I took this poem to be in part about Plath's suicide attempts.
I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it--
This first stanza meaning that she has tried it once every 10 years, and when she survives it she compares herself to a cat having nine lives.
I think she compares her face to a Jew linen to imply a weak or defenseless look.
It seems like the first time she didn't mean to almost die,
The first time it happened
I was ten.
It was an accident.
The second time I meant
To last it out and not come back at all.
I rocked shut
whereas the second time she really tried to kill herself and failed.
The speaker then compares dying to an art, which she claims she does exceptionally well, which is a bold claim since she has never done it and failed at it when tried.
She describes it as a sort of theatrical event with spectators.
I am still confused about
For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge For the hearing of my heart-- It really goes. And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy.
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