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Lady Lazarus
Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath comprises 28 tercets that are composed of short,
chopped lines that are a miture of end!stopped lines and enjambment" Plath uses #ady
#a$arus to ma%e her point in the poem, &hich can be considered a monolo'ue" (ven thou'h
#ady #a$arus is depressed and suicidal, she comes across as po&erful lady" Despite her
sufferin's, she appears to have control over her lan'ua'e, a thin' she considers as a most
po&erful tool" She often feels victimi$ed, but her lan'ua'e and tone is stern and she
concludes her poem by )*nd + eat men li%e air")
The poem does not have a set rhyme or metrical scheme, ho&ever, there are several
repeated sounds in the poem" The staccato sound of the poem hei'htens Plaths repeated
attac% on the society" The poem also has internal rhymes such as in phrases li%e )the 'rave
cave ate)" Such internal rhymes alon' &ith rhymin' &ords li%e )be&are,) )hair,) and )air)
ta%es the reader by surprise since such chan'e in rhyme and tone does not happen in a set
pattern" Plath also uses the anaphora of lines such as )+ do it so it feels li%e hell,) and )+ do it
so it feels real") Plath &ields all her &ritin' techni-ues to hi'hli'ht #ady #a$arus.s an'uish
and despair, and to state that death is one thin' in her life that #ady #a$arus can apparently
control"
Plath uses several metaphors and biblical allusions in the poem, includin' the title of
the poem" #ady #a$arus repeatedly compares herself to the /e&ish victims of the 0olocaust"
The poem starts after she is saved for the third time from death" She believes that she &ill
soon become a &oman a'ain and everythin' &ould be normal" People around her have been
reduced to mere spectators &ho just &ant ecitement: 1To the same place, the same face, the
same brute2*mused shout: 3* miracle45" The title of the poem is an allusion to the 6iblical
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fi'ure of #a$arus, &ho &as resurrected by /esus 7hrist" 6ut unli%e #a$arus, #ady #a$arus
controls her o&n destiny, even thou'h that destiny is death"

Work cited
Plath, Slyvia" Lady Lazarus" http:22&&&"poetryfoundation"or'2poem2898:;8" <eb" 2=
September 2>8?" *ccessed