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Jan 22, 2024 · In this brief guide, we will discuss “ Sylvia Plath poems about Depression”, clinical features of depression, a short biography of Sylvia Plath, her major writings, poems on depression and some of the commonly asked questions regarding the topic.
Sylvia Plath's poems about depression offer a raw and unflinching portrayal of her own mental struggles. Through her haunting verses and evocative imagery, she invites readers into a world of darkness, where the weight of despair is palpable.
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Despite her success, Plath struggled with depression, and committed suicide in 1963. This poem shows the struggle a woman has with her identity as she grows older and begins to lose her youthfulness. It also uses personification by giving human characteristics to the mirror.
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‘Sheep In Fog‘ is a confessionalpoem in which Plath describes her feelings of helplessness, depression, and anxiety. While battling depression, suicidal urges, and anxiety, Plath’s only emotional outlet was poetry. The months leading up to her death were filled with sleepless nights in which Plath wrote vengeful, angry poems. ‘Sheep In Fog‘ was pub...
To fully appreciate the complexities of the poem, it is important to understand its context. In July 1962, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughesgot divorced after Hughes refused to end the several-month-long affair with Assia Wevill, a German poet. Plath had custody of her children Frieda and Nicholas until her suicide in February 1963. The months between th...
Literary Devices
1. Metaphor is a literary technique wherein the creation of comparisonwithout prepositions. Plath uses a metaphor throughout the poem to refer to her conflicting emotions. For example, ‘the hills’ is a metaphor for Plath’s life journey, and the ‘blacking morning’ is a metaphor for Plath’s upcoming death. 2. An anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases for emphasis. Plath uses an anaphora in the third stanzawhen repeating ‘morning’. 3. Imageryis visually descriptive language that immerses...
Punctuation
1. Caesura is the use of punctuation in the middle of a line for repetition, emphasis, or break of rhythm. Plath uses caesura in the last lines of the first and last stanzas. 2. Enjambment is the lack of punctuation throughout the stanza, allowing a phrase/sentence to continue for several lines. Plath uses enjambmentsin the second line of every stanza, allowing them to run into the third lines.
In ‘Sheep In Fog,’ Plath explores the themes of anxiety, distress, depression, and helplessness. ‘Sheep In Fog‘ is one of the last poems she wrote before committing suicide, so the dystopianthemes are rather appropriate.
‘Sheep In Fog‘ is a free verse confessional poem comprising 15 lines divided into five stanzas, three lines each. The poem lacks a rhyme scheme or consistent meter. Plath’s use of enjambment and anaphora makes the poem take on a confessional tone: the poem is neither romantic nor lyrical. Plath complies seemingly unconnected imagery together in an ...
Stanza One
The first stanza of ‘Sheep In Fog‘ sets the scene for the poem. Immerses the reader in the stanza through natural and color imagery.
Stanza Two
In the second stanza of ‘Sheep In Fog’, Plath explores her journey via metaphors and imagery. A train is a mode of transportation capable of carrying hundreds of people at a time. Consequently, the passengers get on and off, often without seeing each other again. Plath equates the train to her own life: people come and leave. When the poem was written, Plath was planning her suicide, getting ready to leave people behind. Moreover, the ‘line of breath’ that the train leaves symbolises the fina...
Stanza Three
The third stanza of ‘Sheep In Fog’is a continuation of the second: Plath carries on with the description of the horse. Plath’s choice of language is effective: ‘dolorous’ is an adjective referring to feelings of sorrow and agony. The hooves of the horse are akin to ringing bells, symbolizing the upcoming end of Plath’s life. Ironically, Plath’s only source of happiness is the harbinger of her death. Plath uses an anaphora in the second and third lines of the stanza, repeating ‘morning.’ In th...
If you enjoyed ‘Sheep In Fog,’consider exploring the following poems: 1. ‘Out, Out’ by Robert Frostis a depressive poem about a young boy dying from an injury. 2. ‘One Art’ by Elizabeth Bishop is a heartfelt poem about loss and allowing oneself to let things go. 3. ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’ by Emily Dickinsonis a poem about losing one’s sanit...
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- May 24, 2003
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On Sylvia Plath and the Many Shades of Depression ‹ Literary Hub. Gabrielle Bellot Considers How a Writer's Work is Measured Against Her Death. By Gabrielle Bellot. December 13, 2018. “I am only thirty,” the narrator of Sylvia Plath’s monumental 1962 poem, “Lady Lazarus,” announces early. “And like the cat I have nine times to die.”
Jan 27, 2022 · Her powerful yet simple words often created bleak and heart-wrenching imagery, as she bravely alluded to her own struggles with mental health. The poetry collection Ariel, released after her death in 1965, has multiple references about occasions in her life that frustrated her.
In Plath’s final poems, wrote Charles Newman in his The Art of Sylvia Plath, “death is preeminent but strangely unoppressive. Perhaps it is because there is no longer dialogue, no sense of ‘Otherness’—she is speaking from a viewpoint which is total, complete.
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