Morning Song Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath Born on October 27, 1932 in Boston Her father died a couple weeks after her eighth birthday She attended Smith College where she began to show signs of serious depression and attempted to kill herself She married Ted Hughes, a famous poet who was later accused of abuse Had two kids, Frieda Rebecca and Nicholas Farrar, but suffered a miscarriage in 1961 Around 1962, her husband left her for another woman On February 11, 1963 she committed suicide by placing her head inside an oven

Morning Song Love set you going like a fat gold watch. The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry Took its place among the elements. Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue. In a drafty museum, your nakedness Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls. I'm no more your mother Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow Effacement at the wind's hand.

Morning Song All night your moth-breath Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen: A far sea moves in my ear. One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral In my Victorian nightgown. Your mouth opens clean as a cat's. The window square Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try Your handful of notes; The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Musical Version of Morning Song http://www.johnmitchell.org/morning.mp3

Poem’s Organization Six tercets Free verse

The Speaker A mother who recently gave birth She’s in the process of caring for her baby, which requires a significant amount of time and energy Despite this, the mother appears genuinely devoted to her child She’s undergoing post partum depression

The Speaker – Sylvia Plath Due to her numerous autobiographical poems, it can safely be assumed that Plath is the speaker As a mother of two, she has experience as a mother Her miscarriage most likely instilled a sense of unhappiness regarding her view of childbirth

The Speaker’s Attitude Towards the Subject Initially, the speaker acts as if she is almost indifferent towards the subject (the newborn child) because he seems inhuman Eventually, her indifference turns to annoyance at the child’s needs, but the baby’s first words reinforce her love of the child and are somewhat uplifting

First Stanza This is the only stanza in past tense, all other stanzas are in present tense and thus refer to present actions “Love set you going like a fat gold watch The baby is born, he is given a kickstart on life through “love” The birth is compared to a gold, seemingly wonderful watch being wound and set for life The gold watch symbolizes the mechanical and inhuman nature of the child “The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry/Took its place among the elements.” The baby is thrust into life by the jolt of a midwife, and his existence in the universe is now complete because of the cry

Second Stanza “Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival” “New statue.” As the baby is coming out, the parents begin to get excited in approach of the birth “New statue.” The Speaker compares the baby to a statue, indicating how impersonal she feels towards the child “In a drafty museum, your nakedness Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.” The hospital is referred to as a sterile museum The nakedness of the baby reassures the parents as they can take comfort in their clothes The blank stare of the adults shows how distant they are

Third Stanza “I'm no more your mother/Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow/ Effacement at the wind's hand.” This stanza begins to hint at post partum depression; the mother loses her sense of closeness towards the child The speaker feels that the child will serve as a mirror to the mother’s own life as it slowly disappears

Fourth Stanza “All night your moth-breath/Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:/ A far sea moves in my ear.” The “moth-breath” identifies the baby’s delicacy The “far sea” is a metaphor for the child’s constant noise; the mother is always listening for any kind of distress

Fifth Stanza “One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral/In my Victorian nightgown.” “Cow-heavy” refers to the post-birth weight of the mother and demonstrates how difficult it is to get up from bed This shows the mother’s true devotion “Your mouth opens clean as a cat's. The window square” The comparison of the baby to an animal is another instance of the child appearing impersonal The open mouth indicates the baby’s hunger

Sixth Stanza “Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try/Your handful of notes;/The clear vowels rise like balloons.” As the dull stars are swallowed, day breaks and the baby begins to speak This stanza represents a huge shift from previous lines; the poem appears almost uplifting in comparing the baby’s first noises to balloons

Diction and Syntax The wording is simple yet the phrasing appears precise and formal The exception to his is the phrase “cow-heavy”, which is used to demonstrate the uncomfortable nature of the mother The diction changes throughout the poem; while describing the birth the speaker uses bleak adjectives such as “drafty” and “bald” As the speaker narrates her life with the child, she begins to use slightly more pleasant language In stanzas four and five she uses floral language to describe her nightgown and her baby’s breath

Diction and Syntax Although most stanzas are comprised of sentences, nearly the entire poem is told through metaphors and similes; it’s not entirely straightforward

Imagery Until the last stanza, the speaker employs a variety of melancholy images including a statue-like description of her child and a comparison of motherhood to the “slow effacement” of a cloud While describing the baby’s noises, Plath uses balloon imagery to convey optimism

Conclusions The title refers to the last stanza of the poem, in which the baby’s first “clear vowels” are spoke after a difficult night with his mother As a whole, the poem deals with a mother’s relationship with her child After giving birth and caring for the child, she is finally rewarded with the “Morning Song,” namely the baby’s first attempt at speech

The Poem Again Love set you going like a fat gold watch. The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry Took its place among the elements. Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue. In a drafty museum, your nakedness Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls. I'm no more your mother Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow Effacement at the wind's hand. All night your moth-breath Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen: A far sea moves in my ear. One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral In my Victorian nightgown. Your mouth opens clean as a cat's. The window square Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try Your handful of notes; The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Bibliography "Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) - Pseudonym Victoria Lucas." Books and Writers. 2000. 28 Apr. 2008 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/splath.htm>. (biography) http://www.swisseduc.ch/english/readinglist/plath_sylvia/icons/plath.jpg (picture)