Sylvia Plath 1932 - 1963
Child
• In this poem Plath expresses her love for her child while also revealing
her inner torment.
• The poem presents the beauty and innocence of the child.
• It also presents the dark depression Plath regularly struggled with.
• It reveals a young mother caught between love and despair
Stanzas 1 – 3 express Plath’s desires for her child
• The poem opens with Plath addressing her child, “Your clear eye is the
one absolutely beautiful thing”. This implies that everything else in
her life is tarnished, which in turn hints at the poets troubled mind.
• As a loving mother, Plath wants to give her child only beautiful
experiences. She expresses this beautifully in the phrases “colour and
ducks”, and “the zoo of the new”.
– The imagery here evokes the child’s innocence and sense of wonder.
• The spring flower imagery suggests a number of things
• The fresh fragile beauty of the child.
• The child, like the spring, represents new life and hope.
• “Little stalk without wrinkle” may suggest the child’s potential to grow
and blossom.
• Plath longs for her child’s eye (“pool”) to take in only what is good,
wonderful, beautiful… “inages that are grand and classical”.
Final stanza – 2 dominiant images revealing Plath’s condition.
• What is it then, that the child actually sees, according to Plath?
A depressed, hopeless mother. Unable to provide the beautiful
experiences she’d like. Emotionally distressed. Full of angst.
• This is captured in the disturbing image of the “troublous wringing of
hands”. A gesture full of anxiety and tension and inner suffering.
• Plath’s world is a “dark ceiling without a star”. Not a “sky”, but a
“ceiling”. This suggests claustrophobia, being hemmed in….etc.
• Note also, the symbolism of the “star”. A star provides guidance, light,
comfort, direction. The absence of the star suggests the absence of
these things from her life.
• In her depression, Plath feels like a failure for being unable to provide
colour, joy and excitement for her child. Instead she offers only the
image of her own suffering and pain.
Points to note
• This is a beautifully crafted poem. It captures
– the child’s innocence,
– the mother’s love and also
– the mother’s anguish.
• The “eye” is a reflective image which later becomes a”pool”. Seeing,
in this poem is a metaphor for ‘experienceing’. The “images” (8) refer
to experiences.
• Note the poet’s lack of confidence in her ability as a mother.
• 1 –3 details the experiences she wants for her child.
• 4 details her condition – therefore the actual experience of the child
• Flower imagery suggests innocence and the newnes / hope of spring.
• “troublous” (10) captures to bleak mood at this point.
Mechanics
•
•
There are 4 unrhymed stanzas. 3 lines each. No obvious rythmic structure.
Beautifully crafted, e.g.,
–
“colour and ducks”; “ducks” is completely unexpected. It takes one by
surprise…mirroring the surprise and excitement of childhood discoveries.
– The careful placing of particular words for maximum effect
• “Little”, stands alone, emphasising the child’s smallness and innocence.
• “troublous”, also alone (10), highlighting the poet’s anxiety.
• “dark” likewise isolated at the end of line 11. Evoking the poet’s inner darkness and loss
of direction in life.
• The definitive “Not” at the beginning of line 10 heightens the contrast she’s about to
make.
• Use of metaphors; the eye / the flowers / the pool / dark ceiling without
a star.
• Assonance - the ‘u’ sounds in “…absolutely beautiful…” /
“colour…ducks” / zoo…new”.