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I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.
Sylvia Plath
Read poems about / on: money, house, green, red, rose, metaphor
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Click here to write your comments about this poem (Metaphors by Sylvia Plath)
Libby A (4/24/2008 11:55:00 PM)
Raluca, I have to disagree....if you look at the poem, it seems pretty obvious that is about pregnancy. As Lee said, a riddle in nine syllables is an obvious euphemism for the nine months of child carrying. The various metaphors also suggest pregnancy. Calling herself an 'elephant' and 'a ponderous house' are obvious references to her size, as is 'a melon strolling on two tendrils', which is an obvious metaphor for her feeling of being enormous, but, granted, pregnancy is not obvious in these lines. However, 'this loaf's big with it's yeasty rising' is her comparing herself to a loaf of bread rising; or, her stomach growing bigger as the pregnancy progresses. 'Money's new-minted in this fat purse' is a metaphor for becoming pregnant, the 'new-minted' money obviously referring to the 'new' baby, and 'fat purse' is once again a reference to her size. 'A means, a stage' are again referring to her size, but 'a cow in calf' is an obvious metaphor for being pregnant, but seems to suggest that she doesn't view the pregnancy in a very positive way, in that she compares herself to a cow, and saying she is giving birth to a 'calf', something not even human. 'I've eaten a bag of green apples' also suggests that she isn't feeling that great about the pregnancy, almost as if she wants to pass of her growing stomach as the result of eating 'a bag of green apples'. The final line 'boarded the train there's no getting off' sums up her feeling of helplessness; she didn't really want a child, but since she 'boarded the train', or, got pregnant, there's nothing she can do: 'there's no getting off'. So, that's why I think the poem is about pregnancy. |
Lee S (4/14/2008 10:08:00 PM)
She discusses more than her proportions to display a correlation between herself and pregnancy. A riddle in nine syllables is an obvious euphemism to her nine months of child carrying. There is no doubt that she expresses a sort of melancholy to the situation, too, because she states that she's eaten a bag a green apples. This could be an allusion to the bible and the garden of eden, where eve eats the apple. IT could suggest that she finds her pregnancy a sin, especially considering her man left her after she became pregnant. The fact that she says she's boarding a train that she can't get off of is another sign that she really isn't comfortable with the fact that she's pregnant. It's almost as if this situation has stunted her life as is, which she was more than content with, or that there was more she wanted to do and now can't because she's... Well, pregnant. |
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Sylvia Plath
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