A Winter Ship Poem by Sylvia Plath

A Winter Ship

Rating: 4.4


At this wharf there are no grand landings to speak of.
Red and orange barges list and blister
Shackled to the dock, outmoded, gaudy,
And apparently indestructible.
The sea pulses under a skin of oil.

A gull holds his pose on a shanty ridgepole,
Riding the tide of the wind, steady
As wood and formal, in a jacket of ashes,
The whole flat harbor anchored in
The round of his yellow eye-button.

A blimp swims up like a day-moon or tin
Cigar over his rink of fishes.
The prospect is dull as an old etching.
They are unloading three barrels of little crabs.
The pier pilings seem about to collapse

And with them that rickety edifice
Of warehouses, derricks, smokestacks and bridges
In the distance. All around us the water slips
And gossips in its loose vernacular,
Ferrying the smells of cod and tar.

Farther out, the waves will be mouthing icecakes —-
A poor month for park-sleepers and lovers.
Even our shadows are blue with cold.
We wanted to see the sun come up
And are met, instead, by this iceribbed ship,

Bearded and blown, an albatross of frost,
Relic of tough weather, every winch and stay
Encased in a glassy pellicle.
The sun will diminish it soon enough:
Each wave-tip glitters like a knife.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
David Wood 15 November 2021

Sylvia Plath, as eloquent as ever, my favourite poetess.

1 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 19 November 2021

what sails at sea, everyday worries on a wharf, does not happen that much, says the poetess, but still tells they depict the scenes in detail, you notice. It is wintertime, since there are ice ridges on the ship. I really enjoyed this narrative poem.5 stars to the full

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 19 November 2021

I could not see my comments here, so once again: Sylvia Plath in full: ordinary language, direct, in poetic form tells a normal daily activity on the wharf, what flies over it,

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 19 November 2021

described poetically as we can read here. Very nuanced and exquisite! 5 Stars full

1 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 19 November 2021

The events here on the shipyard described in detail, more sober than poetic and straightforward, as befits Sylvia Plath. She is a master of the ordinary events of life,

1 0 Reply
Rose Marie Juan-austin 15 November 2021

A magnificent poem so beautifully written embellished with sterling images. A poetic gem.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Close
Error Success