Sylvia Plath - the Morning Song Analysis
The morning song
‘Morning song’ by Sylvia Plath describes the birth, early stages of childhood and the sentimental value of a child in a very unique way. This poem was wrote from Sylvia Plath’s own experience of child birth, it can also be related to by parents, it could be thought it is aimed mainly at females as this poem is quite feminine. This eighteen line lyrics is structured in 3 line stanzas which are called tersest. It is a tender poem and the overall tone of it is quite mellow.
The opening line of the poem ‘love set you going like a fat gold watch,’ this literally means the physical act of making love, and that the act had created the child. The adjective ‘gold’ could signify that her child is precious and very high in value, it could also be referring to the child, literally, as a watch, time is ticking her away whilst waiting for the arrival of the child.
In the first stanza the word ‘midwife’ is a key word in the sentence; readers will automatically assume that the poem is about a child, or of a woman giving birth. ‘Your bald cry,’ is like the babies first ever naked cry. Silvia Plath makes the child sound like a tiny part of science, like it’s an ‘element’ as it’s now part of our universe and taken its rightful place.
‘Our’ is the first person plural that is used to open the second stanza. The child is called a ‘new statue,’ a statue has properties such as being lifeless and still, however the metaphor is meant to interpreted as the child being precious and admired. Hospital rooms are usually spacious, and voices usually ‘echo.’ She could be comparing the hospital room with a museum as they’re both open, airy and people are amazed by what they see. Sylvia Plath point out the dark gloomy side of having a child, ‘your nakedness shadows our safety,’ her and her partner may be feeling very insecure as the newborn is extremely vulnerable and fragile. After giving birth to the child, seeing it for the first time, holding it and hearing it cry, she may
‘Morning song’ by Sylvia Plath describes the birth, early stages of childhood and the sentimental value of a child in a very unique way. This poem was wrote from Sylvia Plath’s own experience of child birth, it can also be related to by parents, it could be thought it is aimed mainly at females as this poem is quite feminine. This eighteen line lyrics is structured in 3 line stanzas which are called tersest. It is a tender poem and the overall tone of it is quite mellow.
The opening line of the poem ‘love set you going like a fat gold watch,’ this literally means the physical act of making love, and that the act had created the child. The adjective ‘gold’ could signify that her child is precious and very high in value, it could also be referring to the child, literally, as a watch, time is ticking her away whilst waiting for the arrival of the child.
In the first stanza the word ‘midwife’ is a key word in the sentence; readers will automatically assume that the poem is about a child, or of a woman giving birth. ‘Your bald cry,’ is like the babies first ever naked cry. Silvia Plath makes the child sound like a tiny part of science, like it’s an ‘element’ as it’s now part of our universe and taken its rightful place.
‘Our’ is the first person plural that is used to open the second stanza. The child is called a ‘new statue,’ a statue has properties such as being lifeless and still, however the metaphor is meant to interpreted as the child being precious and admired. Hospital rooms are usually spacious, and voices usually ‘echo.’ She could be comparing the hospital room with a museum as they’re both open, airy and people are amazed by what they see. Sylvia Plath point out the dark gloomy side of having a child, ‘your nakedness shadows our safety,’ her and her partner may be feeling very insecure as the newborn is extremely vulnerable and fragile. After giving birth to the child, seeing it for the first time, holding it and hearing it cry, she may