The poem “Metaphors”, by Sylvia Plath, is a poem about a woman who is newly pregnant and resents the pregnancy. For once she becomes pregnant she became less of a person and more of a transport for something more important. Plath shows the feeling of this woman through metaphors, and allusions that all hint at the inner pain this woman is feeling when she is pregnant. The very structure of this poem clues its readers onto what it’s about. With nine lines it is very easy to make the connection between this poem’s structure and the nine month gestation period of the human. The first line, in fact, speaks about the very beginning of a woman when she is first pregnant. “I’m a riddle in nine syllables” (line 1) the riddle which she is alluding to is the uncertainty that surrounds pregnancy. ‘Will this baby survive?’ ‘Am I pregnant?’ ‘Who is the father?’ are all questions that may run through woman’s mind. …show more content…
An elephant is the largest land animal in the world and when woman compares herself to it then she means to say that she is huge that she is heavy. A woman who feels too heavy and is weighed down with back aches and pains from this added weight onto her stomach can get resentful very fast. The next part does not ease up this sense of resentment either, “a ponderous house”, ponderous means slow from its weight and a house is a metaphor for a pregnant woman for people merely see her as a pretty decoration for what is important inside, merely a shelter for something better. A fact which any person will become resentful
When the term “metaphor” is used, one solely thinks of the typical definition; a figure of speech that compares two objects without using the words like or as. However, in Sonia Nazario’s literary work, Enrique’s Journey, word “metaphor” is transformed entirely into a profound and heart wrenching meaning. Throughout this novel the main character, Enrique, stands as a metaphor and a worldwide symbol to show the ongoing problems in the world regarding abandonment, immigration, and drug cartels. Abandoned children long to find their place in the world, and as they try to overcome the barriers they are faced with such as confusion as a result of a failure to be noticed.
Budge Wilson’s, The Metaphor, is a bildungsroman that blueprints Charlotte’s transition from a young, moldable girl into an independent woman through juxtaposition, allegory, and symbolism. Charlotte is an awkward seventh grader, who transforms into a well-round tenth grader before the eyes of the reader due to the influence of her teacher, Miss. Hancock. Her mother, calculated and emotionless, is the foil to Miss. Hancock’s wild, unorganized spirit. Charlotte finds herself drawn to Miss. Hancock, who her mother despises, which causes Charlotte internal strife. She pushes down her feelings, but through a traumatic experience, she discovers Miss. Hancock’s lessons are the ones her heart wants to live by, not her mother’s. Miss. Hancock and
In the poem “Wordsmith” by Susan Young, she uses the unique metaphor of maintaining the house to depict the relationship between father and daughter. The father most of the time has difficulty expressing his love to his daughter, so instead he and his daughter fix up the house as a way to justify for his inability to show his love. He depicts how he must “fill in all of the empty crevices with the words he didn’t know how to say” (line 16-17), as a way of expressing his love for his daughter through his physical actions instead of his words. The “cracks that travel down the walls” (lines 6-7) are a metaphor for all the times he has not been able to show his emotion towards his daughter. Each time he does not show his love the cracks get larger
Twenty-two year old singer/songwriter Dodie Clark has become internet-famous with her cheerful jingles and poetic introspection. With over a million subscribers, her youtube channel- affectionately named “doddleoddle”- draws in countless individuals to bear witness to her hours of musical content. Dodie is known, in fact, for her ability to write lyrics which are poetry first and music second. Clark, in her 2016 song “When,” employs metaphor to invoke imagery, euphemism, and indirect self-addressment in an effort to articulate her plea that she finally begin to take initiative and live her life
In “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks, a voice is given to a woman grieving her unborn children. The reader of this poem is subjected to the same feelings the speaker possess. The unnamed speaker feels heartache and guilt for the lives that were taken away from the children and she feels adoration for the lives that could have been if it were not for her taking their life away. The author uses metaphors, rhyme schemes, and imagery to develop the theme and tone of the poem. Without taking a side on the very politicised topic of abortion, Brooks is able to describe the feelings of a woman who has had multiple abortions.
It tends to be the trend for women who have had traumatic childhoods to be attracted to men who epitomize their emptiness felt as children. Women who have had unaffectionate or absent fathers, adulterous husbands or boyfriends, or relatives who molested them seem to become involved in relationships with men who, instead of being the opposite of the “monsters” in their lives, are the exact replicas of these ugly men. Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy” is a perfect example of this unfortunate trend. In this poem, she speaks directly to her dead father and her husband who has been cheating on her, as the poem so indicates.
Wrapped in gaseous mystique, Sylvia Plath’s poetry has haunted enthusiastic readers since immediately after her death in February, 1963. Like her eyes, her words are sharp, apt tools which brand her message on the brains and hearts of her readers. With each reading, she initiates them forever into the shrouded, vestal clan of her own mind. How is the reader to interpret those singeing, singing words? Her work may be read as a lone monument, with no ties to the world she left behind. But in doing so, the reader merely grazes the surface of her rich poetics. Her poetry is largely autobiographical, particularly Ariel and The Bell Jar, and it is from this frame of mind that the reader interprets the work as a
The 1950s a time period where America was still reaping the abominable effects of the great depression and World War II. However, with memories from both the depression and war fading, America looked forward to the various new technological advancements and reveled in becoming a world superpower. Sylvia Plath, born in 1932, got to experience the United States as a young adult during the 1950s. The novel is even semi-autobiographical with Plath changing miscellaneous names. Through her novel, which details Esther Greenwood's psychological downfall, Plath is able to paint a gruesome scene of gender inequality. Furthermore, Plath is able to effectively utilize Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals to further emphasize gender inequity during the 1950s.
The figurative language in the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath can be used to discover a deeper significant of the poem. By using figurative language throughout the poem such as symbolism, imagery, and wordplay, Plath reveals hidden messages about her relationship with her father. Plath uses symbols of Nazis, vampires, size, and communication to help reveal a message about her dad.
Metaphors by Sylvia Plath The poem 'metaphors' by Sylvia Plath deals with strong issues of pregnancy. The poem was written when she was pregnant. She wrote about her mixed feelings and emotions. The poem itself is a metaphor.
The theme in this poem shows this mother in many ways, is mourning the loss of children aborted for whatever the reasoning. This is known by the statement made in line 22 “Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate”. She also mourns the loss of things that will not reach their potential, such as the sound of a babies’ cry, and voice or even the loss of tears. Another conflict that emerges in the poem is the desire of the mother to do what is best for her children and the finality of her decisions.
Sylvia Plath was a troubled writer to say the least, not only did she endure the loss of her father a young age but she later on “attempted suicide at her home and was hospitalized, where she underwent psychiatric treatment” for her depression (Dunn). Writing primarily as a poet, she only ever wrote a single novel, The Bell Jar. This fictional autobiography “[chronicles] the circumstances of her mental collapse and subsequent suicide attempt” but from the viewpoint of the fictional protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who suffers the same loss and challenges as Plath (Allen 890). Due to the novel’s strong resemblance to Plath’s own history it was published under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath expresses the
One often hears the saying, “Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in their shoes.” The way an author uses similes can help the reader better understand how the character feel and what they're going through like Sylvia Plath in The Bell Jar. Esther Greenwood, a college student, working at a month long job as a guest editor for a fashion magazine feels like an outcast from the rest of the girls; she doesn't seem to fit in. When she arrives back home, she receives several bad news leads her into thinking suicide is the best thing to do. After multiple failed attempts, she is put into a mental hospital where she will gain hope in life and finally discover who she really is. In Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, there are several instances in which the author uses similes to illustrate a more detailed image/description to better portray how the main character felt during her New York job, her suicide attempts, and at her stay at the mental institution.
Metaphors by Sylvia Plath was written in 1959. It is a lyric poem that uses metaphors to create a riddle, as she states in line one. Plath is using a narrator voice in her poetry to describe her pregnancy with the use of metaphors and her ambivalence to her current state. The narrator is mocking herself and I find her mocking tone to pregnancy as something I want to incorporate in my writing when writing about my character’s eating disorder.
Metaphors Analysis in Sylvia Plath's Poem In Sylvia Plath’s poem, Metaphors, she uses striking imagery to explore her ambivalent attitudes about pregnancy. For example, she uses a negative metaphor saying she is an elephant, meaning she thinks that she has become very fat since she got pregnant. On the other hand, she uses a positive metaphor saying the baby is precious, meaning although pregnancy has its down sides it has got a few good sides like the baby.