Lady Lazarus FK

"Lady Lazarus" is a poem written in October 1962 by Sylvia Plath. One important thing to note about this poem is that it was written a few months before Sylvia Plath took her life.

The poem is made up off 84 lines arranged in 28 triplets. There is no apparent rhyme scheme in this poem, but a number of the lines consist of internal rhyming. The overall theme of this poem is death. Like a lot of Sylvia Plath's other poems there are many refrences to Nazi's and Jew's. For example in lines 4-5 Plath compares her skin to that of a Nazi lampshade and in lines 8-9 she compares her featureless face to that of a Jew linen. Another refrence that appears a few times in this poem is a refrence to Lucifer and God. There is also good use of figrutive imagery throughout this poem. One example is lines 6-7 where Plath uses a metaphor to compare the weight of her right foot to that of a paper weight. This poem seems to be written in the perspective of Sylvia Plath explaining her own death.

This poem seems to be Sylvia Plath's way of foreshadowing her future death. She starts off the poem by saying she has done it again. Plath says she does it once in every ten years. Here I think Plath is talking taking her life. I am assuming she has tried to take her life before, but to no success. In line 21 Plath talks about how she is like a cat and has nine lives and in line 22 she says this is her third life. In line 35 Plath says the first time she tried to take her life was when she was ten. I feel that this might have occured because off her fathers death because it occured around the same time. She says that this time it was an accident but she goes on to explain that the second time she tried she meant it. In the fifeteenth triplet Plath says that dying is an art and she is exceptionally well at it. She then uses the rest of the poem to describe her third attempt on her life (which hasn't happened yet). She uses a lot of Nazi and Jew refrences here. In the 24th triplet I believe Plath is comparing her third attempt at dying to Jew's getting killed by Nazi's at concentration camps. She talks about how she burns and her enemy pokes and stirs her ashes and all that remains is a wedding ring. This imagery here really paints a picture of Jew's getting burned at concentration camps. At the end of the poem Plath warns God and Lucifer that she will rise again out of the ash.

LL - BK

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.

Lady Lazarus VB

Lady Lazarus consists of 84 lines that are all grouped into 28 triplets. It is free rhyme with most rhyming coming within lines. The poem starts out by saying "I have done it again" refering to killing someone. First her father when she wasa chuild, then the attempt to take her own life when she was in college, and I beleive the third is talking about her soon to be third and final attempt.

Within the poem she makes a handful of references towards nazis and connecting them father. She even refers to the devil in line 79. She had made earlier references to Lucifer in lines 64 and 63 when she capitalizes Herr Doktor and Herr Enemy.

There is a feeling of resentment and bitterness to not only her father but other men in her life. I thinks some of the anger is for her husband as well because he uis just another male figure in her life that seems to have done nothing to help better her.

The end of the poem ends in a way to show that she has become strong because of the men around her not helping her. She has found her own way to gte past struggles withou their help.
"Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air"
That is the filan triplet in the poem and it is saying how strong hse has become so these men that try to bring her down should fear her because she knows that she does not need them.

Lady Lazz Vic H

This poem is written in the form of a tercet. This tercet however lacks a consistent rhyming pattern and seems as if the form was chosen more contribute to pacing the reading of the poem.

In this poem Plath makes what seem to be biblical references. The title Lady Lazarus is the first reference to the bible. The name Lazarus appears twice in the in the new testament once in Luke and once in John. The first appearance of the name Lazarus refers to Lazarus the beggar who is poor and neglected by the rich man. Ultimately he ends up in a position where the rich man is begging him for a drop of water while being tormented by fire in hell. In the second appearance of the name Lazarus it is in John where Lazarus is dead and Jesus revives him from the dead four days later in a spectacular miracle.

Plath throughout the poem makes biblical references early on. In stanza two the first line she states “A sort of walking Miracle…” When read alone it has little meaning, but it is a small hint at an overall theme. The miracle is of biblical origin so it easily linked to other references in the poem. In stanza four she says “peel off the napkin” which can be compared to the story of Lazarus in John where after he was revived they had to take off the wrapping that he was in, in his tomb. In stanzas five and six Plath is describing a revival. She is describing her facial structure returning as well as her flesh and the disappearance of the bad breath that brought upon her because of the time she spent deceased. Amongst her description she uses a personification that makes it seem as if the cave is actually eating her by stating “ Soon, Soon the flesh/ The grave cave ate will be/ At home on me”

She continues the poem comparing herself to a cat having nine lives in the seventh stanza using a simile. She then informs the reader she is on her third life and reminds the reader that she dies once every ten years. Plath in stanza thirteen talks about a time where she meant to die and not come back. This makes believe that this poem is about failed suicide attempts. She talks about the pain, the scars and mentions the doctor in stanza twenty-two referring to him/her as her enemy and I would assume it is because he keeps her from achieving an absolute death by helping her. With the last five stanzas she talks about burning to ash. I believe she is making reference to the other Lazarus who was poor and the rich man who neglected him went to hell and burned. I believe that because she mentions so many items that signify wealth like pure gold, rings, and gold fillings and concludes by saying “herr Lucifer”.

'Lady Lazarus' - R. Abbott

Lady Lazarus was written in October of 1962, when Sylvia Plath was already thirty years old - the age of her suicide. The first time reading through all 41 of the poems in 'Ariel,' this one stood out immediately as one whose tone was very dark and whose theme seemed to be about death. Many times, Plath mentions how close she has been to death at several points throughout her short life: "the first time it happened I was ten...the second time i meant/to last it out and not come back at all" (35-38). Even the Biblical reference in the title leads the reader to believe that this poem will be about death, but instead of being saved from death as Lazarus was by Jesus, Plath clearly wishes not to be saved. She uses wonderful imagery of her being "unwrapped" and shown off to perverted people obsessed with the notion of someone who would want to die but instead was saved. Plath implements a similie when exposing a scene of her in a grave: "they had to call and call/and pick the worms off me like sticky pearls" (41-42). Plath blatantly admits to the audience that dying is an art form that she is particularly good at and for whatever reason she seems to embrace it. It also seems as though Plath is bringing her father's untimely death into this poem as reason for her hatred of life when she uses German terminology (Herr Doktor) and towards the beginning describes her face as "fine Jew linen" (9). The metaohor describing herself as a "pure gold baby/that melts to a shriek" also sets the tone for the menacing ending to the poem (69-70). The last few lines of the poem send an eerie shock up the reader's spine - one which Plath explains what she will do to the men who mistreated her during life in her afterlife.

Love sonnet 8/10 !REDO! Vic H

Love Sonnet 148

The poem is 10 syllable per line with three quatrains and a couplet. He did it in the form of an Shakespearian sonnet. The Shakespearian sonnet uses an aabb, cdcd,efef, hh pattern which distinguishes his writting style from others.

In the first line I imagine someone frustrated with being in love with someone they don’t know why they are in love with. It seems as if this person cannot see why they are in love with someone and is questions their judgment.

“Or if they have, where is my judgment fled”

They are wondering where their judgment has fled to using a personification to give their judgment the ability to flee as if a human. I looked up the word censures to get a clearer understanding in the next line. The poet is asking if their criticism or condemnation of their infatuation for this other is correct. I also looked up the word dote which is extreme fondness. This gives the line greater understanding.

“If that be fair whereon my false eyes dote

What means the world to say it is not so? “

Shakespeare then defends the other against his criticism, questioning the opinions of the world. In that line Shakespeare was speaking to the reader but staying omniscient enough to be able to be speaking to everyone. He then continues questioning yet this time questioning the eye of loves truth. In questioning the eye of loves truth he is using synecdoche to combine a feeling such as love with the eye. He then discusses why loves eye could be incorrect and he points out that the eye is vexed when infatuated or straining through the occurrence of tears credited to love. As he continued to defend the love he basically states “no wonder he mistook this person”, referring to his position in the beginning. He understands that he made a mistake and compares his mis-viewing to the sun not being able to see the heavens until the clouds clear. He is comparing the clouds to the distractions that might have gotten in the way of things, and the sun as him making the mistake of not being able to see through the clouds. He is using personification in the give the sun the ability to see through clouds.

He finishes by declaring that the tears have kept him blind, referring to the strain spoken about earlier when the eye is vexed. He is saying he needs to avoid his eyes being good because fault would be found clearly in his other which proves that maybe there is something wrong with him.

For My Daughter (M.A)

This poem is written by Weldon Kees in 1962. The poem is 12 verses long and the rhyme scheme is ababccdedeffgg. The poem is about a father who finds his daughter dead after, what most probably seems to be an accident, maybe in the river.
The first few stanzas mention how he tries to see past her "innocence of morning flesh concealed" which could symbolize the while and fresh skin that usually shows, but it is now concealed by death.
The winds have messed up her hair and the seaweed has injured her hands, which tells us that his daughter most probably died in some body of water.Furthermore, the "night's slow poison and tolerant bland, has moved her blood" symbolizes how the night, which is considered to be dark, has come over her and has made her cold blooded and completely white in the face.
He then describes her physical attributes, that the age that used to be seen is now foul and lingering with death and the slim legs that are green could be covered with seaweed. He also considers her looks to be like the bride of syphilis or a fool, which means it is fresh. And then he says how they are a sour sight in the sun and that he now has no daughter. And maybe does not want another one again...