The British poet Ted Hughes published "A Picture of Otto" in his final collection, Birthday Letters, in 1998. This autobiographical collection focuses on the relationship between Hughes and his former wife, the famous American poet Sylvia Plath (who died by suicide in 1963). In this particular poem, Hughes addresses Plath's father, Otto, whom Plath depicted as an overbearing tyrant (and also conflated with Hughes) in her poem "Daddy." Hughes meets Otto in the underworld, and, rather than confront him in anger, expresses sympathy for and solidarity with him. Hughes suggests that Plath's perception of both men was just that: her perception, rather than the objective truth of who they were. In this way, the poem seeks to complicate the mythology surrounding Hughes and Plath's relationship, while also suggesting more generally that there are many sides to any story.
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The Full Text of “A Picture of Otto”
The Full Text of “A Picture of Otto”
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“A Picture of Otto” Summary
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“A Picture of Otto” Themes
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Truth, Perspective, and Subjectivity
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-25
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Picture of Otto”
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Lines 1-4
You stand there ...
... the honey-bee's commune. -
Lines 5-7
A big shock ...
... with me — -
Lines 8-11
Rising from your ...
... your family vault. -
Lines 12-16
I never dreamed, ...
... my son's portrait. -
Lines 17-19
I understand - ...
... her heart's home. -
Lines 20-21
Inseparable, here we ...
... in common — -
Lines 22-25
Not that I ...
... as if alone.
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“A Picture of Otto” Symbols
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Tunnels
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 8-11: “a big shock / To meet me face to face in the dark adit / Where I have come looking for your daughter. / You had assumed this tunnel your family vault.”
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“A Picture of Otto” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 2: “Minister manqué”
- Line 5: “big,” “Prussian,” “backbone”
- Line 6: “can,” “conjured,” “poetry”
- Line 14: “can,” “candle”
- Line 19: “her heart's home”
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Line 1: “You stand there at the blackboard”
- Lines 5-7: “A big shock for so much of your Prussian backbone / As can be conjured into poetry / To find yourself so tangled with me —”
- Line 10: “Where I have come looking for your daughter.”
- Line 14: “As long as your daughter's words can stir a candle.”
- Lines 17-19: “I understand - you never could have released her. / I was a whole myth too late to replace you. / This underworld, my friend, is her heart's home.”
- Lines 22-25: “Not that I see her behind you, where I face you, / But like Owen, after his dark poem, / Under the battle, in the catacomb, / Sleeping with his German as if alone.”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 8: “coffin,” “shock”
- Line 9: “meet me”
- Line 13: “ghost,” “shadow”
- Line 14: “long,” “daughter's ,” “words,” “stir”
- Line 15: “hardly,” “apart”
- Line 18: “late,” “replace”
- Line 23: “poem”
- Line 24: “battle,” “catacomb”
- Line 25: “alone”
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Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Lines 5-25
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 2: “manqué. Your”
- Line 8: “coffin, a”
- Line 12: “dreamed, how”
- Line 16: “portrait, here, could”
- Line 17: “understand - you”
- Line 19: “underworld, my,” “friend, is”
- Line 20: “Inseparable, here”
- Line 22: “you, where”
- Line 23: “Owen, after”
- Line 24: “battle, in”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 2: “Minister manqué”
- Line 5: “big,” “shock,” “Prussian,” “backbone”
- Line 6: “can,” “conjured,” “poetry”
- Line 9: “meet me,” “dark adit”
- Line 11: “tunnel,” “family vault”
- Line 12: “occult,” “guilt”
- Line 13: “ghost inseparable”
- Line 14: “daughter's words,” “can,” “candle”
- Line 15: “could hardly”
- Line 19: “her heart's home”
- Line 21: “forgiven,” “ and in common”
- Line 24: “battle,” “catacomb”
- Line 25: “Sleeping,” “German,” “alone”
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Diacope
Where diacope appears in the poem:- Line 9: “face to face”
- Line 16: “portrait,” “portrait”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “Lutheran / Minister”
- Lines 2-3: “idea / Of”
- Lines 3-4: “radically / Modified”
- Lines 5-6: “backbone / As”
- Lines 6-7: “poetry / To”
- Lines 8-9: “shock / To”
- Lines 9-10: “adit / Where”
- Lines 13-14: “shadow / As”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 5-6: “A big shock for so much of your Prussian backbone / As can be conjured into poetry”
- Lines 13-14: “Your ghost inseparable from my shadow / As long as your daughter's words can stir a candle.”
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“A Picture of Otto” 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.
- Lutheran Minister Manqué
- The Honey-Bee's Commune
- Prussian
- Adit
- Your Daughter
- Occult
- Stir
- Your Portrait
- Owen
- Catacomb
- German
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(Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “Lutheran / Minister manqué”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Picture of Otto”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“A Picture of Otto” Speaker
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“A Picture of Otto” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “A Picture of Otto”
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More “A Picture of Otto” Resources
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External Resources
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"Stronger Than Death" — Watch a BBC program exploring Hughes's life and work.
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An Introduction to Birthday Letters — A short article exploring the historical context of the collection in which this poem appears.
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Hughes's Life and Work — Read a short biography of Hughes via the Poetry Foundation.
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Hughes and Plath — Learn more about the "most notorious, politicized and doomed literary couple in history."
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Sylvia Plath's Biography — Learn more about Sylvia Plath herself.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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