Introduction to Plath (Week 4)

We were introduced to Sylvia Plath this week. I have never read any of Plath's works prior to this class and now after reading her biography and a few of her works, I am quite intrigued with her. Her poem titled "Morning Song" was the first poem I read by her and later imitated. In the poem when she writes,

All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

Her use of metaphors in these lines are useful in adding to her poem and allowing the reader to envision a tiny baby's cry in your ear by imagining it as a sea crashing or moving and you then hear this is your ear. To me this metaphor's use to explain a baby's cry as a sea moving in your ear appears to be a seemingly pleasant sensation. This whole poem is a great example for use of metaphors. It is a great come back poem to reference and seek guidance or examples.

Some of the questions that I have that have been sparked by this week's readings are use of concrete versus abstract ideas. I am a bit boggled as to what is preferred for the poetry language abstract versus concrete because it seems like we are suppose to use concrete images instead of abstract images. It is hard for me to wrap by head around this idea because it seems as though we are using concrete words to give detail to an object or person, yet the idea behind doing this seems abstract. For example, comparing a baby's loud cry to rising balloons (as in 'Morning Song') Though the image is concrete, the idea seems purely abstract.

In thinking about other artistic disciplines such as painting or drawing; though, they seem able to evoke feelings through how they are created with the end project, poetry and other artistic writing forms seem able to do more for the mind by allowing a person to use the words and envision in their head their own art piece out of the poet or writers words. I would much rather envision my own creation sometimes then just look at someone else's rendition.