Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3

rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
Metaphysical Poetry in English
The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to
describe a loose group o English lyric poets o the !"th century, #hose #or$ #as
characteri%ed by the in&enti&e use o conceits, and by speculation about topics such as
lo&e or religion'

The metaphysical poets #ere men o learning, and, to sho# their learning #as their #hole
endea&our( but, unluc$ily resol&ing to sho# it in rhyme, instead o #riting poetry, they
only #rote &erses, and, &ery oten, such &erses as stood the trial o the inger better than
o the ear( or the modulation #as so imperect, that they #ere only ound to be &erses by
counting the syllables''' The most heterogeneous ideas are yo$ed by &iolence together(
nature and art are ransac$ed or illustrations, comparisons, and allusions( their learning
instructs, and their subtilty surprises( but the reader commonly thin$s his impro&ement
dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased'
Johnson claimed that )they #ere not successul in representing or mo&ing the aections)
and that neither )#as the sublime more #ithin their reach')*enerally, his criticism o the
poets+ style #as grounded in his assertion that )*reat thoughts are al#ays general,) and
that the metaphysical poets #ere too particular in their search or no&elty' ,e did
concede, ho#e&er, that )they'''sometimes stuc$ out une-pected truth) and that their #or$
is oten intellectually, i not emotionally, stimulating'
John Donne
.as an English poet, satirist, la#yer and acleric in the Church o England' ,e is
considered the pre-eminent representati&e o the metaphysical poets' ,is #or$s are noted
or their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, lo&e poems, religious
poems, /atin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires andsermons' ,is poetry is
noted or its &ibrancy o language and in&enti&eness o metaphor, especially compared to
that o his contemporaries' 0onne+s style is characterised by abrupt openings and &arious
parado-es, ironies and dislocations' These eatures, along #ith his re1uent dramatic or
e&eryday speech rhythms, his tense synta- and his tough elo1uence, #ere both a reaction
against the smoothness o con&entional Eli%abethan poetry and an adaptation into English
o European baro1ue and mannerist techni1ues'
Another important theme in 0onne+s poetry is the idea o true religion, something that he
spent much time considering and about #hich he oten theori%ed' ,e #rote secular poems
as #ell as erotic and lo&e poems' ,e is particularly amous or his mastery o
metaphysical conceits'
0onne+s early career #as also notable or his erotic poetry, especially his elegies, in
#hich he employed uncon&entional metaphors, such as a lea biting t#o lo&ers being
compared to se-' 2n Elegy XIX: To His Mistris Going to Bed, he poetically undressed his
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
mistress and compared the act o ondling to the e-ploration o America' 2n Elegy XVIII,
he compared the gap bet#een his lo&er+s breasts to the ,ellespont' 0onne did not publish
these poems, although did allo# them to circulate #idely in manuscript orm'
''' any mans death diminishes me, because 2 am in&ol&ed in Mankinde( And thereore
ne&er send to $no# or #hom the bell tolls( 2t tolls or thee''
30onne, Meditation XVII
The Flea
2s an erotic metaphysical poem 4irst published posthumously in !5336 by John
0onne 4!7"89!53!6' The e-act date o its composition is un$no#n'
The poem uses the conceit o a lea, #hich has suc$ed blood rom the male spea$er and
his emale lo&er, to ser&e as an e-tended metaphor or the relationship bet#een them' The
spea$er tries to con&ince a lady to sleep #ith him, arguing that i their blood mingling in
the lea is innocent, then se-ual mingling #ould also be innocent' ,is argument hinges on
the belie that blood mi-es during se-ual intercourse'
Analysis
0onne is able to hint at the erotic #ithout e-plicitly reerring to se-, using images such as
the ly that )pamper+d s#ells) #ith the blood o the lady 4line :6' This e&o$es the idea o
an erection' The spea$er complains that )This is more than #e #ould do;) 4line <6'
2nside the lea is represented the trinity, or the three persons o the godhead( the =ather,
Son and ,oly Spirit as concei&ed in orthodo- Christian belie' The number three
throughout the poem #or$s as a symbol o )all in one) and also alludes to the three
anatomical sections o an insect 9 head, thora-, and abdomen' =or this reason, the spea$er
claims it #ould be )sacrilege) to $ill the lea' ,e holds the lea up in the second stan%a as
)our marriage bed) and )our marriage temple,) begging or the lady to spare its innocent
lie 4line !36' ,e argues that by $illing the lea, she #ould be $illing hersel, himsel, and
the lea itsel, )Three crimes in $illing three) 4line!:6' The lady, in the third stan%a, $ills
the lea, presumably rejecting the spea$er+s ad&ances' ,e then claims she #ill lose no
more honor #hen she decides to sleep #ith him than she did #hen she $illed the lea'
This unny little poem again e-hibits 0onne>s metaphysical lo&e-poem mode, his
aptitude or turning e&en the least li$ely images into elaborate symbols o lo&e and
romance' This poem uses the image o a lea that has just bitten the spea$er and his
belo&ed to s$etch an amusing conlict o&er #hether the t#o #ill engage in premarital se-'
The spea$er #ants to, the belo&ed does not, and so the spea$er, highly cle&er but
grasping at stra#s, uses the lea, in #hose body his blood mingles #ith his belo&ed>s, to
sho# ho# innocuous such mingling can be3he reasons that i mingling in the lea is so
innocuous, se-ual mingling #ould be e1ually innocuous, or they are really the same
thing' ?y the second stan%a, the spea$er is trying to sa&e the lea>s lie, holding it up as
@our marriage bed and marriage temple'A
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
?ut #hen the belo&ed $ills the lea despite the spea$er>s protestations 4and probably as a
deliberate mo&e to s1uash his argument, as #ell6, he turns his argument on its head and
claims that despite the high-minded and sacred ideals he has just been in&o$ing, $illing
the lea did not really impugn his belo&ed>s honor3and despite the high-minded and
sacred ideals she has in&o$ed in reusing to sleep #ith him, doing so #ould not impugn
her honor either'
This poem is the cle&erest o a long line o si-teenth-century lo&e poems using the lea as
an erotic image, a genre deri&ed rom an older poem o B&id' 0onne>s poise o hinting at
the erotic #ithout e&er e-plicitly reerring to se-, #hile at the same time lea&ing no doubt
as to e-actly #hat he means, is as much a source o the poem>s humor as the silly image
o the lea is( the idea that being bitten by a lea #ould represent @sin, or shame, or loss o
maidenheadA gets the point across #ith a neat conciseness and clarity that 0onne>s later
religious lyrics ne&er attained'
Andrew Marvell
T' S' Eliot #rote o Mar&ell+s style that +2t is more than a technical accomplishment,
or the &ocabulary and synta- o an epoch( it is, #hat #e ha&e designated tentati&ely as
#it, a tough reasonableness beneath the slight lyric grace+' ,e also identiied Mar&ell and
the metaphysical school #ith the +dissociation o sensibility+ that occurred in !"th-century
English literature( Eliot described this trend as +something #hich''' happened to the mind
o England''' it is the dierence bet#een the intellectual poet and the relecti&e
poet+' Coets increasingly de&eloped a sel-conscious relationship to tradition, #hich too$
the orm o a ne# emphasis on cratsmanship o e-pression and an idiosyncratic reedom
in allusions to Classical and ?iblical sources'
Mar&ell+s most celebrated lyric, )To ,is Coy Mistress), combines an old poetic conceit
4the persuasion o the spea$er+s lo&er by means o a carpe diem philosophy6 #ith
Mar&ell+s typically &ibrant imagery and easy command o rhyming couplets' Bther #or$s
incorporate topical satire and religious themes'
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
"To His Coy Mistress"
The poem is spo$en by a male lo&er to his emale belo&ed as an attempt to con&ince her
to sleep #ith him' The spea$er argues that the /ady>s shyness and hesitancy #ould be
acceptable i the t#o had @#orld enough, and time'A ?ut because they are inite human
beings, he thin$s they should ta$e ad&antage o their sensual embodiment #hile it lasts'
,e tells the lady that her beauty, as #ell as her @long-preser&ed &irginity,A #ill only
become ood or #orms unless she gi&es hersel to him #hile she li&es' Dather than
preser&e any loty ideals o chastity and &irtue, the spea$er airms, the lo&ers ought to
@roll all our strength, and all E Bur s#eetness, up into one ball'A ,e is alluding to their
physical bodies coming together in the act o lo&ema$ing'
Analysis
Mar&ell #rote this poem in the classical tradition o a /atin lo&e elegy, in #hich the
spea$er praises his mistress or lo&er through the moti o carpe diem, or @sei%e the day'A
The poem also relects the tradition o the erotic bla%on, in #hich a poet constructs
elaborate images o his lo&er>s beauty by car&ing her body into parts' 2ts &erse orm
consists o rhymed couplets in iambic tetrameter, proceeding as AA, ??, CC, and so
orth'
The spea$er begins by constructing a thorough and elaborate conceit o the many things
he @#ouldA do to honor the lady properly, i the t#o lo&ers indeed had enough time' ,e
posits impossible stretches o time during #hich the t#o might play games o courtship'
,e claims he could lo&e her rom ten years beore the ?iblical lood narrated in the ?oo$
o *enesis, #hile the /ady could reuse his ad&ances up until the @con&ersion o the
Je#s,A #hich reers to the day o Christian judgment prophesied or the end o times in
the Fe# Testament>s ?oo$ o De&elations'
The spea$er then uses the metaphor o a @&egetable lo&eA to suggest a slo# and steady
gro#th that might increase to &ast proportions, perhaps encoding a phallic suggestion'
This #ould allo# him to praise his lady>s eatures 9 eyes, orehead, breasts, and heart 9
in increments o hundreds and e&en thousands o years, #hich he says that the lady
clearly deser&es due to her superior stature' ,e assures the /ady that he #ould ne&er
&alue her at a @lo#er rateA than she deser&es, at least in an ideal #orld #here time is
unlimited'
Mar&ell praises the lady>s beauty by complimenting her indi&idual eatures using a
de&ice called an erotic bla%on, #hich also e&o$es the inluential techni1ues o !7th and
!5th century Cetrarchan lo&e poetry' Cetrarchan poetry is based upon rariying and
distancing the emale belo&ed, ma$ing her into an unattainable object' 2n this poem,
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
though, the spea$er only uses these de&ices to suggest that distancing himsel rom his
lo&er is mindless, because they do not ha&e the limitless time necessary or the spea$er to
praise the /ady suiciently' ,e thereore constructs an erotic bla%on only to assert its
utility'
The poem>s mood shits in line 8!, #hen the spea$er asserts that @Time+s #inged chariotA
is al#ays near' The spea$er>s rhetoric changes rom an ac$no#ledgement o the /ady>s
limitless &irtue to insisting on the radical limitations o their time as embodied beings'
Bnce dead, he assures the /ady, her &irtues and her beauty #ill lie in the gra&e along
#ith her body as it turns to dust' /i$e#ise, the spea$er imagines his lust being reduced to
ashes, #hile the chance or the t#o lo&ers to join se-ually #ill be lost ore&er'
The third and inal section o the poem shits into an all-out plea and display o poetic
pro#ess in #hich the spea$er attempts to #in o&er the /ady' ,e compares the /ady>s
s$in to a &ibrant layer o morning de# that is animated by the ires o her soul and
encourages her to @sportA #ith him @#hile #e may'A Time de&ours all things, the spea$er
ac$no#ledges, but he nonetheless asserts that the t#o o them can, in act, turn the tables
on time' They can become @amorous birds o preyA that acti&ely consume the time they
ha&e through passionate lo&ema$ing'
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens 4Bctober 8, !:"< 9 August 8, !<776 #as an American Modernist poet'
According to the literary critic ,arold ?loom, #ho called Ste&ens the )best and most
representati&e) American poet o the time, no .estern #riter since Sophocles has had
such a late lo#ering o artistic genius',elen Hendler notes that there are three
distinguishable moods present in Ste&ens+ long poemsI ecstasy, apathy, and reluctance
bet#een ecstasy and apathy'She also notes that his poetry #as highly inluenced by the
paintings o Caul Jlee and Caul CK%anne'
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
Ste&ens, #hose #or$ #as meditati&e and philosophical, is &ery much a poet o
ideas' @The poem must resist the intelligence E Almost successully,A

he #rote'
Concerning the relation bet#een consciousness and the #orld, in Ste&ens+s #or$
)imagination) is not e1ui&alent to consciousness nor is )reality) e1ui&alent to the #orld
as it e-ists outside our minds' Deality is the product o the imagination as it shapes the
#orld' ?ecause it is constantly changing as #e attempt to ind imaginati&ely satisying
#ays to percei&e the #orld, reality is an acti&ity, not a static object' .e approach reality
#ith a piecemeal understanding, putting together parts o the #orld in an attempt to ma$e
it seem coherent' To ma$e sense o the #orld is to construct a #orld&ie# through an
acti&e e-ercise o the imagination' This is no dry, philosophical acti&ity, but a passionate
engagement in inding order and meaning'
Miller summari%es Ste&ens+s positionI )Though this dissol&ing o the sel is in one #ay
the end o e&erything, in another #ay it is the happy liberation' There are only t#o
entities let no# that the gods are deadI man and nature, subject and object' Fature is the
physical #orld, &isible, audible, tangible, present to all the senses, and man is
consciousness, the nothing #hich recei&es nature and transorms it into something
unreal ' ' ' ')
@Thirteen .ays o /oo$ing at a ?lac$birdA
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" is a poem rom .allace Ste&ens+ irst
boo$ o poetry, Harmonium. The poem consists o thirteen short, separate sections, each
o #hich mentions blac$birds in some #ay' Although inspired by hai$u, none o the
sections meet the traditional deinition o hai$u'
)Thirteen .ays''') may be interpreted as one o Ste&ens+s e-ercises in perspecti&ism, and
accordingly may be compared to such poems as )The Sno# Man)' The perspecti&es that
matter or Ste&ens issue rom the poet+s imagination, #hich, some#hat in the spirit o
philosophical nominalism, can uniy the #orld in &arious #ays3or e-ample, as a man
and a #oman, or a man and a #oman and a blac$bird 4section 2H6' The artist+s
perspecti&e may be shaped by #hat he attends to, as or instance on inlections or
innuendoes3the blac$bird #histling, or just ater 4section H6'
The poem+s hai$u-li$e austerity is stri$ing' Ainities to imagism and cubism are e&ident'
?uttel proposes that the title )alludes humorously to the Cubists+ practice o incorporating
into unity and stasis a number o possible &ie#s o the subject obser&ed o&er a span o
time')
Sight is the dominant perceptual modality' The poems are almost cinematic, as though,
and this is a some#hat anachronistic reading, in the irst stan%a, a camera ocuses on a
mountain panorama and then %ooms in to the blac$bird and its roaming eye' There is
reason to classiy it as among the metaphysical poems in Harmonium, because it creates
an aura o mystery and intimates ineable $no#ledge, perhaps con&eying the message
that +death comes to all that li&es'+ ?ut there are also grounds or classiying it as among
the boo$+s sensualist poems' )This group o poems is not meant to be a collection o
epigrams or o ideas,) Ste&ens remar$s in one o his letters, )but o sensations')4See the
main,armonium essay, the section )A la&orously original poetic personality,) or the
critic Joseph =letcher+s contrast bet#een Ste&ens+s metaphysical and sensuous poems'6
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
Analysis
The poem seems to be thematically structured to bring about a uller understanding o our
o#n thought processes and to enable us to reali%e shortcomings in our egocentric
thoughts' ?y using the signiier blac$bird, repeated in each o the thirteen stan%as,
Ste&ens guides us through a process o sel 1uestioning' Separately, the &erses are similar
to Len $oans, designed to shatter your method o thin$ing to bring about enlightenment'
Yet as a #hole this piece seems gently to nudge you into the author+s #ay o thin$ing,
rather than sho&ing as Len propounds'
2-The irst stan%a may be read as an introduction to the entire poem and a preparatory
e-ercise or your intellect' Ste&ens conjures an image o a lone blac$bird among t#enty
sno# capped mountains, the only mo&ing thing is the eye o the bird' 2 #e consider the
?lac$bird as signiying the intellect, this suggests to me a eeling o omnipresence, o
po#er and isolation, as many intellectually minded people may eel'
22-2n the second stan%a, #e are as$ed to consider three blac$birds being as three minds
#ithin a tree' This seems strongly to suggest a trinity o the conscious mind, perhaps such
as =reud suggested, the id, ego and superego' Adopting this reading, #e may go urther
on to say that the tree represents the rame#or$ o our mind, i'e', the physical body, our
brain, perhaps e&en $no#ledge' Then, the blac$bird signiies singular thoughts on a
particular subject'
222-The third s$etch is more sub&ersi&e than the irst t#o' .e are pro&ided #ith an image
o a blac$bird being )#hirled in the autumn #inds), suggesting to me a loss o control, an
o&er#helming orce acting on the blac$bird' Fot only that, the blac$bird is said to be )a
small part o the pantomime) suggesti&e o the Taoist notion o the Mdance o lie+, the
interplay o all li&ing things, the blac$bird is a microscopic e-ample o all o lie' 2 ha&e
thereore read this s$etch to illustrate the role a thought plays in the mind as the role a
blac$bird plays in the cycle o lie'
2H-A more concrete e-ample o the style o thought Ste&ens #ishes us to e-plore are in
the ourth stan%a' 2t is styled on a undamental Taoist principle that )all things under
hea&en are born o the corporealI The corporeal is born o the 2ncorporeal) 4Tao Te
Ching, chap'GN, Shambala !<<N6' The incorporeal the Tao Te Ching spea$s o is the
uni&ersal unconscious, the base spiritual $inship #e ha&e to each other, and indeed, to
e&ery object in the uni&erse' Thereore a man and a #oman at base are the same i #e add
a blac$bird, they are all a part o the Moneness+'
H-Ste&ens in the ith stan%a seems to be alluding to the importance o grasping the
dierence bet#een #hat is implicit and #hat is implied' Bther #ords to describe these
phenomena could be signiier and signiied' The Minlections+ o the ?lac$bird #histling 2
too$ to illustrate the signiying sign 4 be it #histling, te-t, speech, etc'6' Similarly, the
signiier implies the Minnuendo+, or the signiied' .e must consider this rom the &ery
beginning o Ste&ens+ o#n poem, #ith the title' ?lac$birds #ill gi&e e&ery reader a
dierent picture in their mind, but i one ta$es into account #hat the #ord ?lac$bird
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
actually signiies as a sign #ithin the structure o the piece, #e ha&e an altogether
dierent appreciation o the #or$'
H2-The comple-ity o the ideas and language in the si-th stan%a lends a baling air to the
&erse' ,o#e&er since Ste&ens has urged us in the last stan%a to read deeper #ithin the
te-t in order to dra# out the meanings, #e are prepared or it' The irst t#o lines )2cicles
illOedP the long #indo# #ith barbaric glass) is a &ery &isual line, #ith images o loo$ing
out o an ice encrusted #indo#, but it brings too the eeling o entrapment or
encroachment' Then the )shado# o the blac$bird) crosses the #indo#, dra#ing our
attention rom the #indo# to the litting shado# #here #e are told )The mood traced in
the shado# ' ' ' an indecipherable cause')' The appearance o the shado# seems to
pro&o$e in the author a sudden lash o intuition, #hich unortunately turns out to be
ungraspable, or indecipherable to himsel and to the reader also'
H22-Again 2 elt conronted by another Taoist interpretation #hile reading &erse se&en'
.hy #ould you reach or lotier heights that are impossible to attain #hen e&erything
you need is at your eetQ Ste&ens counsels the )thin men o ,addam) to )see ho# the
blac$bird #al$s around the eet o the #omen about you')' According to the Tao Te
Ching, #e should )Jno# the masculine, $eep to the eminine') 4Shambala, !<<N6'
Apparently, in both sources, the #oman 4emale tendencies6 is e1uated #ith being do#n
to earth, #iser than those oolish men 4masculine tendencies6 becoming thinner #hile
pining or golden birds and ignoring the blac$birds'
H222-,ere Ste&ens spea$s o #ritten or spo$en te-ts, saying )2 $no# noble accents and
lucid inescapable rhythms') This at irst seems to be &ery egotistical, telling the reader
that he has e-traordinary s$ills' Then, he admits that ) ' ' ' the blac$bird is in&ol&ed in
#hat 2 $no#')' 2 dra# t#o conclusions rom this admissionI that he hails the blac$bird as
an e1ual or e&en an inluence to his #riting, that this sentence is a tribute to the blac$bird
4nature6' Also, that all o his rhythms and accents are easily traced bac$ to a natural 4not
man made6 source, or instance, the #histling o the blac$bird has rhythms and accents,
just as poetry has, thereore Ste&ens is not doing anything ne#, the blac$bird does it all
already'
2R-Bn the surace o stan%a nine, it seems that Ste&ens is reerring to the hori%on, or
man+s o#n line o sight, #ith #hich #e may trace a circle rom and point #ith us as the
ocal point' 2 belie&e #hat is signiied is especially present in the inal line ) ' ' ' one o
many circles), #hat are these circlesQ 2 #as reminded o the circle in nature and in lie,
e&erything re&ol&es in a circular ashion, the planet, the ood chain, lie and death'
R-Herses ten and ele&en introduce the concept o ear and guilt into our thoughts' )At the
sight o blac$birds lying in a green light) can only suggest to me the idea o something
being #rong #ith the light that the blac$birds are lying in, #hich 2 belie&e #ould signiy
the carrier o the thoughts 4blac$birds6' Thereore 2 ta$e it also to mean that #hen
something is amiss #ithin ones thoughts, e&en those #ho are de&out ollo#ers o
melliluence may e-claim sharply, or simply be aected ad&ersely by the dis1uieting
eect the blac$birds ha&e in that light'
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
R2-The theme o guilt is apparent in &erse ele&en, #hen #e are told that a man riding )2n
a glass coach) #hich #ould suggest e-treme ragility, coupled #ith an illusion o
transparency, #hich are t#o things a guilty person may eel' Also, #e are told that )Bnce,
a ear pierced him, in that he mistoo$ the shado# o his e1uipage or blac$birds') #ho
but a guilty and earul man #ould be pierced by ear at an illusion o blac$birds'
?lac$birds in this case could mean many things, or e-ample, the la#, a party bent on
re&enge, an e--#ieEgirlriend, etc' The blac$birds 2 also ta$e to symboli%e his
e-ternali%ed guilt, projected into an illusion glimpsed belo#'
R22-The aphorism )The ri&er is mo&ing ''' the blac$bird must be lying) is a common
orm in philosophical te-ts' The cause and eect principal( i the #ater lo#s, nature
li&es, the blac$bird lies' 2n the conte-t o nature, it spea$s o the immutability o all, the
resistance to change #or$ing hand in hand #ith the process o change' 2n reading this to
describe humans, it is essentially the same' The #ater symboli%es lie, the blac$bird
intellect or consciousness, as long as #e li&e, our intellect lies' This is a natural segue to
the last &erse, ha&ing both the eect o calming our ears and restoring our aith in lie'
R222-The inal &erse in my reading deals #ith aging and death e&en' )2t #as e&ening all
aternoon'') suggests a person in his declining years, death being night, e&ening nearing
night' )2t #as sno#ing, And it #as going to sno#') suggests the oresight o e-perienced
eyes, someone #ho has seen many #inters and has been granted a limited prescience
o&er the eects o nature' =or the irst time in the piece, the blac$bird #e see is
immobile, sitting in the cedar limbs' *oing bac$ to the second stan%a, and the idea o a
tree as our physical body, #ith blac$birds representing our intellect or thoughts, #e see
the slo#ing do#n and e&entual stopping o creati&e thought as night comes nearer'
.allace Ste&ens is a man deeply in&ol&ed #ith philosophical problems as they relate to
man and his uni&erse' ,e seems to be as$ing us to open our minds to the magic o
e&eryday lie, ie( the blac$bird and nature, but also to ree&aluate our mindset in relation
to li&ing in an ordinary, mundane #orld' 2 belie&e he is attempting to counsel us in using
an open mind and creati&e &isualisation in order to bring about a conscious bond bet#een
the causal and seemingly acausal relationships enjoyed by e&ery object and li&ing being
in&ol&ed in the dance o lie'
Sylvia Plath
Syl&ia Clath+s early poems e-hibit #hat became her typical imagery, using personal and
nature-based depictions eaturing, or e-ample, the moon, blood, hospitals, etuses, and
s$ulls' They #ere mostly imitation e-ercises o poets she admired such as 0ylan
Thomas, .' ?' Yeats and Marianne Moore' /ate in !<7<, #hen she and ,ughes #ere at
the Yaddo #riters+ colony in Fe# Yor$ State, she #rote the se&en-part )Coem or a
?irthday), echoing Theodore Doeth$e+s Lost Son se1uence, though its theme is her o#n
traumatic brea$do#n and suicide attempt at 8!' Ater !<5N her #or$ mo&ed into a more
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
surreal landscape dar$ened by a sense o imprisonment and looming death,
o&ershado#ed by her ather' The olossus is shot through #ith themes o death,
redemption and resurrection' Ater ,ughes let, Clath produced, in less than t#o months,
the orty poems o rage, despair, lo&e, and &engeance on #hich her reputation mostly
rests
Ariel
)Ariel) is a poem #ritten by the American poet Syl&ia Clath' 2t #as #ritten on Bctober
8", !<58, shortly beore her death, and published posthumously in the collection !riel in
!<57, o #hich it is the namesa$e' 0espite its ambiguity, it is literally understood to
describe an early morning horse-ride to#ards the rising sun' Scholars and literary critics
ha&e applied &arious methods o interpretation to )Ariel)'
)Ariel) is composed o ten three-line stan%as #ith an additional single line at the end, and
ollo#s an unusual slanted rhyme scheme' /iterary commentator .illiam H' 0a&is notes
a change in tone and brea$ o the slanted rhyme scheme in the si-th stan%a #hich mar$s a
shit in the theme o the poem, rom being literally about a horse ride, to more o a
metaphoric e-perience o oneness #ith the horse and the act o riding itsel'
2t has been speculated that, being #ritten on her birthday as #ell as using the general
theme o rebirth, )Ariel) acted as a sort o psychic rebirth or the poet'The poem, #ritten
just i&e months beore her e&entual suicide, thus, not surprisingly gi&en its name as #ell,
is one o her !riel poems' )Ariel) #as the name o the horse Clath rode at a riding school
on 0artmoor in 0e&on'Ted ,ughes, Clath+s husband, commentsI
AD2E/ #as the name o the horse on #hich she #ent riding #ee$ly' /ong beore, #hile
she #as a student at Cambridge 4England6, she #ent riding #ith an American riend out
to#ards *rantchester' ,er horse bolted, the stirrups ell o, and she came all the #ay
home to the stables, about t#o miles, at ull gallop, hanging around the horse>s nec$'
=rom her e-tensi&e journals #e can tell that Clath spent the last days o her lie loc$ed in
a day-to-day ritual that consisted o #a$ing up beore da#n, #riting the majority o her
poetry that she #as #riting, then being disrupted by her #a$ing children and ta$ing them
o to school in the morning, beore handling household chores and other drudgery or the
rest o the day'
eminist
The series o transormations she undergoes in this poem, as #ell as the actions she ta$es
lend serious ground or eminist discussion'
The #ords containing the i sound, cry, I, lies, suicidal, dri&e, Eye, all represent her
thrusting her +2+dentity into reality' =rom a eminist &ie# point though, this poem is
troubled' Earlier in the poem her "I"ness is repressed, or the )Figger-eye) represents her
)Figger-"I"),or she is still repressed by her ather or male dominance in general, as
espoused in )0addy)' As the poem progresses, she begins a series o transormations out
o this repressed sel' =irst in the poem she becomes a stallion, a masculine image, the
image o her repressor'

Then as she pic$s up speed she becomes an arro#, a penetrating
orce #hich alongside her becoming )one #ith the dri&e) suggests she is becoming her
!N
Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
rapist 4her ather6 in order to pre&ent her submission and $ill her ather'=inally though,
she loses this identity and brea$s do#n into #ater, #hich =reud 4#ho she #as read up on6
deines as a eminine symbol, as #ell as being a puriying substance'
As stated abo&e, the inal )2)+s o the poem represent her )2)ness building up speed and
orce as she attempts to create hersel a ne# identity through her Ariel poems' You can
ta$e all the lenses, the autobiographical, the eminist, the =reudian, and all others, and put
them together, and &ie# them as her attempt to ta$e all the parts o her, her repression,
her anger, her emininity, her creati&ity, and all else and orceully dri&e them into
e-istence #ith this poem in an attempt at )psychological reintegration)' The subject itsel,
Ariel, can be seen as representing se&eral dierent things, all symboli%ing a dierent side
o her, besides Ariel, her horse, #hich she rode e&ery #ee$ and #hich had become a part
o her, they areI
Ariel, Sha$espeare+s )airy spirit) an ensla&ed, creati&e spirit, representing her repression
and creati&ity,
As literary essayist .illiam 0a&is argues )2 reer to )Ariel) as the symbolic name or
Jerusalem')

or )Ariel) in ,ebre# means )lion o *od') She begins the second stan%a o
the poem #ith the line )*od>s lioness,) #hich seems to be a direct reerence to the
,ebre# or Je#ish )Ariel')),the Judaic inclusion representing her )obsession #ith
Judaism and the Je#ish people)
All these dierent Ariels representing dierent sides o her, the autobiographical
reerences, as #ell as the eminist actions she describes, all are carried by the po#erul
)i) sound thrusting itsel in the second hal, dri&en into the da#n, into the sunlight, to try
to create a ne#, uni1ue identity, but ultimately ail to do so as she both e&aporates into
the sun as her inal transormation, #ater, lies suicidal into it, and as the )cauldron o
morning) represents all her speciic identiiable parts all melting together into a uniorm,
homogeneous mi-ture in the cauldron o )mourning)'
Analysis
)Ariel)+s short length and seeming simplicity 9 a #oman rides her horse through the
countryside at da#n 9 is belied by the incredible amount o critical attention and praise
that the poem has recei&ed since its publication in !<57' 2t is considered one o Clath+s
most accomplished and enigmatic poems, or it e-plores ar more than a simple daybrea$
ride' 2t must be noted that this poem pro&ides the title or her collection !riel, selected
ater she rejected the title )0addy') The poem justiies its centrality through a use o
da%%ling imagery, &i&id emotional resonance, historical and biblical allusions, and a
breathta$ing sense o mo&ement' Critics tend to discuss the poem as e-plorations o
se&eral dierent subjects, includingI poetic creati&ity( se-uality( Judaism( animism(
suicide and death( sel-reali%ation and sel-transormation( and mysticism'
To begin #ith, the name Ariel reers to three dierent thingsI Syl&ia Clath+s o#n horse,
#hich she lo&ed to ride( the androgynous sprite rom Sha$espeare+s play The Tem#est(
and Jerusalem, #hich #as also called Ariel in the Bld Testament' Critics #ho discuss
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Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
Sha$espeare+s Ariel tend to read Clath+s poem as an e-ploration o poetic creati&ity and
process' Sha$espeare+s Ariel embodies this po#er, and Clath may be attempting to
ashion a metaphor or the process o #riting a poem' The poet begins in dar$ness, but is
then hauled along by the inspiration o poetic language' The poem begins in passi&ity, but
mo&es into one o control and po#er' The critic Susan &an 0yne notes ho# the poet+s
sel-transormation is maniest in her use o complete sentences, #hich begins mid#ay
through the poem' She becomes both male and emale, horse and rider, poet and creati&e
orce, arro# and target' She is not merely a capti&e o the creati&e dri&e, but its agent'
2n regards to the biblical allusion o Jerusalem, it is no doubt a product o Clath+s
ascination 9 nay, obsession 9 #ith Judaism and the Je#s' )Ariel) translates to )lion o
*od) rom ,ebre#, and Clath reers to hersel as )*od+s lioness) in line G' Critics ha&e
obser&ed a recurrent moti in Clath+s poetry #herein she associates horses #ith religious
ecstasy' Diding seemed to be a #ay to achie&e this transcendence' .illiam H' 0a&is sees
Clath as #anting to communicate this pri&ate, ecstatic, and nearly-un$no#able e-perience
to the reader' ,e considers the rhyming scheme o the last line 9)Eye, the cauldron o
morning) 9 and sees it as tying together the personal acti&ity o riding a horse, the
communal connotations o the ,ebre# race and its suering, and the cauldron, #hich is a
#ay to )Omi-P all o the oregoing elements together into a $ind o melting pot o
emotion, history, and personal in&ol&ement') She does not mean to declare hersel an
inhabitant o Jerusalem, but as one connected to it through greater, transcendental orces'
The allusion to /ady *odi&a is an important one, as it suggests issues o the eminine and
the masculine' 2n the !!th century Anglo-Sa-on legend, /ady *odi&a #as the #ie o an
English lord #ho rode na$ed through the streets in order to gain a remission rom the
hea&y ta- he had placed upon his tenants' She had been rustrated #ith his stubbornness
and greed in the ta-ation matter, and continued to demand that her husband ease the
burden' ,e inally agreed to do so i she #ould strip na$ed and ride her horse through the
to#n' The to#nspeople agreed to rerain rom loo$ing at her( only one man, )Ceeping
Tom,) did not $eep his promise' Suite ob&iously, Clath #ishes to connect her ride
through dar$ness to that o /ady *odi&a' The connection can be understood in terms o
the pri&acy she enjoys on her ride, or as suggestion that she rides or a greater cause than
simply her o#n pleasure' The allusion also resonates because o the pre&ailing
ascination #estern culture has #ith the orbidden igure o the emale nude and the
problems o spectacle( Clath uses this image to ta$e control o her sel-display, and does
not mention any male ga%e at all' She embraces her ride and all o its e&ocations o
po#er, including se-ual po#er, and is able to ignore e&en a child+s cry that )melts in the
#all') Bn this ride, she can irmly declare her eminine independence a#ay rom stiling
patriarchal orces'
The poem is indeed ull o se-ual imagery' Some e-amples includeI lines 7 and 5 4),o#
one #e gro#,ECi&ot o heels and $nees;)6( line !" 4)thighs, hair)6( and the imagery o the
phallic arro#' All o these lend credence to the claim that )Ariel) is an erotic poem' Clath
is clearly the emale rider, but she identiies #ith the horse+s masculinity' =urther, #hen
she ignores the child+s cry, she is reusing to accept the traditionally emale role o
mother and care-gi&er' Sha$espeare+s Ariel is an androgynous igure, and Clath+s )Ariel)
!8
Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
might also be statement about ho# a emale poet, #hen possessed by the poetic creati&e
ury, is not a emale anymore 9 the genius transcends gender' The transcendence is not a
&iolent one, and is not aimed at destroying men, ho#e&er' 2nstead, it lies entirely outside
o gender'
=inally, in critic Marjorie Cerlo+s discussion o animism and angst, she claims Clath+s
poetry as representati&e o the ecstatic, oracular poetic type, #hich centered upon sel,
thereby esche#ing any sort o narrati&e objecti&ity' Clath identiies #ith the animal
$ingdom to e-press hersel, depicting humans as lieless and cold, and animals as &ibrant
and ali&e' She #ishes to lose her human identity and commit to the instinct o animal,
#hich rids her o any objecti&ity or judgment' 2n )Ariel,) she is )*od+s lioness) as she
becomes one #ith her orce in a &i&id trance' Cerlo comments that )at its most intense,
lie becomes death but it is a death that is desiredI the +Suicidal+ leap into the +red E Eye+ o
the morning sun is not only &iolent but ecstatic') Animism is a #ay to demonstrate ho#
one is ta$en out o one+s 1uotidian lie and one+s sel to achie&e a state o transcendence
and communion'
2 one is so inclined, one can e&en connect this interpretation to the eminist and creati&e
interpretations to suggest that Clath+s ultimate goal #as to relate ecstatic ren%y - ho# #e
identiy and understand the ren%y ultimately re&eals our o#n personality and interest'
!onceit
Metaphysical Conceit T is an e-tended metaphor #ith a comple- logic that go&erns a poetic passage or entire poem'
2t usually sets up an analogy bet#een one entity>s spiritual 1ualities and an object in the physical #orld and sometimes
controls the #hole structure o the poem'
Metaphysical conceits oten e-ploit &erbal logic to the point o the grotes1ue and sometimes achie&e such e-tra&agant
turns on meaning that they become absurd '
These conceits #or$ best #hen the reader is gi&en a perception o a
real but pre&iously unsuspected similarity that is enlightening( then
they may spea$ to our minds and emotions #ith orce'
!3
Moisoiu Adelina- Mihaela, 3
rd
Year, Chinese Major- English Minor
2n literature, a conceit is an e-tended metaphor #ith a comple- logic that go&erns a poetic passage or entire poem' ?y
ju-taposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising #ays, a conceit in&ites the reader into a more
sophisticated understanding o an object o comparison' E-tended conceits in English are part o the poetic idiom o
Mannerism, during the later si-teenth and early se&enteenth century'
2n English literature the term is generally associated #ith the !"th century metaphysical poets, an e-tension o
contemporary usage' 2n themetaphysical conceit, metaphors ha&e a much more purely conceptual, and thus tenuous,
relationship bet#een the things being compared' ,elen *ardner
,
obser&ed that )a conceit is a comparison #hose
ingenuity is more stri$ing than its justness) and that )a comparison becomes a conceit #hen #e are made to concede
li$eness #hile being strongly conscious o unli$eness')
2nnuendo
an indirect or subtle reerence, esp one made maliciously or indicating criticism or disappro&al( insinuation
An inn"endo is an insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially o a disparaging or a derogatory nature'
2t can also be a remar$ or 1uestion, typically disparaging 4also called insin"ation6, that #or$s obli1uely by allusion' 2n
the latter sense the intention is oten to insult or accuse someone in such a #ay that one+s #ords, ta$en literally, are
innocent'
Animism 4rom /atin animus$ %i )soul, lie)6 is the #orld&ie# that non-human entities 4animals, plants, and inanimate
objects or phenomena6, possess a spiritual essence'
Animism encompasses the belie that there is no separation bet#een the spiritual and physical 4or material6 #orld,
and souls or spirits e-ist, not only in humans, but also in some other animals, plants, roc$s, geographic eatures such as
mountains or ri&ers, or other entities o the natural en&ironment, including thunder, #ind, and shado#s' Animism thus
rejects Cartesian dualism' Animism may urther attribute souls to abstract concepts such as #ords, true names, or
metaphors in mythology' E-amples o animism can be ound in orms
o Shinto, Serer, ,induism, ?uddhism, Jainism, Caganism, and Feopaganism'
Metaphysics is a traditional branch o philosophy concerned #ith e-plaining the undamental nature o being and
the #orld that encompasses it, although the term is not easily deined'
The common thread is that they contain metaphors that are highly conceptual in nature' These metaphors are oten
tenuous, at best, in their comparisons o one thing to another, but they can lea&e the reader eeling enlightened'
This type o metaphor is $no#n as a metaphysical conceit' The #ay to tell a metaphysical conceit rom a regular
metaphor is that they oten e-hibit an analytical tone, contain double meanings, sho# logical reasoning, and ha&e
parado-es, symbolism, and #it' .hile one or t#o o these elements might be missing rom any gi&en piece, there
should be the majority o them present'
This #as the genius o the metaphysical poet 3 dra#ing similarities bet#een the unli$eliest o similar ideas and
objects'
!G