Nicholas Hughes, the son of the late poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, has committed suicide, the NY Times reports. The 47-year-old evolutionary biologist lived in Alaska, far from the public scrutiny that followed his family.
In 1963, his mother committed suicide while her two children slept. Her son also fought depression for most of his life. The Poetry Foundation reprinted a poem that Plath wrote for her young son entitled “Nick and the Candlestick.” Here’s an excerpt:
“O love, how did you get here?
O embryo
“Remembering, even in sleep,
Your crossed position.”
(Via Maud Newton)