This poem by Sylvia Plath consists of six stanzas, with five verses each. The poem seems to be about her father when he was suffering through his illness. The first stanza talks about how she is not able to understand her father's words because he is unclear and is making "mule-bray, pig grunt and bawdy cackles/ [that] proceed from your great lips". The second verse suggests how much she respects her father with the words "great lips". And she also describes the noise "worse than a barnyard".
In the second stanza, she describes how her father considers what he says to be important and maybe is therefore trying to say something. But she states that even after thirty years, she still does not know what the sounds mean that he made.
In the third stanza, she describes how she is trying to clean his face with disinfectant.. slowly "like an ant in mourning" over his bushy eyebrows and cleaning his eyes. This creates a segway into the fourth stanza of his expressive looks that are "pithy and historical". This metaphor is compared to the Roman history.
In the fifth stanza she describes how her father's physical and mental ability have been ruined and that it takes "more than a lightning-stroke to create such a ruin". She realizes that it isn't a normal illness that can be cured and a lot of damage has been done.
In the sixth stanza, her message is a bit confusing but it seems like she is just trying to say that she doesn't have to hear those harsh noises anymore.
In the second stanza, she describes how her father considers what he says to be important and maybe is therefore trying to say something. But she states that even after thirty years, she still does not know what the sounds mean that he made.
In the third stanza, she describes how she is trying to clean his face with disinfectant.. slowly "like an ant in mourning" over his bushy eyebrows and cleaning his eyes. This creates a segway into the fourth stanza of his expressive looks that are "pithy and historical". This metaphor is compared to the Roman history.
In the fifth stanza she describes how her father's physical and mental ability have been ruined and that it takes "more than a lightning-stroke to create such a ruin". She realizes that it isn't a normal illness that can be cured and a lot of damage has been done.
In the sixth stanza, her message is a bit confusing but it seems like she is just trying to say that she doesn't have to hear those harsh noises anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment