Plath Poppies analysed and annotated PDF

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Plath Poppies analysed and annotated...

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POPPIES IN OCTOBER Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts. Nor the woman in the ambulance Whose red heart blooms through her coat so astoundingly ------------

A gift, a love gift Utterly unmasked for By a sky

Palely and flamily Igniting its carbon monoxides, by eyes Dulled to a halt under bowlers.

O my God, what am I That these late mouths should cry open In a forest of frost, in a dawn of cornflowers.

Commented [DH1]: This reference to poppies suggests to their blooming on the fields of France after the war, a symbol of the fragile balance between life and death, the remembrance of death through life, therefore we see Plath alluding to her feeling that in the closeness of death we can feel alive, somewhat similar to her excitement in Cut. Commented [DH2]: The fact that the poppies are blooming in October, where the cold begins and nature metaphorically dies to make way for new life in the Spring furthers this notion of the closeness and, perhaps, for Plath she is thinking it is her time to die to allow new life to form. Commented [DH3]: This notion of the “sun-clouds” where the clouds desire to cover the warmth of the sun, the brightness of the sun and its life-giving qualities by “skirting” about, yet being unable to “manage such skirts” elicits a sense that even Plath’s depression cannot extinguish her joy at the thought of dying and, thus allowing new life to take her place. Commented [DH4]: The “woman in the ambulance” seems to be attempting to understand Plath’s logic here, yet it is the macabre way that Plath describes this woman that is unsettling to the reader and iterates Plath’s feelings of even curiosity about life and death. Her “heart blooms through her coat” is hyper-real, the heart seemingly exploding, with either anguish, pity or joy we do not know, more so it is Plath’s ecstatic reaction to this “so astoundingly” when apparently on the verge of death herself that elicits this disturbing fascination with death prevalent throughout her poems. Commented [DH5]: Plath seemingly implores with the woman that her death is “A gift, a love gift” and that she is doing this with eyes wide open to the realities of life believing that she sees things as they are, not masked “by a sky” or having “eyes dulled to a halt under Bowler hats” a reference to the idea that all others have fallen victim to the capitalist “opiate” of being a “Bowler hat” wearing worker and simply wanting things, thus losing touch with the real world. Plath believes she knows this real world, yet she seems quite insane. Commented [DH6]: This last stanza has Plath perhaps having an epiphany, realising that perhaps she is insane, crying “Oh my God, what am I”, perceiving that all are looking at her with “mouths” that “cry open” in horror at her thoughts and beliefs. However, it seems more likely that Plath could not believe that these people who come now and comment to her with “la te mouths” too late for Plath think her logic is wrong. Therefore she changes the focus of the “poppies” to their status as a weed, as “cornflowers” are referred to and, that people are the weeds and this is a “dawn of cornflowers” of weeds and needs to be eradicated....