Poems 1

Morning Song
> honest poem: s__, surreal, dreamlike
> abt m__ & n__
> written after F__ born (1 Apr __)

THEMES
> m__: is a p__ rather than i__ t__; no instant m__ love
> i__: disconnected w/ identity of a ‘m__’, gradually gains sense when attending to b__’s needs

scary, mother newborn, frieda, 1960, motherhood, process, instant transformation, maternal, identity, mother, baby

Sheep in Fog
> written in D__ __ (close to s__), edited in 19__
> C__ poem
> r__ on time when she was at her b__
> feelings of a__, uncertainty, depression

WORDS
> d__: caused by m__/grief

Dec 1962, suicide, 63, confessional, reflecting, best, anxiety, dolorous, misery

The Applicant
> written O__ __ (when d__)
> convo between i__ & male applicant
> s__: Plath supports idea of being an i__, true to oneself
> has r__ & d__ of women; forced m__, s__ expectations
> d__ m__ (interviewer speaking to himself)

oct 1962, divorced, interviewer, satirical, indiv, repetition, dehumanisation, marriages, societal, dramatic monologue

Lady Lazarus
> Written O__ __
> __ stanzas in t__ (like D__ C__)
> p__ poem: speaker is J__ woman in conc c__ & CAN’T d__
> c__ poem, criticised by many

oct 1962, 28, tercets, divine comedy, persona, jewish, camp, die, controversial

Lady Lazarus STUFF
> Nazi l__: made from J__ s__ = s__ img, d__, putting speaker w/ Jew groups
> s__: small part represents a whole
> 2nd half of poem has v__ (c__ tone)
> p__: r__ out of a__

lampshade, jewish skin, shocking, dehumanising, synecdoche, volta, confident, phoenix, rising, ash

Tulips
> written after a__, M__ __
> a__: listing w/out conj
> w__ img

appendectomy, March 1961, asyndeton, water

Cut
> Written O__ __, after Plath s__ the top of her f__ after prepping dinnner
> Susan O’Neill Roe: n__ to Plath’s children; helped l__ a__ kids after d__

VOCAB
> Pilgrim: P__
> Redcoats: B__ soldier
> Homunculus: t__ person
> Saboteur: someone who i__ destroys smth for military
> trepanned: s__ where h__ is d__ into s__
> plush: rich f__
> wattle: r__ thing on turkey’s n__

oct 1962, sliced, finger, nanny, look after, divorce, puritan, british, tiny, intentionally, surgery, hole, drilled, skull, fabric, red, neck

Elm
> written 19 A__ __, inspired by Elm t__ outside her h__ in E__
> Ruth Fainlight (f__ of Plath) had m__, Plath knows how she f__
> p__ poem: she’s a t__

DEF
> impetuously: q__ & without c__
> radical surgery: l__ done on d__ ppl to try to c__ them
> malignity: i__ to cause h__

april 1962, tree, house, england, friend, miscarriage, feels, persona, tree, quickly, care, lobotomy, depressed, cure, intending, harm

Poppies in October
> written O__ __, after d__
> written for f__ of Plath
> but in O__, poppies are no longer in f__
> poppies should be giving o__, not c__ m__

oct 1962, divorce, friend, oct, flower, oxygen, carbon monoxide

Ariel
> written on __th birthday, __ O__ __
> Ariel: Plath’s h__; G__’s l__; from The Tempest (w__ spirit f__ at end)
> 1st line is the only line that is a s__
>> no v__ = no m__ thus starts in s__/d__
> c__ shifts thru poem = t__ to new start

VOCAB:
> stasis: st__
> tor: h__/rocky peak
> furrow: long n__ trench for farming
> stringencies: rigid r__

30, 27 oct 1962, horse, god’s lion, wind, freed, sentence, verb, movement, stillness, darkness, colour, trans, stillness, hill, narrow, restrictions

Ariel analysis cont
> “White / Godiva” - 1 word = s__ out, c__ N*gger-eye
>> Lady Godiva: woman from m__ ages, s__ for c__

Last 4 stanzas:
> r__ of “_” sounds in words e.g. I; child; cry; flies; suicidal; drive; eye
>> = i__, builds s__

stands, contrasts, middle, symbol courage, repetition, i, identity, speed

Death & Co., written 19 A__ __
> name like a b__
> Plath → BBC: “The p__ is a__ the d__ or s__ n__ of d__“
> death shown as 2 ppl (diff s__ to death) = d__
> 1st person is distant & m__
> 2nd person is s__ & affectionate (m__)
>> shows harsh + g__ way to death

apr, 1962, business, poem, about, double, schizophrenia nature, death, speaker, personification, sides, duality, menacing, social, manipulative, gentle

death & co vocba
> verdigris: b__-green colour
> condor: large v__-like bird
> ionian: style of G__ p__

blue, vulture, greek pillar

Getting There, written __, very near s__
> r__: “How far is it” repeated many times throughout poem
> Krupp: m__ company that supported N__ & supplied w__; made $$ from s__ labour in WWII
> Russia: r__ are main transport
> “straw of the boxcars”: c__ trucks used to t__ J__ to conc c__
> “Adam’s side”: a__ to G__ of E__: women made from A__’s rib

1963, suicide, refrain, manufacturing, nazis, weapons, slave, railways, cattle, transport Jews, camps, allusion, garden, eden, adam

Getting There vocab
> inexorable: i__ to s__
> garlanded: c__ decor made of leaves
> Lethe: f__ (from G__ myth river)

impossible, stop, christmas, forgetting, greek

Medusa, written 16 O__ __
> m__ img: f__, engulfment, loss of b__
> Plath’s mum’s name was “A__”, a genus of j__

Vocab
> stooges: someone doing a__’s u__ work
> stigmata: mark left on J__’s body bc of c__
> barnacles: grow on s__ & s__ it down
> fuchsia: p__ flower
> eunuchs: c__ men that g__ women lving areas

oct 1962, maritime, fluidity, boundaries, aurelia, jellyfish, another, unpleasant, jesus, crucifixion, ships, slow, purple, castrated, guard

The Moon and the Yew Tree, written O__ __
> Moon: m__ ;; Yew Tree: f__
> in myths, the moon is f__
> yew trees found in c__
> Mary: a__ to mother of J__, is p__ & v__; associated w/ b__

VOCAB
> spiritous: lots of a__
> gothic: p__ + arched style of architecture in m__ a__
> effigy: s__ of person/model

oct 1961, mother, father, female, cemeteries, allusion, jesus, pure, virgin, blue, alcohol, pointed, middle ages, sculpture

A Birthday Present; written S__ __
> birthday: s__ of l__/renewal/c__, but here is i__: s__, d__ instead of continuation
> SIMPLE d__ = c__ serious themes = u__
> tone: r__ Q’s/demands = c__ = v__ & c__ seriousness
> gift t__, mocking speaker

sep 1962, symbol, life, celebration, inverted, suffering, death, diction, contrast, unsettling, repetition, childlike, vulnerable, contrasts, talks

a birthday present VOCAB
>adhering: o__ a rule
> annunciation: a__ by G__ → M__ that she would c__ J__ via v__ birth THUS speaker not w__?
> diaphanous: so d__ & thin, u can see t__
> satin: smooth, g__ f__
> enormity: very g__ size OR very e__ act (double entendre)
> brazen: w/out s__ OR made of b__
> mote: t__ piece of subst (CO)
> congeal: l__ → s__

obeying, announcement, Gabriel, Mary, conceive, Jesus, virgin, worthy, delicate, thru, glossy fabric, great, evil, shame, brass, tiny, liquid, solid

Letter in November, written N__ __
> isolation, l__

vocab:
laburnum: tree, beautiful yellow flowers, p__
ruddy: r__
celibate: a__ from m__/sex

nov 1962, loneliness, poisonous, red, abstaining, marriage