Personal Response to the Poetry of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath’s poetry appeals to many for many reasons. The poet explores many real life situations through her poetry which makes it very relatable to her readers. The poet also expresses her feelings and inner thoughts through vivid images, which often contrast, to show how powerful they really are. Plath demonstrates this type of poetry in poems such as Child and Mirror. Plath writes about many personal experiences, for example in the poem Morning Song she expresses the moments her child was born. Sylvia Plath’s poetry is not always, but often very dark and deeply disturbing, which keeps me as a reader very intrigued as I want to know why she feels this way.
In the poem Morning Song, Plath describes the birth of her child with rich images and a lot of personal thoughts. I admire this poem as Plath shows a lighter side to herself, different to her usual tormented mind. Plath reveals a more upbeat personality to herself and relives her child’s first moments: “Love sets you going like a fat gold watch”. Describing her child using a simile of a fat gold watch represents a sense of preciousness and value I feel. It is obvious to me that Plath worships this baby: “Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.” The word statue represents the baby’s uniqueness and describes the baby as an idol of worship, in my opinion. It is obvious from the first two stanzas that Plath sees her child as the ultimate being. Plath describes herself and the father as dumbstruck. The baby has left them in awe and slightly uncertain: “We stand round blankly as walls”. I feel this image correctly represents how most new parents would feel after seeing their child for the first time. It must be daunting. Overall, the images in these stanzas bring me a sense of love, joy and value. In the third stanza, the tone shifts as we read about the mother and baby’s complex relationship. “I’m not more your mother Thank the cloud that distils a mirror to reflect its own slow Effacement at