Sylvia Plath's Morning Song Poem Analysis

Morning Song by Sylvia Plath

Themes and Ideas

• Celebration of Frieda's birth and the effect of a child's birth on parents
• Maternal love and womanhood
• Feminine identity and insecurity
• Consideration of new life and identity changes

Style

• Expert use of figurative language (simile, metaphor, conceit)
• Every stanza is a tercet (three lines)
• Carefully placed caesura for reflection
• Imagery (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)

Key Quotes and Analysis

• "Love set you going like a fat gold watch" - Original painterly simile, warm and inclusive sentiment
• "Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue." - Comparing the baby to a "new statue", reverential parents, anxiety
• "I'm no more your mother Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow Effacement at the wind's hand." - Profound conceit, theme of identity change, "effacement" of old self
• "All night your moth-breath Flickers among the flat pink roses." - Maternal instinct, kinesthetic imagery, delicacy
• "One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral In my Victorian nightgown." - Honest self-depiction, candid maternal image
• "Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try Your handful of notes;" - Euphonic assonance, love for daughter, gifting a joyous start to womanhood

Morning Song by Sylvia Plath

Themes and Ideas

• Celebration of Frieda's birth and the effect of a child's birth on parents
• Maternal love and womanhood
• Feminine identity and insecurity
• Consideration of new life and identity changes

Style

• Expert use of figurative language (simile, metaphor, conceit)
• Every stanza is a tercet (three lines)
• Carefully placed caesura for reflection
• Imagery (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)

Key Quotes and Analysis

• "Love set you going like a fat gold watch" - Original painterly simile, warm and inclusive sentiment
• "Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue." - Comparing the baby to a "new statue", reverential parents, anxiety
• "I'm no more your mother Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow Effacement at the wind's hand." - Profound conceit, theme of identity change, "effacement" of old self
• "All night your moth-breath Flickers among the flat pink roses." - Maternal instinct, kinesthetic imagery, delicacy
• "One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral In my Victorian nightgown." - Honest self-depiction, candid maternal image
• "Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try Your handful of notes;" - Euphonic assonance, love for daughter, gifting a joyous start to womanhood

Delve into the world of poetry with this quiz on Sylvia Plath's Morning Song, exploring its themes, style, and literary devices.