In the six stanzas of the poem, an irregular meter is apparent. The poet is speaking about her father and her somewhat unflattering thoughts about him. This becomes apparent towards the latter half of the poem and is much more easily divined with some knowledge of Plath's life - her father died when she was young and she came to feel betrayed and upset by his death; she even blames him for it.
She starts off the poem by likening his didactic speech with the senseless sound of beasts. She says that while he himself might have had a high opinion of the wisdom he was imparting, she for one never could make sense of it.
She speaks of herself as an ant in mourning, a small creature in his overbearing presence. In alluding to the skies of the Greek tragedies and the Roman Forum, she is indicating that while he didn't offer her anything of value, he still is a very significant part of her life, which at times was rather depressing for her.
The reference to cypress and the symbolism that associates that tree to death and funerals indicates the father's continued significance even after death; and that death had such a profound impact on her that it must have been caused by something much more powerful than even lightening.
"My hours are married to shadow" - in thinking of her dead father all the time, her life is somehow linked inextricably to death. She has given up on being conscious about the more easily perceptible things (emotions) in life.
The actual description of the father is also linked to the stone colossus (statue) and lends itself to comparison with a stony, unmoving figure that is a big part of her life. In this, the poem may be thought of as an extended simile/ deceit.
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