Zusammenfassung der Ressource
How does Plath present the themes of
life and death in her poetry?
- "Love set you going like a fat gold watch." - 'Morning Song', Plath (21)
- "Yesterday he was nowhere to be found, in the skies or under the
skies. Suddenly he's here." - 'New Foal', Hughes (81)
- Both Plath and Hughes represent new life in a
similar way; it is as if birth is the the start of a
process, and happens almost instantaneously.
- "She has folded them back into her body as petals of a rose close" - 'Edge', Plath (71)
- "Between hands that relaxed being too late and the trees closed forever" -
'That Moment', Hughes (39)
- Here, nature is used to represent a life ending. The rose closes so that the world
will never again see its beauty. Both poets may also be trying to make a link
between life/death and the seasons.
- "The woman is perfected. Her dead body wears the smile of accomplishment." 'Edge', Plath (71)
- "And the body lay on the gravel of the abandoned world." 'That Moment', Hughes (39)
- Both poets describe the almost peaceful stillness of a dead body, regardless of the
circumstance of death. Death is represented as a destination, or at least the end of a journey.
- "He tells me how sweet the babies look in their hospital icebox." - 'Death & Co.', Plath (65)
- "But who is stronger than death? Me, evidently. Pass, crow." - 'Examination at the Womb Door' - Hughes (37)
- Where Plath is afraid of death coming to take away her children, Hughes describes the birth of a child as the
only thing that can overcome death. Both Plath and Hughes represent death in an animate form. Perhaps this
is to represent the physical presence of death.
- Other poems to use: Hawk
Roosting - Hughes (17)
Heptonstall - Hughes (33)
Suicide off Egg Rock - Plath (10)