This poem, comprised of ten two-line stanzas, is famously difficult to summarize due to its ambiguous, abstruse nature. They can move from the centre of the person especially if they have been well thought out … and like horses travel … to whom they go is another matter … and what they mean as they are met by travellers who take any notice is again another matter entirely, but once released they can travel far and forever perhaps … SP’s words are at this very moment reaching the minds of many. Like that axe felling a tree or slicing a log, words echo, and therefore the echoes travel faraway from the ‘center’ (the one who has spoken or written those ‘words’? But instead the poem also designates about the ignorance of poetry as the generation goes by. The second and third stanzas are composed of five lines. In this poem Plath uses layers of images, words with double meanings, and metaphors to express the force and the impact that words can have on others. Off from the center like horses. But the result of the attempt is unknown because everything is already fixed by one’s fate congruent with the phrase ‘From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars’. From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars This is what makes her intriguing to readers. Book: The Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath Classics. 1961, “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath is an emotional poem, successfully personified and narrated through a mirrors point of view. While From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars Govern a life. Perhaps that is why readers identify with her works of poetry so well, such as ‘Daddy’. Plath structures her poem in a certain way in order to create different effects. Here there’s a parallel with Roland Barthes’ idea of ‘The Death of the Author’, but also with W. H. Auden’s elegy for W. B. Yeats, during which Auden declares that the words of the dead poet are ‘modified within the guts of the living’: the living keep the dead poet’s words alive, albeit they modify their meaning. A truly great poet. Work Cited "A life haunted by Sylvia's death." She also personifies the words of the old god by calling them a “talking whirlwind”. The sap ‘Words’ is, during a sense, an analysis of the ways during which a poet’s words combat a lifetime of their own once they leave the poet who wrote them. Sylvia Path (1932 -1963) 9 October 1962 This is the last poem in the SP ‘Ariel’ sequence of poems. WORDS by Sylvia Plath “Words” is a short poem in four stanzas of five lines each. Daddy by Sylvia Plath. She has an uncanny ability to give meaningful words to some of the most inexpressible emotions. We begin, in summary, with one word: ‘Axes’. For example, enjambment is used: "The second time I meant/To last it out and not come back at all." ( Log Out /  I want to be looking at them when they come Picking among the dumb minerals, the roots. Echoes traveling This poem also conveys of realism of nature, which reflects to the reality of a human being. S2 – SP’s words were always part of her very being … the sap in the wood … and when released it is impossible for her to recover completely perhaps … or at least settle back to where she was before … you could say it was as though each of her poems was her own baby – I can accept a certain poetic life to this view … however, in this poem we have the intensity of the release of her words in terms of tears and sap, the essence of wood is sap … tears flow from her passion and of course from the head (link to skull) … and we know she put her very soul into much of her writing … and indeed her writing was at times a desperate cry for help given her mental instability. Sylvia Plath Plath’s poetry depicts her quest for poetic inspiration and vision: In her early poems, like ‘Black Rook’, Plath sees inspiration as transcendent, something that would announce itself to her from the external world. Plath’s language implies that she awaits a visitation of beauty, like the Annunciation by the angel in the Bible. Plath ends ‘Words’ with another reprise, this point of the image of the water providing a mirrored image – during this case, a mirrored image of the ‘fixed stars’ which govern the lifetime of the poet. This is done to emphasize the competence of poetry and the impact it can make yet overlooked. Australian [National, Australia] 31 Oct. 2015: 22. Twayne's United Mirror by Sylvia Plath Introduction: Mirror is a free verse written by the American poet Sylvia Plath. The overall structure of the poem is quite free-formed from the number of syllables in each line. 13-23. They come from the rock the solid bottom of the pool … in line with stanza 2 … SP the rock and a rock that is governed by the stars – a distinct spiritual dimension to her life … governed by something outside herself … something fixed and external as the stars above the universe. (There’s a pleasant suggestion of the lineage and history of words here, therein ‘wood rings’ punningly summons the thought of telling the age of a tree by counting its number of rings. The elucidation of the poem is vague yet powerful enough to embolden the younger generation to preserve poetic arts. Echoes travelling Off from the centre like horses. Plath uses different types of figures of speech to try to make the intended theme clear. The word “Words” may lead us to think that the poem is regarding the impression of words on the world and how it is benefited. this is often a liberating thing – the horse-image chimes with ‘Ariel’, Sylvia Plath’s poem recalling her youthful horse-rides when she felt free and will escape, like T. S. Eliot’s Cousin Nancy, the constraints of twentieth-century society – but it also represents a loss … Work Cited "A life haunted by Sylvia's death." But they will even be worried or frightened and revert to their wild, ‘fight or flight’ state, during which case they could veer astray, out of control, galloping far away from the one who should have them in check. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. I just posted this poem on my blog (Sylvia passed away on 2/11/63) as a sort of tribute to her. 2016 "The Life Which Shaped the Work." The indefatigable hoof-taps. Sylvia Plath The poem, , has a theme, which is talking about a complex relationship of Plath. Govern a life. Sylvia Plath’s poem “Words” also deals with the power of the spoken word and the way in which it moves in the world. Major changes in the content of her poems were observed over the course of Plath's career, as well as in the final year of her life … Words was one among the last poems Plath wrote before her tragic suicide in February 1963. Web. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. If the god of shades or the old god can see “those unborn, those undone” who are dead people, then he is similar to the Grim Reaper who is a personification of death. A white skull, The third stanza is a continuation of the last stanza. Plath was an American literature figure that wrote poems, novels and several short stories. Credit: Wikipedia.org. Initiation Sylvia Plath Essay 902 Words | 4 Pages. Sylvia uses enjambment in order to make the poem run more smoothly. Axes after whose stroke the wood rings, And the echoes! Change ), ‘My Word in Your Ear – selected poems 2001 – 2015’, Follow my word in your ear on WordPress.com. A macabre metaphor for the way the living ‘feed’ off the words of the dead, very much like we readers of Plath gain sustenance from reading the work of a poet who died in 1963? In conclusion, Sylvia Plath’s Daddy is an exquisite bundle of poetic artistry as exemplified by the use of memory as the backbone of the poem. Sylvia Plath’s poem entitled “Last Words” is a poem about a speaker coming to terms with the fact that he or she will die, and expressing his or her worries and concerns over this fact. “Well like tears” is a similitude to the pain and suffering of the speaker when his/her poetic arts is not acknowledged. As… “like the/Water striving/To re-establish its mirror/Over the rock” suggest that the speaker is trying to recover from the loss to become a more vivid and clear figure. Sylvia Plath manipulated the poem with devices such as repetition, metaphors and enjambment which made the poem truly remarkable and majestic. Plath's method of … New York: Twayne Publishers, 1978. “The indefatigable hoof-taps” line in the poem suggests although diminished, the art persistently seek to be sought out again by one who appreciates them. Wintering -Sylvia Plath. The first line of the second stanza, “The sap” refers to the effects of the words conveyed. Hoof-taps again symbolises the effort of the ‘horse’ from the fourth line of the first stanza to push on insistently. The poem “Words” portrays the hegemony and abandonment of poetry art which is described purely in a metaphorical way. After one has struck the wood of the tree or log with an axe, the wood ‘rings’. The wood rings might signify a tree which has a lot of wood rings denoting the age of the tree and the axe being small yet powerful enough to bring down the tree. Last Words Poem by Sylvia Plath. After whose stroke the wood rings, It was written in October 1962 a most productive time of writing for SP and while she was living in a flat in London after the breakup of her marriage with Ted Hughes and moving from Devon. Most people have experienced agony at least once. Because Plath is a poet and this is a poem, words imply poetry. This agony is often so deep, there are no words to express the true anguish present. Encounter them on the road—-. Poetry to Plath was her escape and her way of dealing with her problems and self-loathing feelings. The line “Years later I/Encounter them on the road______” states that years later, the speaker found her words again but there is a turning point. This poem also conveys of realism of nature, which reflects to the reality of a human being. This entry was posted in The Next Chapter and tagged Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egyptian burial, Death Poetry, Egyptian funeral, Famous Death Poems, Last words, Poems for Funeral, Poetry, Sarcophagus, Sylvia Plath. It brings in the first impression of a reader about the poem. In other words this poem is bashing the idea of vanity and replacing it with reality. Crossing the Water by Sylvia Plath ‘Crossing the Water’ by Sylvia Plath is a four stanza poem that is divided into sets of three lines, known as tercets. Sylvia Plath’s “Words” put forth some profound ideas of the power of words utilized in poetry. S3 – words come from the head and thought … and years later this will be the fate of the body … an empty skull … empty after the initial disclosure … and many years later SP perhaps looks back, reflects on what she once wrote … dry and riderless … they are beyond her control and they never have the intensity that they had when first written … I guess the same for everyone who writes from the heart. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1978. She describes his beard as being "far-flung" and his hair as being "miles long;" he is as large as the "ice-mountains," and is "inscrutable." While When you think about words, it reminds you of the art which are solely dependent on it which is poetry where the composition of words is majestic and truly appreciated. It can bring a certain impact on the world. She used to openly discuss her depression with the poet Robert Lowell and her suicide attempts with Anne Sexton. Is Plath here anticipating the way these poems are going to be received after her death? Changes in the words used in the poems of Sylvia Plath were examined using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, a computer program for analyzing the content of texts. we will train horses, use them for travel, then forth. Reading the poem not taking to account the title may drift the reader from the actual purpose of the poem. The white skull symbolises death and demise of the poetic arts. Words dry and riderless, The indefatigable hoof-taps. Sylvia Plath: Poems study guide contains a biography of poet Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select poems. ( Log Out /  She writes in … Over the rock, That drops and turns, Its plural learning on the poem’s plural title, ‘Axes’ immediately invites us to draw a link between title and opening line: words are axes, therein they’re cutting, powerful, but also potentially deadly. In this poem, … 4 Apr. “Last Words” Analysis. The poem “Words” portrays the hegemony and abandonment of poetry art which is described purely in a metaphorical way. This gives a very deep but not forthright meaning. Sylvia Plath was a remarkable twentieth century American poet. Plath repeatedly makes the mirror come alive, as it reflections reveal the struggle between the worlds reality and our own. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. But there’s an inquiry for order and control again here, because the sap/tears are like water flowing during a river or ocean, seeking to calm itself so it can become a mirror, a still pool that reflects the planet back in a way that creates sense. And then, to conclude this summary, we discover ourselves sliding from the third into the fourth and final stanza, with Plath encountering her words ‘on the road’: they need going out there into the planet, and are now ‘dry and riderless’. Sylvia Plath committed suicide in 1963, but she is still remembered as one of the most revered poets of all time. is that this what words are like: once we write them we believe we’ve mastered them, but they need a lifetime of their own and quickly move out and far away from us? The title of the poem introduces a number of significance. (Plath would kill herself on 11 February 1963, in a London apartment she had decided to rent because W. B. Yeats had once lived there; ‘Words’ was written on 1 February.) (This may be a rather complex and clever image, almost metaphysical in its ingenuity: the tears we cry find yourself on the page like water flowing, but we attempt to bring our pain in check and switch it into something orderly, like art, which – just like the still waters of a pool or river – can ‘hold the mirror up to nature’, as Hamlet puts it.). Theses lines do not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. Sylvia Plath. The first stanza of the poem denotes the supreme age of poetry. (Plath would kill herself on 11 February 1963, during a London apartment she had decided to rent because of W. B. Yeats had once lived there; ‘Words’ was written on 1 February.) Caroline King Barnard. As the poem’s title implies, ‘Words’ may be a meditation on the very stuff of poetry, although it’s neither wholly favourable nor wholly damning about the facility of words. you’ll read Plath’s poem ‘Words’ here before proceeding to our analysis below. The enjambment usage in the first stanza, which is the title “Words” as the first line is very crucial to clarify the intention of the poem. To re-establish its mirror Words, too, accompany a history of their own: as Dennis Potter once said, the matter with words is that you simply never know whose mouth they’ve been in.) It seems to be about a woman who has recently committed or is soon to commit suicide. The number of lines per stanza is however kept unswerving to mimic the tranquil tone of the poem. Both of them led her to write from a more female perspective. The number of syllables in each line is one to nine syllables where as the number of lines per stanza a steady four to five lines. ), galloping away like horses. Australian [National, Australia] 31 Oct. 2015: 22. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Blackberrying Analysis by Sylvia Plath October 18, 2020 September 25, 2014 by Website Contributors This poem analysis is divided into three parts – context, rhyme scheme and rhetorical devices, and themes. Repetition is one of the most important, and obvious, techniques that Plath makes use of in ‘Crossing the Water’. Sylvia Plath (written in the same month that she died – February 1963). Mirror The poem "Mirror", written by Sylvia Plath, shows a mirror describing not only its own its existence, but also a woman 's, who is seeking its approval as she grows older. Plath uses pheasant as a symbol for representing her complicating complex. If the person to read Sylvia Plath’s poems, s/he will notice that most of her subjects are very depressing. "Daddy" is a controversial and highly anthologized poem by the American poet Sylvia Plath. S4 … they are indefatigable … never tiring they will travel forever … and in line with horses in the first stanza they are as hoof-taps that will never lose their sound. Sylvia Plath committed suicide in 1963, but she is still remembered as one of the most revered poets of all time. Chantal Chau Analysis of a Key Passage, Initiation by Sylvia Plath In Initiation by Sylvia Plath, the author suggests that conformity and having friends is a wonderful idea, yet the idea of having an individual identity and being an individual is stronger. Web. Introduction to Prose: Fiction and Non- Fiction: Political Organization & System of Uk & Usa, 17th and 18th Century Non-Fictional Prose, Restoration and Eighteenth Century Fiction, Restoration and Eighteenth Century Poetry and Drama, Literary Criticism (From Victorian to Modern Age), Approaches and Methods of Language Teaching, Robinson Crusoe by ‘Daniel Defoe’ Short Summary And Analysis, The Hairy Ape by Eugene O’Neill Summary & Analysis, Is Romanticism is revival or a revolt? S1 – Well axes are sharp and cutting their purpose to bite into wood. “A short analysis of Sylvia Plath’s Words” ‘Words’ is a very short poem and it consists of four stanzas of five lines each. Words dry and riderless, The line “That drops and turns/A white skull,” proposed that with time, the words become unappreciated and dies off implying the use of ‘white skull’ in the poem. ( Log Out /  Wagner-Martin (Sylvia Plath, 1987) and Anne Stevenson (Bitter Fame, 1989) and another by Paul Alexander (Rough Magic, 1991), we might imagine that the poet's life, or at least the reader's interest, is exhausted. Sylvia Plath was born on October 27th, 1932. Years later I Wells like tears, like the Perhaps. Her poetry focused on depression, suicide, death, and self-destruction. Twayne's United This poem consists of 8 identical stanzas. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. ‘Words’ is, during a sense, an analysis of the ways during which a poet’s words combat a lifetime of their own once they leave the poet who wrote them. Words when released for consumption can be sharp and cutting – very true for SP as I think TH would surely agree! This poem is generally characteristic of Plath's late work, which, as Tim Kendall writes, features \"a style of heightened detachment and resignation in the face of an intractable destiny.\" This poem does not aim to please the reader; it defies poetic categories, and exists to express the poet's sense of hopelessnes… Eaten by weedy greens. Sylvia Plath Follow Born in 1932 to middle class parents in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Sylvia Plath published her first poem at the age of eight. As a poet, Sylvia used poetry to convey her message and as a medium to express her feelings. It is written in an open form with irregular meter and only occasional rhyme. The title itself sort of signifies that the poem is like his or her last will. April 12, 2008 Poetry Critical Analysis “Is there no way out of the mind?” (Plath 195). Also, end-stopped lines are used alongside enjambment: "The sour breath/Will vanish in a day." The second, third and fourth line proposes that the outcome of the words can be heard miles away with a ripple effect, signifying that the message can be dispersed to all corners of the globe. A sensitive person who tended to be a bit of a perfectionist she was what many would consider a model daughter and student - popular, a straight A student, always winning the best prizes. Indeed, there’s another buried pun in Plath’s fifth line, since ‘off from the center’ is that the literal origin of the word ‘eccentric’ (i.e. Sylvia Plath The poem, , has a theme, which is talking about a complex relationship of Plath. Through her expansive manifestation, the supremacy and negligence of poetry art which is depicted as words in the poem is heavily intensified. Water striving Literary Analysis Of Mirror By Sylvia Plath 795 Words | 4 Pages.