundamental void of life and its unpleasant truths that humans and
society have usually a empted to evade in the glorious adornments of religion, morality and science.
Crow offers the sha ering Knowledge that life stripped and exposed to its very core comprises nothing
more than mere physical survival. Despite man's immense suffering emo onal, spiritual or intellectual
ma ers, it is the physical ins nctual being that lives and is represented by the crow. Though this
knowledge is unnerving, humanity does not need to withdraw into a passive nihilis c apathy, as the
characters in Becke 's absurd plays do. Rather it is necessary to probe into life with eagerness,
curiosity, resourcefulness and resilience as the as the crow does. Hughes suggests that humans must