Sylvia Plath Poetry.

Sylvia Plath Poetry

Her Life Sylvia was born on October 27, 1932 in Newton, Massachusetts.
She married Ted Hughes on June 16, 1956

Sylvia and Ted had two children Frieda and Nicholas (1960, 1962)
1962: She learned of Ted’s infidelity and they separated. She died tragically on February 11, 1963.

The Arrival of the Bee Box
In 1962, Plath & her husband decided to take up bee-keeping. This poem describes the speaker’s unusual response to the arrival of a box of bees. It is a poem that can also be read on a symbolic level.

Poem opens in a straightforward, narrative-like manner: “I ordered this, this clean wood box”. The simile that describes the box as being “square as a chair” is comfortably domestic, however, the metaphor that follow is strange & unsettling, “I would say it was the coffin of a midget/Or a square baby”. This image is suggestive of death, giving the box a sinister/creepy quality.

The speaker has an ambivalent (unsure) attitude towards the box, being both fascinated & frightened by it: “it is dangerous…And I can’t keep away from it”. The description of the box suggests a sense of claustrophobia “There are no windows …/..no exit”.

Stanzas 1-2 Briefly describe the bee box in your own words.
How would you describe the speaker’s initial reaction to the box? Is she surprised, delighted, worried? Why does the speaker describe the box as ‘dangerous’? Though the speaker thinks the box is ‘dangerous’, she is unable to ‘stay away from it’, why do you this is?

This sense of claustrophobia is reinforced by the startling, surreal imagery that follows. Peering in the little grid, the speaker senses the oppressive atmosphere within the box, underlining the sinister threatening atmosphere: “It is dark, dark…/Black on black” A surreal image portrays the bees as “African slaves”

It is the noise generated by the bees that most horrifies the speaker. The simile that compares the bees to a Roman mob suggests that she is in awe but terrified of their collective power: “it is like a Roman mob”. The description of their buzzing as “furious Latin” suggests their incomprehensible anger. It is beyond the poet’s understanding. The speaker cannot control them: “I am not a Caesar”.

Stanza 3-4 Describe in your own words what the speaker sees when she puts her eye to the box’s grid? What most unusual image is used to describe the appearance of the bees inside the box? How can I let them out? Why do you think the speaker is reluctant to release the bees? Describe the speaker’s reaction to the sound coming from the bee box. What simile is used to describe this racket?

The speaker shows her more compassionate side when she wonders how hungry the bees are. Becoming more confident, she wonders what would happen if she simply released them: “I wonder if they would forget me/If I just undid the locks”. There is a sharp contrast between the confinement of the box & the freedom of the natural world.

Stanza 5- 6 What does the speaker mean she is not Caesar?
What options does she feel she has regarding this box that frightens her so much?

By close of poem the speaker no longer feels threatened: “they might ignore me…/I am no source of honey”. Feeling newly empowered the speaker decides to exercise her power in a positive way: “Tomorrow I will be sweet God, I will set them free/The box is only temporary”.

Stanzas 6-7 What does she finally decide to do with the box?
The speaker declares that she will be ‘sweet God’. What does she mean by this?

Symbolism The bee box may be regarded as a symbol of the poet’s mind, and the angry threatening bees as symbols of the dark destructive aspects of her personality.

Key Points Key themes include power and control, repression and freedom. This poem is also open to a symbolic interpretation. It is a deeply personal poem- repeated use of ‘I’. There is use of startling imagery (stanzas 1 and 3) The poet also makes effective use of simile/metaphor.

Exam Questions (2003) (OL) Question 1
What impression of the poet, Sylvia Plath, do you get from reading this poem? What words or phrases from the poem especially help create that impression for you? (20)

Question 2 The following list of phrases suggests some of the poet’s attitudes to the bee box: She is fascinated by it She is annoyed by it She feels she has great power over it Choose the phrase from the above list that is closet to you own reading of the poem. Explain your choice, supporting your view by reference to the words of the poem.

Read the sample answers to Question 1 and 2 on your hand-out ……..

Question 3 Imagine you were asked to select music to accompany a public reading of the poem. Describe the kind of music you would choose and explain your choice clearly.(10) ‘The box is only temporary’ What do you understand the last line of the poem to mean? (10) (Hint: the line has to do with an important choice faced by the poet)

Child: Before Reading Picture a young mother talking to her one-year-old son. What will she say to him? What will she talk to him about? What feelings will the mother and son share? Share your thoughts with your partner before reading this poem in which a mother speaks to her baby son.

Child Plath expresses her love for her child while also revealing her inner torment. Also portrays the dark depression that regularly engulfed (surrounded) the poet.

Child Poet addresses her child in opening line, “Your clear eye is the one absolutely beautiful thing” – this implies that everything else in speaker’s world is some way tarnished – hinting at poet’s troubled mind. Plath wants to give her child beautiful experiences – she wants to fill her eyes with “colour and ducks”. – also evokes child’s sense of innocence & wonder.

First Encounter …. The poet considers her child’s eye to be ‘the one absolutely beautiful thing’. What does she long to offer the child? Make reference to the poem.

Child The closing stanza is contrastingly gloomy.
She worries about her child witnessing her emotional turmoil and being affected by her anxiety, “Not this troublous wringing of hands”. The closing image is utterly bleak. “This dark ceiling without a star”. The total darkness of the poet’s depression conveys a sense of oppression & confinement.

Child The April snowdrop metaphor – child is representative of hope and new beginnings. (Spring) “Little stalk without wrinkle” metaphor suggests child’s potential to grow & blossom.

A closer look! What sort of images does the poet consider appropriate for a young child? Do you think the ‘dark/ceiling without a star’ is a description of an actual room or a metaphor for the way the poet views her life? Do you think that the poet expects too much of herself as a parent? Is her view of childhood and what a child ought to receive realistic (truthful) or idealistic (idea of what reality should be).

Theme: Mental Suffering
This is a short poem about a mother’s anguish. The poet longs to provide her child with beautiful experiences but is unable to do so because of her own struggle with despair and anguish. She ends up feeling guilty and inadequate as a parent, and the perfection she sees in her child only adds to her feelings of inadequacy.

Important References: Nature
The flowers that the poet mentions are interesting ‘April snowdrop, Indian pipe’. The April snowdrop is particular beautiful (pure and white), while the Indian Pipe is less beautiful and is believed to exist in the darkened forest and feeds on decay. Perhaps Plath meant these flowers to represent the ‘child’ versus mother.

To Sum Up …. The poem deals with the poet’s love for her child and her own depression. The poet uses memorable imagery. She uses clear and simple language. There is a stark contrast between the joy and colour of the child’s world and the despair and darkness that has consumed the poet.

A Closer Reading How does the poet show a contrast between the world of the child and her own world? What is your personal response to this poem?

Sample Answer: What is your personal response to this poem?
Child is one of the last poems Plath wrote before taking her own life and the poem showed me that she has lost confidence in herself as a mother. She believes she is unable to create the kind of joyful world she would like for her child. She wants to fill her child’s eye with ‘the zoo of the new’. In my opinion, this phrase brilliantly emphasises how simple and exciting life can be. However, Plath is unable to do this because she is filled with anguish and despair. She doesn’t want her child’s ‘clear eye’ to witness her pain. This feeling of helplessness made me feel very sad.

Sample Answer Continued ….
The poet believes she is incapable of being a good mother. I think it is an unhappy poem that shows the love and desires of a mother for her child but how her failure to fill the child’s world with ‘colour and ducks’ adds to her gloom. Feeling guilty and inadequate as a parent the poet’s world has become a ‘dark ceiling without a star.’ While I found the poem quite upsetting, it helped me to understand the depression Plath was dealing with.

Helpful Starts! After reading the poem……….
I believe the poet is trying to convey….. I believe the poet displays a…. It is clear from the poem……….. There is a stark contrast between…… I feel Plath is trying to highlight……. I think the poet is trying to suggest…..

Mirror I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. What ever you see I swallow immediately Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful--- The eye of a little god, four-cornered. Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers. Faces and darkness separate us over and over. Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, Searching my reaches for what she really is. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Mirror “Mirror” gives voice to an inanimate object
It reflects on a number of different themes: The inevitability of old age & death. Preoccupation with image A search for identity

Mirror Plath’s use of personification
Plath regularly uses inanimate objects with human qualities. In this poem the mirror speaks for itself – describing its relationship with a particular woman.

Mirror Stanza 1 The mirror expresses itself in a clear & direct manner - “I am silver and exact” It reflects things exactly as they are. It does not pre-judge – it has “no preconceptions”

Mirror The mirror is cold and emotionless.
While a person may be dissatisfied or even upset by their mirror image, the mirror insists “I am not cruel, only truthful”.

Mirror When the mirror states that it immediately swallows whatever it sees. We are reminded of the inexorable (can’t be stopped) passage of time. The image captured by the mirror at a particular point in time will never be exactly the same again.

Mirror The mirror describes how it spends its days meditating on the opposite wall. The mirror has been reflecting this wall – “pink, with speckles” – for so long that it feels the wall is now part of itself. “I think it is a part of my heart”. Only darkness and people “separate” the mirror from the wall.

Mirror Second section This section is concerned with the mirror’s relationship with the woman on whose bedroom wall it hangs.

Mirror The mirror declares, “Now I am a lake”.
The flat surface of a lake is reflective like a mirror. However a lake has hidden depths, so this metaphor also has connotations of danger. The woman searches the depths of the mirror/lake “for what she really is”. The woman seems to be struggling to discover her identity and find her way in life

Mirror The reference to “tears and an agitation of hands” points to the woman’s inner torment. The fact that the mirror “is important to her” indicates her insecurity. It would seem that she is deeply troubled by the ageing process

Mirror Closing lines They are particularly dramatic
The lake metaphor is developed, with the mirror/lake describing how the woman has “drowned a young girl” in its depths, while watching old age daily rise towards her “like a terrible fish”. The closing image is startling and a little disturbing in its depiction of old age as an ugly monstrous creature waiting in the depths for us all

Themes: Mental Anguish
Like many of Plath’s poems, this depicts mental turmoil. The woman in the poem is gripped by a fit of loneliness and despair as she examines herself in the mirror. We get a sense that much of this turmoil arises from the fact that she has lost her way in life and has lost her sense of identity. She gazes into the mirror attempting to locate and reconnect with her true self. “Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,/ Searching my reaches”

Themes: Mental Anguish
Several of Plath’s poems touch on the idea of inadequacy and worthlessness. (Child, The Arrival of the Bee Box etc.) The speaker looks at her reflection in “tears” and turns away to the soft glow of candles as if she does not like what she sees. The woman seems deeply troubled by the prospect of ageing.

Personal Response Questions
“Mirror” has been described as a poem of images. Pick out three different images from the poem. In each case state whether or not you think it is effective. The mirror claims it is “important” to the woman. In what ways might a mirror be important to an individual? Consider here psychological as well as purely practical reasons. What do you think the mirror means when it says “In me she has a drowned a young girl”? What does the “terrible fish” represent?

Poppies in July The title suggests a joyful poem about beauty of nature – this is deliberately misleading. The poem is actually concerned with the speaker’s inner turmoil. The voice of the poet is clearly troubled. The opening metaphor sets the tone for the dark poem that follows, “Little poppies, little hell flames”.

Poppies in July The flowers are associated with evil “hell”.
They can be dangerous, “Do you do no harm?” The movement of the dancing red flowers resembles that of a flickering fire. The image of the speaker putting her hands “among the flames” is disturbing because it seems to point to a self-destructive personality.

First Encounter …. Think about poppies. What colour are they? How would you describe them? What does the poet compare the poppies to in the first four lines? Why do you think she makes this comparison? How is the poet’s sense of frustration apparent in the opening lines of the poem?

Poppies in July The image of the ‘bloodied’ mouth startles the reader because it links the poppies with physical violence, an unusual association. It is unsettling to see beautiful flowers being associated with violence and bloodshed.

Questions Lines 5 to 8 describe the flowers violence and unsettling imagery. What does the poet compare the flowers to? How would you describe the imagery of the first eight lines? What does the poet’s choice of imagery suggest about the state of mind?

Poppies in July The poet speaks about the drug produced by them – opium. She wishes for the tranquillising effect of the drug, “Where are your opiates, your nauseous capsules?”

Poppies in July The speaker’s desperation to escape from her world is so enormous that she longs for the drug even though she knows it is sickening. It seems violence or sleep are preferable to her present state, “If I could bleed or sleep”.

Poppies in July Closing Lines
The speaker expresses her longing for the “dulling and stilling” properties of opium. She is exhausted from watching the energetic red poppies. The poet yearns for oblivion, for a world devoid of colour … “colourless, colourless”

Key Points …. A key theme is the speaker’s longing to escape from the world. This is an intensely personal poem. The poem contains shocking imagery. A dark and despairing mood saturates the poem. There is a sharp contrast between the vividness and vitality of the flowers and the dull, lifeless world for which the speaker longs.

Key Points: Language The poet uses two metaphor and a simile to describe the poppies: She uses a metaphor when she compares them to ‘little hell flames’ and when she compares the to ‘little bloody skirts!’ She uses a simile when she says they are ‘like the skin of a mouth’. The poet use of repetition also suggests her mental agitation. ‘little’, ‘colourless’, ‘capsule’, and ‘bloody’.

Key Points: Language Try to include these notes on language in any answer you give on Plath. For example: ‘The dark and despairing mood of the poet is made very clear through her use of metaphor. The comparison between the poppies and “little hell flames” showed me that ……’

A closer reading lines 9-15
Think about the words ‘opiates’, ‘Dulling’, ‘stilling’ and ‘colourless’. What do you think they have in common? What sort of condition does the poet long for? The poet suggests that she is living in a ‘glass capsule’. What do you think she means by this? Is it a metaphor for her state of mind? What image do you find most effective in the poem? Give reference to the poem.

OL Exam Style Questions
Q.2 (a) Imagine that you are the poet. Write two diary entries that give your reaction to the poem a long time after you first wrote it. (20) OR (b)Which of the following statements is closest to your own feelings for the speaker of this poem? I admire the speaker I feel sorry for the speaker I am fascinated by the speaker (20) (c) The poem Poppies in July has little to do with actual poppies and much more to do with the mind that is thinking about them. Give your response to this statement. (20)

Morning Song A deeply personal poem.
It describes Plath’s feelings following the birth of Frieda, her first child.

Morning Song The poem describes the poet’s response to the birth of her child. The parents’ love set the child’s life in motion and the poet likens the creation of life to the winding of a watch: “Love set you going like a fat gold watch.” (Simile)

Morning Song The parents express their joy and enthusiasm at the birth. They “magnify” the arrival of the child and “echo” each other’s sentiments.

What kind of world is the child born into?
However, the world into which the child is born seems cold and unsympathetic. It is unceremoniously greeted with a slap on the footsoles. The room is unhomely and lacking in warmth … “a drafty museum”. There is a sense that the world is coldly indifferent to the child’s existence. The world seems quite unwelcoming.

How is the child described?
The child is described as a “new statue”, perhaps because it is to be observed and commented on, yet this comparison is lacking in tenderness and warmth. (Metaphor) The child is also described as very vulnerable. The poet refers to its “nakedness” and its “bald cry”.

How do the parents respond to the birth?
The child’s birth unsettles the parents and they are unsure how to act … “we stand round blankly as walls.” (Simile) The child’s vulnerability and need for protection makes them feel nervous and insecure: “your nakedness/Shadows our safety”

How do the parents respond to the birth?
The poet seems unsure about her relationship with the child. She does not feel like she has bonded with the baby. She says she can no more be considered the mother of the child than a cloud can be considered the mother of the rain that it creates, which forms a mirror-like pool upon the ground. “I am no more your mother/ Than the cloud that distills a mirror” (Simile)

A change in atmosphere ….
In the second half of the poem, the poet is at home with the child. The child is asleep in a room decorated with “pink roses”. The atmosphere is much warmer and safer than the opening of the poem. The child seems happy and safe, breathing softly and rhythmically. Its gentle breath is likened to that of a moth.

A change in atmosphere ….
The moment that the child begins to cry, the poet gets up to feed it. Her tiredness is evident when she says that she “stumbles from bed”. Yet in spite of this she rushes to feed her child, comparing herself to a cow that needs to be milked. This description of herself as “cow-heavy” introduces a light-heartedness to the poem that wasn’t present at the start.

Theme: Femininity and Motherhood
The poem shows how being a mother can be a difficult experience. When the child is born the poet experiences doubts and uncertainties about her role as a mother: She does not know how to respond to the birth. She and her husband stand “blankly” She feels less secure now that she has a child. She no longer has only herself to take care of, her needs are overshadowed by the child’s vulnerability. She initially feels distant from the child. She likens herself to a cloud that has shed its rain and no longer bears a connection to what it once carried.

Theme: Femininity and Motherhood
However, when the poet is at home with the child, she begins to feel more at ease and comfortable about her role as a mother. The description of her rising in the night to feed the child is tender and loving. It suggests she is not as troubled by doubt and uncertainty. Like “Child”, “Morning Song” suggests that motherhood is not a straightforwardly joyous and natural experience. The responsibility that comes with the role can be overwhelming and daunting and it is very easy to feel inadequate However, unlike “Child”, this poem ends on a positive and uplifting note with the description of the child’s notes rising “like balloons”

Language There are several unusual similes and metaphors in the poem:
The child is compared to a “fat gold watch”. The fact that the watch is gold shows that the child is valuable. However, it is quite a cold and mechanical comparison, hinting at the poet’s struggle to come to terms with her new role. She also describes the child as a “new statue”. This is a very cold and lifeless comparison to make with a baby. It suggest the poet’s feeling of detachment from the child. She also compares her connection to the child to that of the connection between a cloud and the rain it has shed. Again, this comparison highlights the poet’s struggle to feel a bond with her child.

Language Some of the similes and metaphors are more straightforward:
She and her husband “stand round blankly as walls” She likens the opening of the child’s mouth as it begins to feed to that of a cat – “clean as a cat’s” She compares the sound of the child breathing to the sound of a distant sea, and suggests that it is as faint and gentle as a moth.

Personal Response Questions
How did you respond to the poem’s description of the birth of a child in the first three stanzas? Did you appreciate the honesty and lack of sentimentality? The first word of the poem is “Love”. Do you think that this is a poem about parental love and affection? Consider how “Morning Song” and “Child” expose the terrible anxieties that can come with the responsibility of being a parent. How do the two poems compare?

POEM Theme Tone Imagery Mood Effect Other Poetic Techniques
Mirror Fear, ageing and inadequacy Detached Cold Personification; rising fish Darkness Disturbing Personification Metaphor Language The Arrival of the Bee Box Personal fears; mental anguish; inadequacy Frightened Fascinated Entrapment and freedom Triumphant; optimism Unsettling Symbol Simile Child Love, despair and inadequacy Frustration Longing Childlike; plant imagery; dark Anguish Heart-breaking Poppies in July Fear and longing Dramatic Disturbed Emotional Sickness; violence; oblivion Dark and despairing Misleading title Repetition Morning Song Motherhood and birth Joyful Amazed Protective Museum; separation; baby’s cry Elation; uncertainty Surprising, interesting

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