ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses two different kinds of ecosemiotic notions or practices in Hughes's poetics. The first kind is identified in poems that attempt to describe nature from a non-human perspective, that try to perceive other species' Umwelten and describe non-human nature in semiotic terms. 'Brambles' is an example of this kind of poem. The second kind of poem is focused on description and more concerned with interpretation, addressing how non-human nature is contextualised and acquires meaning in human Umwelten. This kind of poem is for example important in Hughes's collection River, exemplified in the chapter by the poem 'Salmon Eggs'. The poems in River depict a spiritual global ecosystem, stretching from the sky to the sea. The chapter states that the River signifies the interconnectedness of the global ecosystem, the salmon, framed by religious imagery, signifies the sacredness of that ecosystem.
