cian hogan 2011 - squarespaceplath+notes+.pdf · her poems explore the depths of the human psyche...

Sy

lvia

Pla

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© Cian Hogan 2011

Sylv ia Plath grew up at a t ime of intense poet ic ferment in the Uni ted States. I t may surpr ise you to learn, however, that she wrote only two volumes of poetry before her su ic ide at the age of 31. Dur ing her short l i fe , she craved fame but i t was her posthumous col lect ion, Ar ie l , which was publ ished in 1965, that astonished the l i terary wor ld. Despi te i ts dark, brooding nature, th is col lect ion has become one of the best-se l l ing volumes of poetry ever publ ished. Sy lv ia Plath is , qui te s imply, an iconic l i terary f igure. From the myths that grew up around her fo l lowing her su ic ide, she emerged larger than l i fe . Her poems explore the depths of the human psyche and, as a resul t , can be confus ing and di ff icu l t to understand. The mind is , af ter a l l , a confus ing and di ff icu l t terra in to chart accurate ly. Yet notwithstanding i ts d i ff icu l ty, her poetry is unforgettable. The harmony and musica l qual i ty of her language of ten g ive way to f r ighteninglydark statements about l i fe and death. The unique and, at t imes, chi l l ing ly authent ic vo ice that P lath fashioned f rom the t ragedy of her l i fe may not be one that you want to hear. Her poetry can be l ikened to dreams and n ightmares. I t is th is abi l i ty to confront the darker s ides of human consciousness that makes Plath’s work so fascinat ing.

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“

Fin isterre

This was the land’s end: the last f ingers, knuckled and rheumat ic,Cramped on noth ing. BlackAdmonitory c l i f fs , and the sea explodingWith no bottom, or anyth ing on the other s ide of i t ,Whitened by the faces of the drowned. 5Now i t is only g loomy, a dump of rocks—Leftover sold iers f rom old, messy wars.The sea cannons into the i r ear, but they don’t budge.Other rocks h ide the i r grudges under the water.

The c l i f fs are edged with t refo i ls , stars and bel ls 10Such as f ingers might embroider, c lose to death,Almost too smal l for the mists to bother wi th.The mists are part of the ancient paraphernal ia—Souls, ro l led in the doom-noise of the sea.They bru ise the rocks out of ex istence, then resurrect them. 15They go up without hope, l ike s ighs.I walk among them, and they stuff my mouth with cotton.When they f ree me, I am beaded with tears.

Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is str id ing toward the hor izon,Her marble sk i r ts b lown back in two pink wings. 20A marble sa i lor kneels at her foot d ist ractedly, and at h is footA peasant woman in b lackIs pray ing to the monument of the sa i lor pray ing.Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is three t imes l i fe s ize,Her l ips sweet wi th d iv in i ty. 25She does not hear what the sa i lor or the peasant is say ing—She is in love with the beaut i fu l formlessness of the sea.

Gul l -colored laces f lap in the sea draf tsBeside the postcard sta l ls .The peasants anchor them with conches. One is to ld: 30

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‘These are the pretty t r inkets the sea h ides,L i t t le shel ls made up into necklaces and toy ladies.They do not come f rom the Bay of the Dead down there,But f rom another p lace, t ropica l and blue,We have never been to. 35These are our crêpes. Eat them before they b low cold. ’

1 . C o n t e n t

‘F in isterre’ is a dark and somewhat d isturb ing poem that opens with a statement in the past tense. Referr ing to the p lace named in the t i t le , the poet says ‘This was the land’s end ’ . Th is landscape is l ikened to the hand of a rheumatoid arthr i t is sufferer. I t is ‘knuckled and […] | Cramped on nothing ’ . The dark c l i f fs over look what seems to be a bottomless sea. In a d isturb ing moment, the water appears as i f i t has been whi tened by the faces of the drowned. The dul l and ominous rocks are seen as being ak in to ‘Leftover soldiers from old, messy wars ’ . For a br ie f moment, the poet considers what might l ie under the water but then draws back. In the second stanza, she returns to the c l i f f edges.

g l o s s a r y

The t i t le , ‘F in isterre’ , refers to a départment in

the northernmost part of Br i t tany in France.

The name ‘F in isterre’ means ‘ land’s end’. P lath

v is i ted the area in 1961.

1 rheumat ic – th is is a reference to rheumat ism.

The hands and knuckles of people suffer ing

from th is condi t ion of ten become disf igured.

Plath is us ing the image of an arthr i t ic hand

to descr ibe the Breton landscape. Not ice,

a lso, how the physica l shape of the poem

approximates the shape of a jagged coast l ine.

3 Admonitory – warn ing.

10 t refo i ls – any three- leafed plant, such as

shamrock or c lover. Trefo i ls of ten appear on

coats of arms.

13 paraphernal ia – equipment or b i ts and

pieces.

19 Our Lady of the Shipwrecked – here, the

poet refers to a statue of Our Lady ( the mother

of Jesus Chr ist ) who prays for the dead souls

of the shipwrecked sai lors.

27 formlessness – wi thout shape.

30 conches – large seashel ls .

31 t r inkets – smal l , ornamenta l p ieces of l i t t le

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They have been embro ide red w i t h ‘ t re fo i l s , s ta rs and be l l s ’ . I n he r imaginat ion, the speaker sees the decorat ive cover ing of c lover that adorns the c l i f f edge as being embroidered by f ingers c lose to death. She then returns her gaze to the sea. The mist seems unconcerned with th is imaginary f igure who is near ing death. In Western l i terature, the mists of the sea have long been associated with the souls of the dead. Plath can now see these souls as they ro l l in the ‘doom-noise of the sea’ . When they do manage to break f ree, the i r only act ion is to:

[…] bruise the rocks out of existence, then resurrect them.

They go up without hope, l ike s ighs. As the wind lashes the coast, the poet fee ls as i f she is walk ing among these souls. They ‘stuff [her] mouth with cotton ’ and when they f ree her, she is ‘beaded with tears ’ . In the th i rd stanza, the poem becomes even more d isconnected f rom the actual wor ld as the speaker imagines that :

Our Lady of the Shipwrecked is str iding toward the horizon, Her marble skirts blown back in two pink wings.

This is most l ike ly intended to be a descr ipt ion of a statue of the V i rg in Mary. Atthe foot of th is f igure, a ‘marble sai lor kneels ’ . ‘A peasant woman in black ’ is a lso ‘praying to the monument ’ . However, i t is the statue of the V i rg in Mary that keeps the speaker’s at tent ion. She is ‘ three t imes l i fe s ize’ and her ‘ l ips [are] sweet wi th d iv in i ty ’ . Worry ingly, she appears to ignore the prayers of the people at her feet :

She does not hear what the sai lor or the peasant is saying— She is in love with the beautiful formlessness of the sea.

For most of ‘F in isterre’ , the speaker has the courage to face the dark and dangerous sea on her own. However, in the c los ing movement of the poem, she makes a marked withdrawal f rom the c l i f f ’s edge. The surrea l seascape that has dominated the poem now y ie lds to the more human landscape of ‘postcard stal ls ’ , ‘pretty tr inkets ’ , ‘necklaces ’ and ‘toy ladies ’ . In a f ina l reference to the dark, watery wor ld she has just v is i ted, the speaker reminds us that these seaside souvenirs ‘do not come from the Bay of the Dead down there ’ . They come f rom ‘another place, tropical and blue ’ . In the f ina l l ine of the poem, a

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human voice interrupts the speaker’s thoughts. She is to ld to eat her pancakes before they go cold.

2. Sty l is t ic Features

The disturb ing tone of P lath’s poetry underscores a depth of fee l ing that can beatt r ibuted to few other poets. Wr i t ing in The Observer, A l A lvarez descr ibed her work as being ‘of great art is t ic pur i ty ’ . Her obsession with death and her near-suic ida l at tempts to communicate a f r ightening v is ion of the wor ld of ten overshadow al l d iscussion of sty l is t ic technique. Nevertheless, i t is possib le to detect sty l is t ic features in ‘F in isterre’ that are a lso present in much of P lath’s other poetry on the course. In her poems, the sea is of ten associated with death by drowning. In th is respect, ‘F in isterre’ is no d i fferent. The t i t le of the poem is suggest ive of death or the end of a journey. Interest ingly, the poem opens in the past tense. This unusual choice of tense (g iven that the p lace st i l l ex ists ) h ints at the symbol ic meaning of the poem. The opening image of o ld, rheumat ic f ingers c l ing ing desperate ly to the land is a d isturb ing one. The c l i f fs that these f ingers c l ing to warn of danger, and far below, the sea explodes angr i ly. Many of P lath’s seascape poems depict a turbulent sea that is , in fact , a ref lect ion of the poet’s t roubled state of mind. The wor ld of th is poem is remin iscent of the images conta ined in a surrea l pa int ing. I t is a wor ld that has been ‘Whitened by the faces of the drowned’. By the end of the f i rst stanza, the poet has succeeded in estab l ish ing a threaten ing, s in is ter and uneasy atmosphere through her use of personi f icat ion. A batt le is being waged between the sea and the rocks. At t imes, the souls of the dead, in the form of mist , appear to break f ree f rom thei r watery graves only to be drawn back into the water again. This seems to be an endless struggle. You should pay attent ion to the v isual qual i ty of the poem. The colours b lack and whi te appear in many of P lath’s later poems. When she uses these colours, b lack is usual ly used to convey despair and g loom, whi le whi te symbol ises empt iness and deadness. The introduct ion of ‘Our Lady of the Shipwrecked’ does l i t t le to lessen th is dark and g loomy atmosphere. Normal ly a symbol of hope and comfort , in th is poem Our Lady turns her back on those looking for her he lp. In the c los ing stanza of the poem, the dark atmosphere cont inues to prevai l . As the poet moves away f rom the daunt ing seascape of F in isterre, she returns to the human wor ld of commerce, ‘crêpes’ and ‘pretty t r inkets’ . The fact that none of these comes f rom the p lace that she has just been to re inforces in the reader’s mind the idea that F in isterre is a dark and disturb ing p lace. In fact , throughout th is poem, human concerns

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seem tr iv ia l when one considers the dark ly powerfu l and e lementa l conf l ict that takes p lace between land and sea. The sea has of ten been use as a metaphor for the subconscious in l i terature and i t is ent i re ly possib le to read the sea as act ing as such in th is poem. In any case, th is poem deals wi th extremes and

extreme states. The act of reaching the edge of a c l i f f is st rongy suggest ive of a menta l breakdown. Whi le the jerky and jagged appearance of the stanzas mirrors the physica l landscape of F in isterre, i t may a lso be suggest ive of the poet’s state of mind. I f the sea does represent her subconscious, then i t is obviously meant to depict a t roubled mind.

3. Essay Wr i t ing____________________________________________________________‘F in isterre’ is one of the most memorable poems by Plath on the course. This fact a lone mer i ts i ts inc lus ion in any response to Plath’s poetry that you may be asked to make. I f you wish to inc lude ‘F in isterre’ in a response to her poetry, you may wish to inc lude some of the fo l lowing points.

a. The imagery in the poem is dark and powerfu l .b. The sea can be interpreted as a metaphor for P lath’s subconscious mind. This fact may prov ide you with an opportuni ty to l ink your d iscussion of the poem to other poems on the course.c. Once again, P lath turns to nature in order to make concrete the inner work ings of her mind.

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Mirror

I am s i lver and exact. I have no preconcept ions.Whatever I see I swal low immediate lyJust as i t is , unmisted by love or d is l ike.I am not cruel , on ly t ruthfu l—The eye of a l i t t le god, four-cornered. 5Most of the t ime I meditate on the opposi te wal l .I t is p ink, wi th speckles. I have looked at i t so longI th ink i t is a part of my heart . But i t f l ickers.Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, 10Searching my reaches for what she rea l ly is .Then she turns to those l iars, the candles or the moon.I see her back, and ref lect i t fa i thfu l ly.She rewards me with tears and an agi tat ion of hands.I am important to her. She comes and goes. 15Each morning i t is her face that replaces the darkness.In me she has drowned a young gi r l , and in me an o ld womanRises toward her day af ter day, l ike a terr ib le f ish.

g l o s s a r y

1 preconcept ions – f ixed ideas.

3 unmisted – here, the poet uses th is word to

mean that the mirror ’s judgement is not

c louded by love or any other emot ions.

6 meditate – to ponder or contemplate.

11 reaches – range or extent of the mirror ’s

sur face.

14 agi tat ion of hands – shaking of hands.

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Cri t ica l Commentary: Mir ror

1. Content

‘Mir ror ’ opens with two short , c l ipped sentences that capture the mirror ’s essence perfect ly :

I am s i lver and exact. I have no preconcept ions.

The voice of the mirror goes on to te l l us that whatever i t sees, i t swal lows ‘ immediate ly’ . The mirror does not seek to a l ter the image that i t ref lects. I t is ‘unmisted by love or d is l ike’ . As th is ser ies of statements may appear harsh, the mirror quick ly seeks to reassure us that i t is ‘not cruel , on ly t ruthfu l ’ . The tone of the mirror ’s vo ice changes s l ight ly in the f i f th l ine. I t te l ls us that i t is l ike:The eye of a l i t t le god, four-cornered. When no one passes in f ront of the mirror, i t ‘medi tate[s ] on the opposi te wal l ’ . In fact , th is mir ror has spent so much t ime contemplat ing the ‘p ink’ and speckled wal l that i t be l ieves the wal l to be part of i ts heart . There is a sudden shi f t in the narrat ive in the second stanza . The mirror now sees i tse l f as a lake over which a woman is leaning:

Searching my reaches for what she rea l ly is .

The woman then turns to the ‘candles’ and the ‘moon’. The mirror v iews thesetradi t ional symbols of romance as being ‘ l iars’ . Suddenly, the looking-glass takes on a s in ister aspect. I t fee ls rewarded by the woman’s tears and the shaking of her hands. I t fee ls that i t occupies an important p lace in the woman’s l i fe . In th is mir ror, the woman has watched herse l f change f rom a young gi r l to an o ld woman:

In me she has drowned a young gi r l , and in me an o ld woman Rises toward her day af ter day, l ike a terr ib le f ish.


In order to capture the essence of the mirror, the poet endows i t wi th humancharacter ist ics. This use of personi f icat ion renders the mirror more interest ing and s in ister. The opening statement by the mirror suggests that i t is honest and

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open. However, i ts short , c l ipped sentences and i ts meta l l ic appearance lead us to bel ieve that th is mir ror is cold and harsh:

I am s i lver and exact. I have no preconcept ions. Whatever I see I swal low immediate ly Just as i t is , unmisted by love or d is l ike. I am not cruel , on ly t ruthfu l—

Something of the mirror ’s s in ister ego is revealed when i t l ikens i tse l f to ‘The eye of a l i t t le god’. The mirror ’s tone of vo ice is smug and disturb ing. Even more t roubl ing is the manner in which the woman rewards i ts behaviour. She searches i ts ‘ reaches’ for who she rea l ly is and, in the process, grat i f ies i t . By inc luding a human f igure, P lath expands the scope of the poem. In th is manner, the shal low bel ie f that sur face appearances can reveal deeper t ruths is exposed for what i t is . The foolhardy t rust that the woman seems to p lace in superf ic ia l , outward appearances feeds the mirror ’s monstrous ego. Whenever she attempts to seek comfort e lsewhere, such as f rom ‘ those l iars, the candles or the moon’, the mirror ’s resentment is a lmost palpable. The other not iceable aspect of the poem is the manner in which i t charts the woman’s ageing. In a d isturb ingly i ron ic moment, the woman is swal lowed up as a resul t of her own egot ism. Her desperate need to be reassured by what she sees leads her to worship her own se l f - image. However, th is act resu l ts in the complete annih i la t ion of her personal i ty. She l i tera l ly drowns in her ego and in the process is t ransformed into a ‘ terr ib le f ish’ . Ageing is seen to lead to a d i ff icu l t and even f r ightening t ransformat ion. As we have sa id, th is is a process that grat i f ies the cold mirror.

3. Essay Wr i t ing‘Mirror ’ is a fascinat ing poem and worthy of inc lus ion in a personal response toPlath’s poetry. I f you are consider ing wr i t ing about ‘Mir ror ’ in an essay, you maywant to inc lude some of the fo l lowing points.

a. The poet’s language captures the essence of the mirror in chi l l ing deta i l .

b. The poem is structured in such a manner so as to appear symmetr ica l . Bothstanzas are carefu l ly measured and, in th is sense, the form of the poem mirrorsthe subject matter.

c. Once again, P lath draws on unusual and memorable imagery so as to reta in the reader’s at tent ion.

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Elm For Ruth Fain l ight

I know the bottom, she says. I know i t wi th my great tap root:I t is what you fear.I do not fear i t : I have been there.

Is i t the sea you hear in me,I ts d issat is fact ions? 5Or the voice of noth ing, that was your madness?Love is a shadow.

How you l ie and cry af ter i tL isten: these are i ts hooves: i t has gone off , l ike a horse.

Al l n ight I shal l ga l lop thus, impetuously, 10T i l l your head is a stone, your p i l low a l i t t le tur f ,Echoing, echoing.

Or shal l I br ing you the sound of poisons?This is ra in now, th is b ig hush.And th is is the f ru i t of i t : t in-whi te, l ike arsenic. 15

I have suffered the atroci ty of sunsets.Scorched to the rootMy red f i laments burn and stand, a hand of wires.

Now I break up in p ieces that f ly about l ike c lubs.A wind of such v io lence 20Wi l l to lerate no bystanding: I must shr iek.

The moon, a lso, is merc i less: she would drag meCruel ly, be ing barren.Her radiance scathes me. Or perhaps I have caught her.

I let her go. I let her go 25Dimin ished and f lat , as af ter radica l surgery.

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How your bad dreams possess and endow me.I am inhabi ted by a cry.Night ly i t f laps outLooking, wi th i ts hooks, for something to love. 30

I am terr i f ied by th is dark th ingThat s leeps in me;Al l day I fee l i ts sof t , feathery turn ings, i ts mal ign i ty.

Clouds pass and disperse.Are those the faces of love, those pale i r retr ievables? 35Is i t for such I ag i tate my heart?

I am incapable of more knowledge.What is th is, th is faceSo murderous in i ts st rangle of branches?—

Its snaky acids k iss. 40It petr i f ies the wi l l . These are the iso late, s low faul tsThat k i l l , that k i l l , that k i l l .

g l o s s a r y

The t i t le of the poem, ‘E lm’, refers to the majest ic and state ly deciduous t ree. Ruth Fain l ight is an Amer ican poet born in New York in 1931. The poem takes the form of a d ia logue between the speaker and the e lm tree. In the opening l ine, i t is the e lm that speaks f i rst .1 tap root – the pr inc ipal root in the t ree.5 d issat is fact ions – d isappointments. Not ice how the sound of the word approximates thesound of the rust l ing of leaves. This effect isknown as onomatopoeia.

10 impetuously – impuls ive ly, rashly.15 arsenic – a powerfu l , whi te-coloured poisonthat k i l ls a lmost instant ly. The poet may be associat ing th is image with snow.16 atroci ty – an extremely v io lent inc ident ormassacre.18 f i laments – th in wires or f ibres.

19 c lubs – a th ick st ick used as a weapon. Here, the poet is l ikening the branches of the t ree to c lubs.21 shr iek – scream.23 being barren – unable to conceive chi ldren.24 radiance – br ightness.24 scathes – causes harm.26 f lat , as af ter radica l surgery – in th is d isturb ing s imi le, P lath compares the moon to a woman who has had her breasts removed.27 endow me – bestow on me. Here, the speaker is ask ing the t ree to bestow on her some of i ts qual i t ies.33 mal ign i ty – ev i l or i l lness.34 disperse – scatter.35 i r retr ievables – those th ings that cannot bereturned to how they were.36 agi tate – worry or t rouble.40 i ts snaky acids k iss – i ts snake- l ike poisons.Note that some edi t ions use the word ‘h iss’instead of ‘k iss’ here.

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Cri t ica l Commentary: E lm

1. Content‘E lm’ is a complex, even confus ing, poem. The poem takes the form of a d ia logue between the speaker and an e lm tree. Because both voices in the poem employ the personal pronoun ‘ I ’ , many readers f ind i t d i f f icu l t to make sense of the narrat ive structure of ‘E lm’. The poem opens with a start l ing statement f rom the t ree:

I know the bottom, she says. I know i t wi th my great tap root: I t is what you fear.

I t is possib le to read the next l ine as a reply f rom the speaker to what the e lm has just sa id. Here, the speaker refutes the t ree’s suggest ion that she is af ra id of the bottom:

I do not fear i t : I have been there.

In the second three- l ine stanza, the e lm quest ions the speaker. I t asks her whether or not she hears echoes of her own ‘d issat is fact ions’ or ‘madness’ in the movement of the t ree. In the th i rd stanza, the voice of the speaker c la ims that ‘Love is a shadow’. The e lm reminds her that she st i l l yearns for love, but the speaker repl ies that love has d isappeared:

Listen: these are i ts hooves: i t has gone off , l ike a horse.

What is presumably meant to be the voice of the e lm then te l ls the speaker that i t intends to ‘ga l lop […] impetuously | T i l l [her ] head is a stone’. In the f i f th stanza, the voice of the e lm offers to br ing the speaker ‘ the sound of poisons’ . In the s ixth stanza, we are made aware that the t ree has ‘suffered’ terr ib ly. The ‘atroci ty of sunsets’ that the e lm refers to has ‘Scorched [ i t ] to the root’ . The abrupt change in act ion in the seventh stanza is s ignal led when the e lm te l ls us that i t ‘break[s ] up in p ieces that f ly about l ike c lubs’ . This scatter ing effect refers to the physica l act ion of the wind on the t rees, but i t a lso h ints at a t roubl ing break-up of the t ree’s being. In the e ighth stanza, the e lm te l ls us that the ‘moon, a lso, is merc i less’ . The imagery becomes even more t roubl ing. In the

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eyes of the e lm, the moon is a s in ister f igure. I t is ‘barren’ and i ts ‘ radiance scathes’ the t ree. For a moment, the t ree fee ls that i t has caught the moon in the tangle of i ts branches. However, i t qu ick ly lets the moon go. For i ts part , the moon has been disf igured by the encounter wi th the t ree. I t is as i f i t has been forced to undergo a mastectomy or some other form of ‘ radica l surgery’ .At th is point in the poem, i t becomes di ff icu l t to separate the voice of the speaker f rom that of the t ree. The t ree te l ls us that i t fee ls ‘ inhabi ted by a cry’ . Th is ‘dark th ing | That s leeps’ in her is sof t and i ts ‘ feathery turn ings’ are descr ibed as being mal ign. Meanwhi le, the ‘Clouds pass and disperse’ . These f leet ing images are l ikened to the faces of past loves. They, too, have been changed radica l ly and can never be restored to the way they once were. The fact that these ‘ faces of love’ are i r retr ievable is a source of pain and agi tat ion for the speaker:

Is i t for such I ag i tate my heart?

In the f ina l two stanzas, the poem becomes more d i ff icu l t to decipher. The imagery is increasingly surrea l and i t is no longer c lear who is speaking. Perhaps the narrat ive voice is meant to represent both speakers in the poem. In any case, the speaker te l ls us that i t is ‘ incapable of more knowledge’. A face appears in the ‘st rangle of branches’ and i ts ‘snaky acids k iss’ l i tera l ly ‘petr i f ies the wi l l ’ of the speaker. The f ina l words of the poem are d isturb ing. In language that is v io lent , both speakers are effaced, or erased. The physica l assaul ts that i t has been subjected to take the i r to l l on the e lm. Simi lar ly, the emot ional damage that the female speaker has suffered destroys her. These ‘ fau l ts’ , both physica l and emot ional , are seen as being the ones:

That k i l l , that k i l l , that k i l l .

2. Sty l is t ic FeaturesThe cr i t ic T im Kendal l fee ls that whi le i t is g iven the s ingle date of 19 Apr i l , ‘E lm’ ‘per fects themes and images with which Plath had been struggl ing for weeks’ . Dur ing the f ive months preceding her su ic ide, P lath wrote a lmost the ent i re body of poems that were to be col lected two years later and publ ished as Ar ie l . These poems amount to a personal cata logue of the lonel iness and insecur i ty that p lagued her. Crowded with desolate, d isturb ing imagery, Ar ie l lays bare her f ixat ion with death. ‘E lm’ was f i rst publ ished in th is col lect ion. P lath’s ear ly draf ts of the poem were publ ished by her husband, Ted Hughes, in her Col lected Poems. The notes to th is ear ly vers ion of the poem reveal that

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Plath intended ‘E lm’ to capture a d isturbed psychic state. P lath’s f i rst draf t opened with the l ine, ‘She is not easy she is not peacefu l . ’ The f ina l vers ion, which appears in th is anthology, a lso conta ins an uneasy attempt to express the pain of a mind in torment. Whi le there seem to be two speakers in the poem, at t imes i t is as i f the i r ident i t ies merge. ‘E lm’ conta ins some of P lath’s favour i te images: t rees at n ight and the icy pal lor of the moon. I t is typ ica l of P lath’s poetry that nature mirrors the emot ions of the poet and th is is certa in ly the case here. The voice of the e lm empathises with the female speaker in the poem. I t s h a re s h e r e m o t i o n s a n d r e c o g n i s e s h e r f e a r s a n d i n s e c u r i t i e s . T h e personi f icat ion of the t ree leads us to bel ieve that the e lm real ly can empathise wi th the speaker’s t roubled emot ional state. This process begins in the second stanza. The onomatopoe ic e f fect o f the word ‘d issat is fact ions’ not on ly approximates the sound of the leaves rust l ing, but a lso creates an uneasy, rest less sound. This sound is echoed in the f i f th stanza by the ra in, which fa l ls in a ‘b ig hush’. This is another rest less sound that may be intended to mirror the speaker’s emot ional state. In the s ixth stanza, the t ree informs us that i t has:

[…] suffered the atrocity of sunsets. Scorched to the root My red f i laments burn and stand, a hand of wires.

This may wel l be an a l lus ion to e lectro-convuls ive shock therapy. This t reatment is used on pat ients who suffer f rom depress ion and other menta l i l lnesses. P lath underwent shock t reatment at Val ley Head Hospi ta l fo l lowing a ser ious menta l breakdown and attempted suic ide in 1952. I t seems more than coinc identa l that the voice of the t ree should art icu late a sensat ion that c losely resembles being e lectrocuted. I t is important to rea l ise that the centra l image here is not a hopefu l one. The image of a sunset suggests an end, not a beginning. Furthermore, th is sunset is not natura l : i t is over-br ight and worry ingly intense. I f the e lm has suffered, i t is a lso capable of empathy. I t senses the speaker’s own suffer ing and pain. I t understands how she has been tormented by ‘ love’ and ‘madness’ . In response to th is suffer ing, the e lm offers to assuage the speaker’s pain wi th the ‘sound of poisons’ . As we have a l ready d iscussed, sounds are very important to the overa l l fee l ings of unease in th is poem. In the second hal f of ‘E lm’, these fee l ings are re inforced by some strange and unsett l ing imagery. The moon is l inked to a cold, barren v is ion of a mut i lated femin in i ty. Could th is be a pro ject ion of the poet/speaker’s se l f - image? In the f ina l stanzas of the poem, death appears to c lose in as fear turns to numbness. As the poem draws to a c lose, both personae adopted by the poet become submerged. Nei ther the t ree

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nor the speaker emerges fu l ly in the f ina l stanza. I t is as i f both speakers have been destroyed by the i r encounter wi th one another. I t is impossib le to prov ide an accurate descr ipt ion of what takes p lace in th is poem. The lack of log ic and loose narrat ive structure in ‘E lm’ ref lect the speaker’s own troubled state of mind. This is a dark poem that offers us a g l impse into the v io lent , uneasy and u l t imate ly t ragic menta l condi t ion of the poet.

3. Essay Wr i t ing‘Elm’ embodies many of the qual i t ies that make Plath’s poetry so memorable. I f you are wr i t ing a paragraph that makes use of th is poem, you might want to inc lude some of the fo l lowing points.

a. The language of the poem is haunt ing and t roubl ing, yet i t is a lso very beaut i fu l .b. The poem reveals to us the extent of P lath’s d isturbed menta l state.c. Once again, the poet draws on nature to make her innermost fee l ings inte l l ig ib le to her readership.

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Poppies in July

Lit t le poppies, l i t t le hel l f lames,Do you do no harm?

You f l icker. I cannot touch you.I put my hands among the f lames. Nothing burns.

And i t exhausts me to watch you 5Fl icker ing l ike that, wr inkly and clear red, l ike the skin of a mouth.

A mouth just bloodied.Li t t le bloody skir ts!

There are fumes that I cannot touch.Where are your opiates, your nauseous capsules? 10

If I could bleed, or s leep!—If my mouth could marry a hurt l ike that !

Or your l iquors seep to me, in th is glass capsule,Dul l ing and st i l l ing.

But color less. Color less.

g l o s s a r y

The t i t le, ‘Poppies in July’ , is s igni f icant. Opiates are extracted from the seeds of these smal l red f lowers. Many opiate-based drugs, such as heroin, are obtained from poppies; as a result , the f lower has often been associated with del i r ium.

1 l i t t le hel l f lames – given that the f lowers arered, the speaker v iews them as being l ikef lames.

9 fumes – this is a reference to the drugs that can be obtained from the poppies.10 opiates – narcot ics.10 nauseous – s ickening.13 l iquors – ju ices.13 glass capsule – drugs are often contained in a glass v i le.15 color less – this is most l ikely a reference to the general numbing of the senses that opiates can induce.

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Crit ical Commentary: Poppies in July

1. ContentA concise and powerful poem, ‘Poppies in July’ opens with an unusual descr ipt ion of the poppies. From her hospita l bed, the speaker v iews the f lowers as ‘ l i t t le hel l f lames’. She then addresses the poppies direct ly, asking them i f they do any harm. In the second couplet, the poet cont inues to gaze at the f lowers. She cannot touch them. They f l icker l ike f lames but , important ly, they do not burn. The exper ience of star ing at the f lowers so intent ly ‘exhausts’ the poet. The petals of these smal l , red f lowers remind the speaker of the ‘skin of a mouth’. The image is extended in the fourth couplet. Here, the speaker te l ls us that she views the poppies as being l ike a ‘mouth just bloodied’. She goes on to say that these f lowers remind her of ‘ l i t t lebloody skir ts’ . As the speaker’s senses become increasingly dul led, she cont inues to stress the fact that she cannot touch these f lowers. Aware of the poppies’ scent, the poet now searches for their ‘opiates’ and ‘nauseous capsules’ . In the s ixth couplet, the imagery becomes more disturbing. The speaker longs for re lease from her numbed state:

I f I could bleed, or s leep!— I f my mouth could marry a hurt l ike that !

The ju ices of the poppy ( f rom which opiates are der ived) cont inue to seep into her. As a result , the speaker feels that her senses have been dul led. Eventual ly, everything becomes ‘color less’ .

2. Styl ist ic Features

‘Poppies in July’ is another darkly disturbing poem. The tone of the speaker’s voice suggests a masochist ic desire for sel f-harm. At the centre of the poem is the bel ief , on the speaker’s part , that s leeping and bleeding are solut ions to her present state of mind. Interest ingly, the f lowers refuse to co-operate with the speaker. They might be ‘ l i t t le hel l f lames’, but they refuse to burn the speaker even when she puts her hands amongst them. This poem was wri t ten dur ing a per iod of great emotional turmoi l for Plath and i t captures the poet’s desperate desire, lonel iness and confusion. The speaker uses synaesthesia in the poem in order to convey her bewi ldered state. She attempts to touch the ‘ f u m e s ’ , y e t t h e i m a g i n e d f l a m e s f a i l t o b u r n h e r. N o t i c e h o w t h e predominance of broad vowel sounds mirrors the poet’s lethargic and numbed

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state of being. Yet Plath manages to juxtapose these broad vowel sounds with the more l ively, s lender sounds used to descr ibe the f lowers. The ‘Li t t le poppies’ ‘ f l icker’ and dance in f ront of her. Their movement and energy are in sharp contrast to the stupor of the poet. Despite the speaker’s attempts to capture the poppies’ negat ive power, they remain symbol ic of l i fe. At the end of the poem, the poet v iews the world as being ‘color less’ . However, the v iv id blood-red of the poppies l ingers on in the memory of the reader. They refuse to y ie ld to the speaker’s harmful impulses and seem to insist on l i fe. ‘Poppies in July’ is another disturbing and exhi larat ing poem that manages to conveysomething of the poet’s t roubled mental state. 3. Essay Writ ing‘Poppies in July’ is another one of the poems by Plath on the course that offers us a gl impse into the poet’s t roubled mental state. I f you are going to use this poem in an essay on Plath, you might want to make use of some of the fol lowing points.

a. The poem i l lustrates Plath’s obsession with sel f-harm.

b. The use of colour in the poem reveals the intensity of Plath’s emotional state.

c. As i ts t i t le suggests, ‘Poppies in July’ draws on the natural wor ld in order to make sense of the poet’s t roubled mental state.

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Chi ld

Your c lear eye is the one absolute ly beaut i fu l th ing.I want to f i l l i t wi th color and ducks,The zoo of the new

Whose names you meditate—Apr i l snowdrop, Indian p ipe, 5Li t t le

Sta lk wi thout wr ink le,Pool in which imagesShould be grand and c lass ica l

Not th is t roublous 10Wringing of hands, th is darkCei l ing without a star.

g l o s s a r y

5 Indian pipe – a small flower native to NorthAmerica.6 Little | Stalk – little stem of the plant.

9 classical – beautiful or statuesque.10 troublous – agitated or full of trouble.

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Critical Commentary: Child

1. Content

‘Chi ld’ is a dark yet beaut i fu l poem which captures Plath’s growing sense of insecur i ty concern ing her marr iage and her mixed fee l ings at being a mother again. In January 1962, Plath’s son, Nicholas, was born. Unfortunate ly, the b i r th of the chi ld coinc ided with a very painfu l t ime for P lath, dur ing which her marr iage broke up. Ted Hughes, her husband, who was in love with someone e lse, moved to London, leav ing a b i t ter and beleaguered Plath wi th the two chi ldren in Devon; she wrote to her mother in August that she wanted a legal separat ion because: I simply cannot go on living the degraded and agonized life

I have been living, which has stopped my writing and just

about ruined my sleep and my health.

Struggl ing with her desolat ion and disenchantment, she kept herse l f occupied with beekeeping, took up horse-r id ing and wrote passionate and of ten v io lent poems. In th is poem, she out l ines her f i rst impress ions of her new son. She says that h is ‘c lear eye is the one absolute ly beaut i fu l th ing’ . Her journal entry, wr i t ten the day af ter Nicholas was born, echoes these sent iments:

I felt very proud of Nicholas, and fond. It had taken a

night to be sure I liked him – his head shaped up beautifully

… a handsome, male head with a back brain-shelf. Dark, black

blue eyes, a furze of hair like a crewcut.

In the second l ine of ‘Chi ld’ , the speaker says she wants to f i l l the baby’s c lear eye with ‘color and ducks’ . In p layfu l , ch i ld l ike language, she descr ibes th is new arrangement of colours and ducks as being ‘The zoo of the new’. In her est imat ion, her new baby is l ike an ‘Apr i l snowdrop’. I ts beaut i fu l eyes should ref lect noble and grandiose images, not the nervous agi tat ion of i ts mother. The poem ends in a sombre, t roubl ing manner. The chi ld’s eye now ref lects a ‘dark | Cei l ing without a star ’ .


‘Chi ld’ charts the poet’s confused state fo l lowing the b i r th of her chi ld. To begin

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with, the poem suggests a hopefu l and joyous mood. Colour is extremely important in Plath’s poetry and th is poem opens with the speaker longing to f i l l the c lear eye of her chi ld wi th colour. The language of the poem is chi ld l ike and del iberate ly at tempts to s imulate the sounds a mother makes when ta lk ing to her chi ld. L ikewise, the l i l t ing rhythm and s impl ist ic rhyming scheme of the poem work to create an a lmost nursery rhyme effect . The poem’s narrat ive is re lated in four tercets. This three- l ine structure is normal ly used by Plath to conta in separate v iewpoints. However, in ‘Chi ld’ , the tercets are l inked together by a ser ies of run-on l ines. The use of en jambment a l lows Plath to mainta in i ts gent le momentum. In the fourth stanza, the tone and mood of the poem darken. The act ions of the t roubled mother are seen through the eyes of the chi ld. A poem that began in a hopefu l manner is ut ter ly t ransformed in the f ina l stanza. The br ightness and hope that we associated with the c lar i ty of the chi ld’s eye are now replaced by a dark despondency.

3. Essay Wr i t ing

Motherhood is an extremely important theme in the poetry of Sy lv ia Plath. Bear ing th is in mind, you may wish to inc lude ‘Chi ld’ in a response to the poetry of P lath that you have studied. Consider some of the fo l lowing points.

a. Unl ike ‘Morning Song’, th is poem has a darker tone.b. The poem reveals int imate deta i ls about the poet’s pr ivate l i fe .c. Not ice the contrast between dark and l ight in the poem. As we have ment ioned prev iously, colour is extremely important in Plath’s poetry.

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Morning Song

Love set you going l ike a fat gold watch.The midwi fe s lapped your footsoles, and your bald cryTook i ts p lace among the e lements.

Our voices echo, magni fy ing your arr iva l . New statue.In a draf ty museum, your nakedness 5Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as wal ls .

I ’m no more your motherThan the c loud that d ist i l ls a mir ror to ref lect i ts own s lowEffacement at the wind’s hand.

Al l n ight your moth-breath 10Fl ickers among the f lat p ink roses. I wake to l is ten:A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble f rom bed, cow-heavy and f lora lIn my V ictor ian n ightgown.Your mouth opens c lean as a cat ’s. The window square 15

Whitens and swal lows i ts dul l stars. And now you t ryYour handfu l of notes;The c lear vowels r ise l ike bal loons.

g l o s s a r y

2 The midwife – a person who is special ised in the del ivery of babies.3 t h e e l e m e n t s – i n a n c i e n t t i m e s , t h e ‘e lements’ were earth, a i r, f i re and water.7 I ’m no more your mother | Than the cloudthat dist i l ls a mirror to ref lect i ts own slow |Effacement – here, Plath employs a compleximage to descr ibe the relat ionship betweenmother and chi ld. The cloud produces therain that forms puddles that, in turn, ref lectthe cloud.8 dist i l ls – pur i f ies.

9 Effacement – wiping or rubbing out.13 cow-heavy – heavy with breast mi lk.14 Victor ian – a fashion typical of the per iodunder Queen Victor ia’s re ign (1837–1901).Here, P lath means that her n ightdress is oldfashioned.18 vowels – the letters a, e, i , o and u.

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1. Content

‘Morning Song’ was f i rst publ ished in Plath’s most famous col lect ion of poems,Ar ie l . In the words of A l A lvarez, th is col lect ion of poetry conta ins poems that are ‘despair ing, vengefu l and destruct ive’ . However, i t a lso conta ins p ieces that are warm, tender and unusual ly c lever. Whi le ‘Morning Song’ conta ins moments of insecur i ty, i t is bas ica l ly an opt imist ic poem. I t opens with a d i rect and warmlyinc lus ive statement:

Love set you going l ike a fat gold watch.

We learn that the midwi fe s lapped the chi ld’s feet in order to prompt i t to take i ts f i rst breath. As a resul t , the baby’s ‘bald cry | Took i ts p lace among the e lements’ . In the second tercet, the narrat ive takes on a s l ight ly surrea l aspect. This is most l ike ly a conscious attempt on Plath’s part to mirror her fee l ings of d isor ientat ion fo l lowing the b i r th. The baby is l ikened to a museum piece. What are presumably the adul ts are seen to be shadowed by th is naked, newborn baby. The poet then reveals her insecur i ty and uncerta inty by procla iming in the th i rd stanza:

I ’m no more your mother Than the c loud that d ist i l ls a mir ror to ref lect i ts own s low Effacement at the wind’s hand.

Here, the poet compares the complex re lat ionship between mother and chi ld to that between a c loud and a pool of water. The c loud produces water that forms a pool , and the pool , in turn, ref lects the c loud. In the fourth stanza, the speaker’s at tent ion focuses on her chi ld. The chi ld’s breath is descr ibed as being l ike the f lut ter ing of a moth. I ts l ips are l ikened to p ink roses. In many of P lath’s poems, f lowers are at best v iewed in an ambiguous l ight and at worst as being threatening. However, here the roses act as symbols of maternal warmth. Ly ing awake, the poet l is tens and is reminded of a ‘ far sea’ moving in her ‘ear’ . A ler ted by the baby’s cry, she stumbles (despi te the fact that she is ‘cow-heavy’ ) in i ts d i rect ion. The baby responds to her arr iva l by opening i ts mouth. ‘The window square | Whitens and swal lows i ts dul l stars’ . As the poet contemplates th is s ight, her chi ld begins to cry once again, ‘ [ i ts ] handfu l of notes | […] r ise l ike bal loons’ .


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Plath wrote ‘Morning Song’ af ter the arr iva l of her f i rst ch i ld, Fr ieda. This poemmakes use of deta i led and beaut i fu l imagery in order to evoke the mother–chi ldre lat ionship. So many of P lath’s poems are dark and disturb ing, but ‘Morning Song’ is d i fferent in that i t is a genuine and tender express ion of love. The poem opens in a d i rect and inc lus ive manner that draws the reader into the narrat ive and inv i tes h im or her to share in the beauty of the scene. The descr ipt ive language employed by the poet to i l lustrate her fee l ings on becoming a mother is as precise as i t is or ig ina l . For the most part , she concentrates on the sounds that the chi ld makes. I ts cry is descr ibed as being ‘bald’ and i ts breath ing is l ikened to the f lut ter ing of a moth. These unusual associat ions under l ine the newness of th is exper ience for the poet. She cannot re ly on the t radi t ional or standard images of poetry to descr ibe how she fee ls. In order to convey to the reader the idea that her baby is an ent i re ly d i fferent and new person, the speaker makes use of a capt ivat ing s imi le. The baby’s mouth ‘opens c lean as a cat ’s’ . Her baby, hav ing le f t the womb, is no longer a part of her. I t is a new and unique indiv idual . However, the chi ld does ref lect aspects of the poet. In order to convey th is aspect of the i r re lat ionship, P lath re l ies on the unusual natura l imagery of ra inwater and c louds. The intensi ty of the mother’s fee l ings is captured by the surrea l descr ipt ion of the adul ts in the room standing ‘ round blankly as wal ls ’ . Not ice how the echo of the adul t vo ices seems to magni fy the importance of the chi ld’s arr iva l . However, whi le the poet is express ly joyous in her out look, she a lso has the honesty to admit to fee l ings of unease. The baby is descr ibed as shadowing the safety of i ts parents. This l ine ref lects the poet’s sense of d isquiet and uncerta inty. A way of l i fe that was safe and establ ished is obviously about to be turned on i ts head. I t would be wrong, however, to read th is poem in a negat ive l ight . I t is , above a l l , a ce lebrat ion – an honest ce lebrat ion of the s ingle most important event in the l ives of most parents.

3. Essay Wr i t ing

‘Morning Song’ prov ides us with a welcome respi te f rom the darker aspects of P lath’s poetry. Motherhood is a major theme in her poetry and you may want to consider devot ing a paragraph to th is theme. I f you are going to use ‘Morning Song’ in an essay, you may wish to use some of the fo l lowing points in your paragraph.

a. The poet is proud and protect ive of her newborn chi ld. The tone of the poem is warmly inc lus ive.b. Colours p lay an important ro le in the poem. This is , of course, t rue of many of

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Plath’s poems. You may wish to devote an ent i re paragraph to her use of colour.

c. The arrangement of the stanzas in s ix tercets is contro l led and measured. This prevents the poem from becoming over-sent imenta l .

The Arr iva l of the Bee Box

I ordered th is, th is c lean wood boxSquare as a chai r and a lmost too heavy to l i f t .I would say i t was the coff in of a midgetOr a square babyWere there not such a d in in i t . 5

The box is locked, i t is dangerous.I have to l ive wi th i t overn ightAnd I can’t keep away f rom i t .There are no windows, so I can’t see what is in there.There is only a l i t t le gr id, no ex i t . 10

I put my eye to the gr id.I t is dark, dark,W ith the swarmy fee l ing of Afr ican handsMinute and shrunk for export ,Black on black, angr i ly c lamber ing. 15

How can I let them out?I t is the noise that appal ls me most of a l l ,The uninte l l ig ib le sy l lab les.I t is l ike a Roman mob,Smal l , taken one by one, but my god, together ! 20

I lay my ear to fur ious Lat in.I am not a Caesar.I have s imply ordered a box of maniacs.They can be sent back.

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They can die, I need feed them noth ing, I am the owner. 25

I wonder how hungry they are.I wonder i f they would forget meI f I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a t ree.There is the laburnum, i ts b lond colonnades,And the pett icoats of the cherry. 30

They might ignore me immediate lyIn my moon sui t and funera l ve i l .I am no source of honeySo why should they turn on me?Tomorrow I wi l l be sweet God, I wi l l set them free. 35

The box is only temporary.

g l o s s a r y

5 din – loud noise or racket.10 gr id – a meta l gr i l le .13 Afr ican hands – most l ike ly, the poet isreferr ing to Afr ican bees.17 appal ls – shocks or upsets.18 uninte l l ig ib le – incoherent or garbled.18 sy l lab les – the sounds that make up the parts of a word.19 mob – a noisy, of ten v io lent , gather ing of people.

22 Caesar – Ju l ius Caesar, the famous Roman ru ler who la id the foundat ions for the Roman Empire.23 maniacs – crazy people.29 laburnum – a type of t ree with long ye l low f lowers.29 colonnades – p i l lars.30 pett icoats – undersk i r ts.32 moon sui t – the protect ive su i t worn by beekeepersresembles that worn by astronauts.

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Cri t ical Commentary: The Arr ival of the Bee Box

1. Content

In ‘The Arr iva l of the Bee Box’, the opening statement by the speaker is arrest ing. She te l ls us that she has ordered a ‘c lean wood box’. I t is ‘Square as a chai r and a lmost too heavy to l i f t ’ . Consider ing the box further, the poet fee ls that i t could be the ‘coff in of a midget’ or even a ‘square baby’ . This d isturb ing associat ion with death is temporar i ly countered by the l ive ly sounds that come f rom the box. However, in the second f ive- l ine stanza, the poet sees the box as being ‘dangerous’ . Drawn to th is danger, she says that she s imply ‘can’t keep away f rom i t ’ . She moves c loser to the bee box in the th i rd stanza and puts her ‘eye to the gr id’ . The p lace is dark, angry and c laustrophobic. In the fourth stanza, the speaker bel ieves that she wi l l never be able to let these creatures out. The noise they make ‘appal ls ’ her. She is shocked by the incoherent buzz ing, which she l ikens to the noise a ‘Roman mob’ might have made. The thought of a l l these bees act ing with a s ingle purpose unnerves her:

Smal l , taken one by one, but my god, together !

In the f i f th stanza, the poet compares the sounds of the bees to a fur ious form of Lat in. Then, she develops the a l lus ion to ancient Rome. Whi le she v iews the bees as being ak in to a ‘Roman mob’, she, as the i r owner, does not bel ieve she is Caesar:

I am not a Caesar. I have s imply ordered a box of maniacs. They can be sent back. They can die, I need feed them noth ing, I am the owner.

There is a change in the tone of the speaker’s vo ice here. As she asserts her own wi l l , she reveals a darker s ide to her own persona. There is a cruel se l f ishness to her assert ion that she can ‘ feed them noth ing’ . In the s ixth stanza, the poet wonders how the bees would react i f she ‘undid the locks and stood back and turned into a t ree’ . Dressed in her beekeeper’s ‘moon sui t ’ , she fee ls that the bees would ‘ ignore’ her. She is not a ‘source of honey’ . In the f ina l

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l ines of the poem, the speaker promises to be sweet and to set them free. In her eyes, ‘The box is only temporary’ .


At the heart of ‘The Arr iva l of the Bee Box’ l ies an explorat ion of the concept ofcontro l . As the poem opens, the speaker at tempts to descr ibe her f i rst impress ions of the bee box. The f i rst s imi le that she uses compares i t to a ‘chai r ’ that is ‘ too heavy to l i f t ’ . The poet quick ly d ismisses th is compar ison in favour of the d isturb ing metaphors that fo l low. F i rst ly, the box is l ikened to the ‘coff in of a midget’ and then to that of ‘a square baby’ . The point here is that the language of the poem is unable to contro l or label the bees correct ly. In the words of T im Kendal l , the ‘speci f ic i ty of the box res ists compar isons’ . Ins ide the box is a dark and ‘dangerous’ wor ld. This danger is captured by carefu l ly constructed sound effects. Onomatopoeic words and phrases, such as the ‘d in in i t ’ and ‘noise’ , h int at the sound of the bees. This buzz ing, swarming sound adds to our impress ion that the atmosphere in the bee box is c laustrophobic and angry. Meanwhi le, outs ide the box, the speaker remains nervous and jumpy. In ‘The Arr iva l of the Bee Box’, the poet at tempts to assert her ident i ty and, in the process, contro l th is buzz ing, maniacal mass. Not ice how the poet uses the personal pronoun ‘ I ’ 18 t imes. I t is as i f her ownership of the bees causes her to become hyperaware of her own sense of se l f . Th is intense considerat ion of her re lat ionship wi th the wor ld is , of course, typ ica l of P lath’s poetry. However, the speaker is not ent i re ly at ease with her new ro le as a god. The compar ison with ‘Afr ican hands’ a l ludes to the s lave t rade, where the strong contro l led the weak. The speaker says that she can contro l th is mass of bees by not feeding them. However, by compar ing them to a ‘Roman mob’, th is contro l is ca l led into doubt. In fact , her f rant ic proclamat ion that she is ‘not a Caesar’ a lmost sounds defensive. Ju l ius Caesar met a b loody end at the hands of the people he t r ied to contro l . The poem ends with the speaker promis ing to l iberate the bees. She re leases her contro l over them. Strangely enough, Plath never fu l ly ar t icu lates what these bees are meant to symbol ise. At the end of the poem, the very box that provoked such concentrated and intense considerat ion of ident i ty and contro l is v iewed by the speaker as being only ‘ temporary’ .

3. Essay Wr i t ingI f you are th ink ing of inc luding ‘The Arr iva l of the Bee Box’ in one of your essay’s paragraphs, you may want to consider some of the fo l lowing points.

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a. The nervous and edgy tone of vo ice adopted by the speaker mir rors the poet’s uneasy menta l state.b. On the face of i t , the arr iva l of a box of bees is a run-of-the-mi l l event. H o w e v e r, w h e n v i e w e d f ro m P l a t h ’s u n i q u e p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e e v e n t i s t ransformed.c. The language of the poem is intense and works to create a c laustrophobicatmosphere.

Sylv ia Plath: An Overv iew

Now that you have read a se lect ion of P lath’s poetry, you should take the t ime tolook at the fo l lowing genera l points. The purpose of these is not to te l l you whatto th ink, but rather to help you to form your own opin ions. When you have readthese points, you may wish to take the t ime to reread Plath’s poetry. You shouldnot ice that the genera l points made here can be used to form the backbone of your paragraphs when i t comes to wr i t ing on poetry. From now on, t ry to th ink about Plath’s poems not only in terms of what they say, but a lso in terms of how they say i t . Open your mind to any reasonable interpretat ion of the poems; remember, your opin ions are as va l id as anyth ing pr inted. However, you must be prepared to ground these opin ions in fact . I f you f ind th is process d i ff icu l t , that is ent i re ly normal .

Remember that a poem is not meant to be studied and dissected in the manner that the Leaving Cert i f icate requires of us. Whi le we have to keep the exam in mind, you should not a l low i t to detract f rom your enjoyment of the poetry on the course.

1. P lath’s poetry is dark and disturb ing. She confronts the murky recesses of herpsyche in a bold and thoroughly unique manner.

2. Despi te the latent v io lence and powerfu l emot ions conta ined in so many ofPlath’s poems, her sty le is at a l l t imes measured and contro l led.

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3. Near ly a l l of the poems by Plath on the course conta in the personal pronoun ‘ I ’ . In th is sense, her poems tend to be bruta l ly honest explorat ions of her deepest fears and desi res.

4. P lath had a d i ff icu l t l i fe that ended in the t ragedy of her su ic ide. This t ragicaspect to her personal i ty is fu l ly represented in her poems.

5. The se lect ion of poems by Plath on the course conta ins some very unusual and unexpected images, metaphors and s imi les. P lath of ten examines the wor ldin obsessive deta i l . The resul t is a body of poetry that is as art icu late as i t isintense. This l is t of genera l points is , of course, in no way exhaust ive; there are qui te l i tera l ly thousands of per fect ly va l id observat ions to be made about the poetry of Sy lv ia Plath. F ina l ly, as you reread her poems in th is anthology, t ry to do so with an open mind. Remember, your opin ion is as va l id as any of the points ment ioned here. Try to consul t these points f requent ly, as they wi l l he lp you when i t comes to wr i t ing essays.

Past Leav ing Cert i f icate Quest ions

In 2004, students were asked to answer the fo l lowing quest ion on Sylv ia Plath.‘ I l ike (or do not l ike) to read the poetry of Sy lv ia Plath. ’

Respond to th is statement, referr ing to the poetry by Sy lv ia Plath onyour course.

In that year, correctors were to ld to look out for the fo l lowing possib le points:• Str ik ing or ig ina l i ty – a d ist inct ive poet ic vo ice.• Language and imagery are unusual , start l ing.• Poetry offers ins ights into her l i fe .• Intensi ty and energy of the verse.• An interest ing preoccupat ion with l i fe ’s darker s ide.• The densi ty, complex i ty of the poems.

Sample Quest ions

Before you t ry these quest ions, you may wish to consul t the examinat ion technique guidel ines.

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1. ‘Reading Sylv ia Plath. ’Wr i te out the text of a short ar t ic le you would wr i te for a school magazine us ingthe above t i t le as a start ing point . Support your point of v iew by reference to thepoetry of P lath that you have studied.

2. I f you were asked to g ive a publ ic reading of a smal l se lect ion of Sy lv ia Plath’s poems, which ones would you choose to read? Give reasons for your choices, support ing them by reference to the poems on your course.

3. Wr i te an essay in which you out l ine your reasons for l ik ing or d is l ik ing thepoetry of Sy lv ia Plath. Support your points by reference to her poetry.

4. Wr i te a personal response to the poems by Sylv ia Plath on your course. Support your points wi th reference to the poetry on your course.

5. Wr i te a speech to be del ivered to your c lassmates on the impact that Sy lv iaPlath’s poetry had on you. Your answer should focus on both themes and theuse of imagery/ language. Support your answer wi th the a id of su i table referenceto the poems on your course.

6. ‘Sy lv ia Plath – a poet who looks at the wor ld in an unusual way. ’Wr i te an introduct ion to the poetry of Sy lv ia Plath us ing the above t i t le . Yourintroduct ion should address her themes and the impact of her poetry on you asa reader. Support your points wi th reference to the poems you have studied.

7. Wr i te an introduct ion to the poetry of Sy lv ia Plath for new readers. Yourintroduct ion should cover the fo l lowing:• The ideas that were most important to her.• How you responded to her use of language and imagery.Refer c losely to the poems by Sylv ia Plath that you have studied.

8. ‘What Sy lv ia Plath’s poetry means to me.’Wr i te an essay in response to the above t i t le . Your essay should inc lude adiscussion of her themes and the way she expresses them. Support the pointsyou make by reference to the poetry on your course.

9. Imagine you have been asked to edi t a smal l co l lect ion of poetry by Sy lv ia Plath. State what poems you would suggest for inc lus ion and g ive reasons for your choice.

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Qual i t ies the Examiner Looks For

On a genera l leve l , the corrector wi l l be looking for four d i fferent qual i t ies in your answer.

1. The f i rs t o f these is C lar i ty o f Purpose. Here, the corrector wi l l want to see that your answer engages with the quest ion asked. This is worth 30 per cent of the avai lable marks.2. The second area that the corrector

wi l l consider is the Coherence of Del ivery.

Here, the corrector wants to see an a b i l i t y t o s u s t a i n y o u r r e s p o n s e throughout the ent i re answer. This is worth 30 per cent of the avai lable marks. We wi l l look at how th is might be best achieved later.

3. The th i rd area that the corrector wi l l c o n c e r n h i m / h e r s e l f w i t h i s E f f i c iency o f Language use . The cor rec tor w i l l want to see c lear ev idence of your abi l i ty to manage and contro l your language so as to achieve c lear communicat ion. This is worth 30 per cent of the avai lable marks.

4. The f i na l a rea tha t the mark ing s c h e m e a d d r e s s e s i s c a l l e d A c c u r a c y o f M e c h a n i c s . T h i s i s basica l ly spel l ing and grammar. Ten per cent of the avai lable marks are g iven for th is.

In the future, you should t ry to shape your answer wi th these four areas in mind. Remember, your essays must sat is fy the demands of the mark ing s c h e m e i n o r d e r t o m e e t t h e requirements set down by the State Examinat ions Commiss ion. Now that we have seen what the corrector is looking for, i t is t ime to consider

Poetry is worth 70 marks on the Higher Level paper. Fifty marks are avai lable for seen poetry and 20 m a r k s f o r u n s e e n p o e t r y. I t i s extremely important that you do everything you can to maximise your chances on the day of the examination. The f irst thing that y o u n e e d t o d o i s t o b e c o m e famil iar with the marking scheme. When your quest ions a re be ing graded, the corrector wil l be using a number of guidel ines. Your abi l i ty to write a response to a poet or a p o e m i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e demands of the marking scheme wil l determine your f inal grade.

Examination TechniqueThe PCLM marking scheme

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P 30

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1. Clar i ty of Purpose

In order to achieve Clar i ty of Purpose in an answer, i t is important that your essay is complete ly focused on the quest ion asked. This means that you must address the key words in the q u e s t i o n . I n 2 0 0 4 , t h e f o l l o w i n g q u e s t i o n a p p e a re d o n t h e p a p e r. Imagine you were asked to se lect one or more of Patr ick Kavanagh’s poems fo r i nc lus ion i n a shor t an tho logy ent i t led The Essent ia l Kavanagh. Give reasons for your choice, quot ing f rom or referr ing to the poem or poems you have chosen. In order to get the fu l l 1 5 m a r k s a v a i l a b l e f o r C l a r i t y o f Purpose, you would have to:

• Prov ide an o r ig ina l and f resh a n s w e r. ( S l a v i s h l y l e a r n e d - o f f mater ia l can of ten damage your prospects in the exam.)

• Show that you understand the genre of poetry. This means that y o u d e m o n s t r a t e a t e c h n i c a l k n o w l e d g e o f p o e t r y a s ev idenced in Kavanagh’s work.

• Focus on you r expe r i ence o f r e a d i n g P a t r i c k K a v a n a g h ’s p o e t r y. I n o t h e r w o r d s , y o u wou ld have to s ta te exp l ic i t l y how you fe l t about Kavanagh’s p o e t r y . I t w o u l d n o t b e acceptable s imply to say, ‘ I l iked h is poetry. ’ You must

a lways j u s t i f y you r s t a t emen t s by prov id ing examples f rom the poems on the course.

You would lose marks for Clar i ty of Purpose by:

• Rete l l ing what each poem that you have studied is about. This i s k n o w n a s p a r a p h r a s i n g . Remember, you are expected to k n o w t h e c o n t e n t o f t h e poems.The content of a poem is o n l y u s e f u l i n s o f a r a s i t i l lustrates a point that addresses the quest ion asked. The chief e x a m i n e r ’ s r e p o r t i n 2 0 0 1 speci f ica l ly ment ioned th is point , say ing that candidates should be aware that whi le quest ions on poetry wi l l requi re them to come to te rms w i th the conten t o f poems, they may a lso requi re them to deal wi th the language of poetry. The easiest way to avo id paraphras ing is to dea l wi th the poetry in a g lobal sense. Paragraphs that deal wi th the poetry on a poem-by-poem basis lend themselves to paraphras ing.

• Reproducing an essay that you learned off by heart that does not address the quest ion fu l ly.

• Fai l ing to show an awareness of the genre of poetry. Remember, i t shou ld a lways be pe r fec t l y

Essay Writing TechniquePCLM

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clear to the corrector that your essay is a response to poetry.

2. Coherence of Del ivery

In order to gain the fu l l 15 marks avai lable for Coherence of Del ivery, you need to susta in your essay in a manner that demonstrates:

• Cont inu i ty of argument: In other words, your ideas need to fo l low on f rom one another.

• Management of ideas: You must contro l the manner in which you present your ideas in an essay. The easiest way to ensure th is is to wr i te in focused paragraphs.

• A focused paragraph deals wi th one aspect of the poet’s work. T h i s o n e a s p e c t c a n b e technica l , e.g. use of rhythm, or themat ic, e.g. death, love, etc.

• Engagement wi th the texts: You must show that you understand how the poems f unc t i on and achieve the i r impact. I t is not s imply enough to know what the poem is about. A statement such as ‘ th is is a dramat ic poem’ is useless unless you show how the poem is dramat ic.

You wi l l lose marks for Coherency of Del ivery i f you:

• Fa i l to shape your a rgument . R e m e m b e r, y o u r e s s a y m u s t have a beginning, a middle and a conclus ion.

• Wri te in d isorganised paragraphs that lack focus. Remember, the def in i t ion of a paragraph is a group of sentences deal ing with one idea.

• Use the wrong reg i s te r. You r tone of vo ice and the type of l a n g u a g e t h a t y o u u s e a r e important aspects of your essay. Whi le you should t ry to wr i te in a natura l sty le, the fact that you are wr i t ing an essay impl ies a certa in degree of formal i ty.

3. Eff ic iency of LanguageI f you want to obta in the fu l l 15 marks avai lable for Eff ic iency of Language, you must:

• Con t ro l you r exp ress ion . Th i s m e a n s t h a t y o u r s e n t e n c e s should f low natura l ly.

• Avo id ve ry long sentences . I f something can be sa id c lear ly in a short sentence, don’t t ry to make i t more compl icated. You m u s t e n s u re t h a t t h e s y n t a x (word order ) of your sentences is log ica l .

• Ensure that your paragraphs are s t r u c t u r e d c o r r e c t l y . A s prev iously stated, you must wr i te in ordered paragraphs that work together to answer the quest ion. Tr y t o l i n k y o u r p a r a g r a p h s


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w h e r e p o s s i b l e . S o m e t i m e s c o n t r a s t c a n w o r k a s a l i n k between paragraphs.

• Use l ive ly, interest ing language and phras ing. Try to vary your s e n t e n c e l e n g t h a n d a v o i d repet i t ion of words and phrases. Once again, knowledge of the technica l aspects of the poet’s w o r k c a n h e l p m a k e y o u r language more interest ing.

You wi l l lose marks for Eff ic iency of Language i f you:

• Fai l to wr i te c lear and logica l sentences that make complete s e n s e t o t h e p e r s o n re a d i n g them. The golden ru le is , i f you are s l ight ly unclear about what your sentence is say ing, then the p e r s o n r e a d i n g i t w i l l b e complete ly lost .

• U s e l e a r n e d - o f f m a t e r i a l t h a t does not logica l ly f i t in wi th the rest of your argument or address the quest ion asked.

• Wri te an essay that does not conta in ordered paragraphs.

4. Accuracy of Mechanics

T h e r e a r e 5 m a r k s a v a i l a b l e f o r g r a m m a r a n d s p e l l i n g . W h i l e t h e c o r re c t o r w i l l n o t p u n i s h y o u f o r obvious s l ips of the hand, you wi l l be penal ised for poor grammar

a n d s p e l l i n g . H o w e v e r , i f y o u r grammar and spel l ing.

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SYLVIA PLATH SAMPLE ESSAY I do/do not l ike to read the poetr y of Sylvia Plath.’ Respond to this s tatement,

with reference to the poetr y you have studied on your course.

Despite the fact that P lath’s can be extremely depress ing, I do l ike to read her poetry. The absolute contro l which Plath has over her work, her unique use of imagery and the ins ight her poetry prov ides into her personal i ty and her state of mind are just a few of the reasons that I was, and st i l l am, drawn to Plath’s poetry.

P lath has a master fu l poet ic sty le. Her work is int r icate ly sculpted and craf ted, which is one of the main reasons why I f ind i t so beaut i fu l and enjoyable to read. The aura l qual i ty of P lath’s poetry can be both mesmer is ing and unsett l ing. ‘Morning Song’, one of the most upl i f t ing Plath poems on our course,makes great use of sound in conveying i ts message. The jaunty rhythm of ‘Love set you going l ike a fat gold watch’ g ives way to an awestruck, reverent ia l tone when Plath descr ibes her baby as a ‘New statue | In a draf ty museum’. Here, the assonance of the ‘ah’ and ‘ooh’ sounds mimic the baby ta lk ofthe new parents. The del icate sound created by the onomatopoeia in l ines such as ‘your moth-breath | F l ickers’ prov ides us with an example of how Plath’s technica l accompl ishment makes her poetry so enjoyable to read.

Often, however, the language in Plath’s poetry can be as d isturb ing as i t is beaut i fu l . In ‘Chi ld’ , for example, the poet uses assonance to capture the sound of a chi ld’s speech:

I want to f i l l i t wi th color and ducks, The zoo of the new

The use of en jambment creates a gent le, l i l t ing momentum. However, in the f ina l stanza, P lath uses assonance to create a far darker tone. The repet i t ion of broad vowel sounds ( ‘ t roublous’ , ‘dark’ , ‘star ’ ) creates a brooding, g loomy atmosphere. Furthermore, the s ib i lance present in the f ina l stanza adds an a lmost menacing fee l ing to the poem, which leaves the reader fee l ing t roubled. A s imi lar effect can be seen in ‘Poppies in Ju ly’ . The f i rst l ine of the poem is energet ic because of the repet i t ive staccato of the short , d isy l lab ic words ‘L i t t le poppies’ . However, the broad monosyl labic sounds of the second l ine’s quest ion, ‘Do you do no harm’, evokes a letharg ic atmosphere. The stark contrast in tone between these two l ines is an unsett l ing combinat ion, and a per fect i l lustrat ion of how Plath expert ly sculpts her poems to be both entrancing and disturb ing.

SYLVIA PLATH SAMPLE ESSAY Simi lar ly, I found the unusual images in Plath’s work capt ivat ing and enthra l l ing. Of course I have to admit that I was a lso unsett led and even a larmed by her imagery. Her descr ipt ion of the h ive as ‘ the coff in of a midget | Or a square baby’ in ‘Arr iva l of the Bee Box’ is b izarre, d isturb ing and strangely comical . However, images such as ‘Afr ican hands’ ‘Black on black, angr i ly c lamber ing’ are menacing and c laustrophobic. Yet i t is th is dark undercurrent that makes Plath’s poetry so d ist inct ive and compel l ing. In ‘F in isterre’ , P lath depicts a f ragi le c l i f f edge that is surrounded by ‘ t refo i ls , stars and bel ls ’ . However, the darkness is never far f rom her poetry. The image takes on a s in ister tone when Plath goes on to say that the f lora looks as i f i t has been embroidered by ‘ f ingers […] c lose to death’ .There is an undercurrent of v io lence present in the poet’s descr ipt ion of rocks h id ing ‘ the i r grudges under the water’ . Th is s in ister qual i ty is a lso present in the poem ‘Mirror ’ . There is a d isturb ing under ly ing force present in th is poem. The mirror fee ls rewarded by the woman’s tears and by the ‘agi tat ion of [her ] hands’. Old age is portrayed as a menace that ‘Rises toward her day af ter day, l ike a terr ib le f ish’ . I found th is image t roubl ing, yet a lso intr igu ing. One of my favour i te th ings about Plath’s wr i t ing is that i t is thought provoking because i t shows the wor ld in an ent i re ly new l ight .

Plath’s poetry does not just shed interest ing l ight on the external wor ld, however. The confess ional nature of her poetry a l lows the reader to explore something of her t roubled personal i ty through reading her work. ‘The Arr iva l of the Bee Box’ prov ides us with an interest ing example of P lath’s confess ional poetry. The combinat ion of short , one- l ine sentences and long run-on l ines works to make the poem fee l a lmost l ike a stream of consciousness. In the poem, Plath uses the personal pronoun ‘ I ’ a tota l of 18 t imes. Plath explores her psyche through the depict ion of an external event. I fee l that the bees in the box can be taken to refer to Plath’s own thoughts and v is ions. They are maniacal , c lamber ing and dark. She descr ibes them as ‘dangerous’ and they appal her, yet she is fasc inated by them. I th ink that the poem reveals more about Plath’s persona than i t ever does about the bees. We get an ins ight into Plath’s obsessive tendencies when she te l ls us that she ‘can’t keep away f rom i t ’ . We gl impse her contro l l ing personal i ty when she procla ims: ‘ I need feed them noth ing, I am the owner. ’ Her chi l l ing narrat ive voice is enthra l l ing in i ts b lunt, even cruel honesty, and th is honesty is one of the main reasons I en joy reading Plath’s work. Sylv ia Plath has wr i t ten a vast body of extraordinary poetry. I love her poetry for the beauty of i ts language and the capt ivat ing nature of the imagery employed by the poet. I was mesmer ised by the latent, brooding v io lence that underpins so much of her work. Reading Plath prov ides ins ight into the of ten dark mindset of the poet. I somet imes f ind i t uncomfortable to read Sylv ia Plath’s poetry, but I love i t nonetheless.

cian hogan 2011 - squarespaceplath+notes+.pdf · her poems explore the depths of the human psyche...

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