After sylvia plath s death, her husband and fellow poet ted hughes explained that ariel was the name of plath s horse. It was on her 30th birthday, 27 october 1962, that sylvia plath wrote the poem that she eventually decided should give its title to her. In the introduction to the restored edition of ariel, her daughter frieda explains that this is what her mother had told her in this poem. Ariel was the second published collection by sylvia plath 1932 1963. Sylvia plath was born in boston, massachusetts in 1932. Sylvia plath, an american author considered one of the most emotional writers of the post war period, was a deeply troubled individual who committed suicide at the age of 30. Heres a film version of plaths heartbreaking novel. Sylvia plath s ariel is one of the most important books of poetry of the 20 th century, and among the most controversial. In its account of the ritual journey to the center of life and death, plath perfects her method of leaping from image to image in order to represent mental process. Gendering ariel as female lioness implies a sense of sisterhood between plath and the horse, and sure enough the word sister appears in the ensuing lines. Ariel was the name of one of plath s favorite horses. It was originally published in 1965, two years after her death by suicide. The combination of hellish and heavenly imagery reflects her state of mental anguish she suffered all her life from clinical depression and in a broadcast on the bbc she stated. The poems in the 1965 edition of ariel, with their free flowing images and characteristically menacing psychic landscapes, marked a dramatic turn from plath s earlier colossus poems.
It references shakespeares the tempest, particularly a song sung by ariel, the. Plath s obsession with judaism and the jewish people is clearly indicated in many of her poems. Plath s posthumous book of poems which contains some of her most brilliant work. Hence, we know her for her extremely subjective poetry. Check out the other poems in plath s book ariel, and youll see that our gal sylvia was a fan of short lines. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of sylvia plath s poetry. She lost her father when she was eight and it is at this age she started writing. His death would have been the main reason that pushed plath into writing. Understanding this poem is a bit tricky without this information. Ariel was the second book of sylvia plath s poetry to be published. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, the colossus and other poems and ariel, as well as the bell jar, a semiautobiographical novel published shortly before her death. 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. Personally, the warm colours the beautiful red certainly suggest the love and warmth plath. Empty, i echo to the least footfall, museum without statues, grand with pillars, porticoes, rotundas.
Anne stevenson in her biography suggests that this was possibly written with alvarez in mind, as a sign of her newfound independene. Dylan thomas do not go gentle into that good night analysis. In fact, it is the most ambiguous and complex poem of sylvia plath. Complete analysis of daddy by sylvia plath poem analysis. It came out two years after she took her own life at age thirty. It provides an exploration of the collections overall structure and content, as well as closer readings of the poems lady lazarus, ariel and daddy. Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections, the colossus and other poems, and ariel. Full fathom five, a poem usually considered to be about plath s father otto plath and thus studied alongside daddy, lady lazarus, and the colossus, is dated from 1958 and was included in plath s first published collection of poetry, the colossus. This is a complicated poem rich in imagery and meaning.
Sylvia plath was born boston, massachusetts in october of 1932. Perhaps that is why readers identify with her works of poetry so well, such as daddy. Medusa was written just a few months before plath s death in late 1962, when she was writing what she believed were the best poems of her life. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 256 pages and is available in paperback format. A short analysis of sylvia plath s ariel octobers and birthdays loom large in sylvia plath s work, which perhaps isnt surprising since she was born in october 27 october 1932 which, it just so happens, was the day dylan thomas turned 18 years old. In todays video, we explore three poems from sylvia plath s posthumous collection, ariel. Urgent tone analysis consonance and assonance ariel was written by plath on october 27, 1962 shortly before her death. Ariel is considered one of plath s most accomplished and enigmatic poems, for it. In its account of the ritual journey to the center of life and. Most of the poems were written during the last five months of the authors life, which ended by suicide in 1963.
Indeed, some of the imagery which informs the passage concerning ariel in the book of isaiah 29. Stings by sylvia plath is a twelve stanza poem which is separated into sets of five lines, or quintains. Ariel is a poem written by the american poet sylvia plath. Ariel by sylvia plath is the title poem of her volume of poetry, ariel, published after her death. Ariel by sylvia plath describes the terror of a wild horseback ride and the mental and emotional transformation that the rider, and speaker, goes through as she. She writes in a way that allows the reader to feel her pain. The poem is filled with the skillful application of consonance rhyming consonants and assonance rhyming vowels, as well as a end, slant or half rhymes, and head rhymes also called alliteration. With this volume she attained what amounted to cult status for her cool, unflinching portrayal of mental anguish. If you know just one thing about the poet sylvia plath, its probably that she committed suicide when she was just 30 years old by placing her head in the oven and turning on the gas. Ariel is probably plaths finest single construction because of the precision and depth of its images. October 27, 1932 february 11, 1963 was an american poet, novelist, and shortstory writer. The poems in the 1965 edition of ariel, with their free flowing images and characteristically menacing psychic landscapes, marked a dramatic turn from plath s earlier colossus poems in the 1965 edition of ariel, ted hughes changed plath s chosen. Ariel by sylvia plath about this poet sylvia plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century. Analysis of ariel by sylvia plath by alexis esteban on prezi.
Plath s lines in these poems barely have more than three or four words per line, and some have just one. Analysis, meaning and summary of sylvia plaths poem ariel. Plath may too be giving this poem, with its atypical historical context and unusual repetition, its own distinctiveness the swarm track info ariel sylvia plath. Ariel it was on her 30th birthday, 27 october 1962, that sylvia plath wrote the poem that she eventually decided should give its title to her second collection of poetry. In february of 1963, when plath committed suicide, she left behind a. It details the ecstasy and personal transformation that. Ariel summary and analysis by sylvia plath beaming notes.
Ariel is a thoroughly nietzschean poem, a meditation on zarathustras dictum that. The poem is constructed of sets of three lines, also known as tercets. Davis notes a change in tone and break of the slanted rhyme scheme in the sixth stanza which marks a shift in the theme. Like a number of the poems that she wrote in the aftermath of the collapse of. Ariel was extremely wellreceived and there is some thought that the pulitzer prize that was given to plath s. Critical analysis of ariel, shows that like other poems of sylvia plath it is highly autobiographical, psychological and confessional poem. Most of her poems focus the fears and psychological problems she has had. Sylvia plath is known as a confessional poet, which means that she wrote highly personal, detailed, and emotional poems. Ariel, collection of poetry by sylvia plath, published posthumously in 1965. One instance in which plath has selected her words based on their similar. Plath wrote most of ariel s poems, including the applicant, in the highly productive fivemonth period before her death in february 1963.
A short analysis of sylvia plaths ariel interesting literature. Despite its ambiguity, it is literally understood to describe an early morning horseride towards the rising sun. The poem was published posthumously in the collection ariel in 1965. A short analysis of sylvia plaths ariel interesting. While the poem does not conform to a consistent or patterned rhyme scheme, there are a few instances within the poems text in which the poet has chosen to repeat words or create isolated moments of rhyme. In the ensuing years her work attracted the attention. Critical summary of ariel, a poem by sylvia plath, a confessional and autobiographical poetess. For this reason, we might want to assume that the speaker of ariel is plat. Letter in november american poems analysis, themes. The first edition of the novel was published in 2004, and was written by sylvia plath. Plath was clinically depressed for most of her adult life. So, we can understand from these lines is that the speaker is moving off across this land on ariel the horse. Maternity, depression and feminism a close analysis of. Sylvia plath s life has a tendency to overshadow her art.
As well as being the airy spirit eventually released by prospero in the tempest, ariel was the name of a horse that plath used to ride in devon. It was written on her thirtieth birthday, october 27, 1962, and published posthumously in the collection ariel in 1965, of which it is the namesake. She has an uncanny ability to give meaningful words to some of the most inexpressible emotions. This poem is about two kinds of firethe fires of hell, which merely agonize, and the. This agony is often so deep, there are no words to express the true anguish present. The main characters of this poetry, classics story are. Ariel american poems analysis, themes, meaning and literary. And we understand whyshe was beautiful, wealthy, immensely talented, and immensely troubled. Analysis of ariel by sylvia plath silver 6 gudenrath december 1st, 2014 by alexis sotomayor and brittanie vorwaller 3 lines to each stanza, correlates with three different interpretations of the title, all of which are essential to the poems plot and thematic meaning death is.
1364 1188 567 1475 66 86 282 877 449 280 674 1108 820 838 1254 727 307 533 46 1438 1305 1236 1359 602 690 1070 424 1106 790 180