METAPHORS

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 (1932-1963)

Four Level of Interpretation

Literal Comprehension

The speaker is the pregnant woman and takes herself as a mystery as she has no idea about the
baby inside her womb (about color, sex, characteristics etc.). In this state she compares herself
with an elephant because she has become big and round. She compares herself to a ponderous
house, filled with baby or something. She regards herself as a melon, and her two legs as the
tendrils. She considers the baby in her belly as precious as ivory of elephant. She addresses her
unborn baby as a red fruit growing round and full like an apple or plum. She feels her belly
growing and compares with loaf while rising yeast and the baby is like newly minted money in
the womb, which looks like a fat purse. After it, the mood of the poem turns into extreme
desperation and a lot of negativity. She feels as if she is just a means of producing baby. She
sees everything with jaundiced eyes. The poem ends dramatically stating that there is no
turning back from this situation.

Interpretation

This poem conveys a very negative meaning in aggregate. Writer has used metaphorical
language with nine syllables, symbolizing nine month of pregnancy. She is trying to explain how
difficult it is to go through the pregnancy stage. The thought of a melon strolling on two tendrils
can be closely associated with the pregnancy as the structure of pair of fallopian tubes. The
writer fears of being forgotten after the process is over because she thinks herself as the means
of producing children in this stage. Also the green apples may symbolize unripe or the feelings
of the speaker as not being ready for the pregnancy. The writer is not ready to lose her
freedom. And last line explains that there is no turning back from this situation.

Critical Thinking

As a critical thinker I found this poem very impressive one. The ability of the poet to describe
the whole stage of pregnancy is nine lines with metaphors is just amazing. While reading this
poem some question arose in my mind like a mythical meaning of green apple is sin in the book.
So, does she feel herself as giving birth to a baby is against the god? Aren’t children considered
as the blessing of god? How any woman can curse own self for being pregnant? The speaker is
also not clear in the poem about the number of children she had given birth to. Is it her first
pregnancy?

Assimilation

Before reading this poem, I knew that it takes nine month for a baby to be born but only after
reading this poem I found how difficulties and pain a mother has to suffer during those periods.
I came to know much she has to suffer both physically and mentally. I also learned how helpless
she feels because she cannot do anything with this inevitable process. We can conclude that
the pregnancy of mother, a poet, a writer, a dramatist, and musician is the same. There is no
fundamental difference among the creators and the pain of gestation.

Summary

This poem (METHAPHORS) is scripted by Sylvia Plath uses the metaphors to create a riddle as
she states in line one. The poem successfully describes the condition of a pregnant women, her
picture is beautifully made with the help of clear metaphors. The nine syllables, nine lines, and
nine letters of title 'Metaphors' suggest the nine months of gestation. She compares herself
with an elephant, a ponderous house and melon with two tendrils. She considers the baby in
her belly as precious as ivory of elephant. She compares herself with a ponderous house and
melon where her two legs as tendrils. She addresses her unborn baby as a red fruit growing
round and full like an apple or plum. She feels her belly growing and compares with loaf while
rising yeast and the baby is like newly minted money in the womb, which looks like a fat purse.

Then suddenly after the seventh line, the environment of the poem goes to sadness and
negative emotions. Suddenly, she feels helpless like pregnant cow and thinks herself as a means
or stage. This all are her feelings that has arose while being in pregnancy state. She has eaten a
bag of green apples to satisfy her desire of eating something sour i.e. mentioned in eighth line,
which mythically refers to the forbidden (to Adam and Eve in bible) fruit. By going through the
poem we can see that she is not ready to give birth. Finally, she concludes by saying that the
passenger (the baby) has gotten into the train, but she doesn’t know when it will get off. The
poem ends dramatically stating that there is no turning back now from this state of pregnancy.