Morning Song-Sylvia Plath

Morning song is so far the most confusing poem by Sylvia. Themes to look at are awakening and alienation. This particular poem was written after the birth of her first child. It tells of how Sylvia has no emotional connection to her child. How the child is beautiful and fragile but at the same time it stripped Sylvia of her identity. The song which the title refers to is the cry of the baby. Sylvia would wake up imagining her her baby cry but its actually all in her head. The end of her poem shows how Sylvia has awakened in a sense and realized that she loves her child that its cry is one of the most beautiful things.

The Colossus- Sylvia Plath

This poem was possibly the most interesting one to analyze. In essence the poem is about her dad. Her father died when Sylvia was a young age of preventable causes. The title, "Colossus" is directly referring to her father in which Colossus was this enormous statue in the city of Rhodes. This statue was enormous and was a great accomplishment at the time. She calls her father this because thats how she sees him, as this enormous thing. The poem is about how all her life she has tried to piece together who her father was using only the bits of information she had. At the end of the poem she comes to the conclusion that this was all a waste of time in which she just loses interest in trying to keep him alive.

Kindness-Sylvia Plath

Kindness, this one makes me feel a little weird. The poem (we can only assume) is about her marriage and her children. Important themes to look at are, deceit, suicide, and helplessness. She writes this poem because she feels overwhelmed by the kindness of other. This kindness is not a natural one it is fake and quite frankly only makes her feel worse. People believe that by overwhelming someone with kindness it will solve all problems but that is not the case. She talks about how she doesn't really have a connection with her children and just how draining poetry can be but she cant stop. Overall this poem is a cry for help. It states how everything may seem fine but in reality there is much more to everything.

Arial- Sylvia Plath

Arial is perhaps my least favorite poem and the most odd. Sylvia wrote this poem about her horse and the typical day she would have with it. This poem just like many of her poems are about women and the power they have in society. Arial is an empowering poem to women telling them of their potential. Sylvia talks about Godiva which was about a woman who rode around town, naked, on her horse. The poem is Sylvias account of how she felt when she rode her horse. She felt powerful.

Edge- Sylvia Plath

Edge was written just several week before Sylvia's death and was her last poem. This poem is dark and cold but it tells a story. Sylvia is essentially saying how death is perfection. Once we die nothing matters anymore and death is our true state. This poem is perhaps her death note we can never really be sure. But she also addresses concern for her children in the poem. In which she does not know how they will survive without her. But at the same time is says how her children have drained the life out of her. It is this contrast that makes the poem powerful.

Face Lift- Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath's poem, Face lift is possibly one of the most feminist poems yet. It tells of the story of a woman who underwent a face life and the journey she went through. The message of this poem is very complex. On the one hand Sylvia is saying how women have no control over their bodies. This is because women always have to live up to a standard set up by men and are in constant fear the men will leave if they are not forever young. On the other hand Sylvia is also telling us that appearance can change, yes but you are still you underneath that new skin. Beauty is not everything.

Two Sisters of Persephone by Sylvia Plath

Not only is Sylvia by far one of the best poets I've studied but shes also a little dark which I kinda like. Her poem titled Two Sisters of Persephone is just that. It is about the story of Persephone, a story in Greek mythology. It tells of Persephone, a girl who was taken to the underworld and once there she ate the food before being rescued. She is now forced to live half the year in the underworld and the other half in the normal world. The poem focuses on the girls dual personality which is dark half the time and happy the other time. The poem is not only about this story, it also has a feminist undertone. In which one of the sisters became pregnant and it overtook her life. This is a reflection of how many women felt perhaps even Sylvia.