Name: Ariel
Rating: 3.978971962616822 (214 reviews)
ISBN: 9780060931728

Sylvia Plath

"In these poems...Sylvia Plath becomes herself, becomes something imaginary, newly, wildly and subtly created." -- From the Introduction by Robert Lowell

Perennial Classics Edition

Ariel

Emiley Jones

Listen: these are its hooves: it has gone off, like a horse.

All night I shall gallop thus, impetuously,

Till your head is a stone, your pillow a little turf,

Lindsay

Than the cloud that distils a mirror to reflect its own slow

The nurses pass and pass, they are no trouble, 

They pass the way gulls pass inland in their white caps,

Doing things with their hands, one just the same as another,

So it is impossible to tell how many there are. 

My body is a pebble to them, they tend it as water 

Tends to the pebbles it must run over, smoothing them gently. 

They bring me numbness in their bright needles, they bring me sleep.

I didn’t want any flowers, I only wanted 

To lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty.

My night sweats grease his breakfast plate.

The fever trickles and stiffens in my hair. 

All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.

The courage of the shut mouth, in spite of artillery!

The place I am getting to, why are there these obstacles—

I do not want much of a present, anyway, this year.

If the moon smiled, she would resemble you. 

Of something beautiful, but annihilating.

Levi-Mae 

Poetry by Sylvia Plath that deals with nature, human relationships, families, the role of women, courage, and suffering.

Poems

It's been more then 10 years since my baby brought me this book. It felt serious then, the heaviness of such a small thing was almost impossible. I tried to but was too weak in my attempts. Now finally confined to face you, Sylvia.

Allways on the fence with the posthumnal publications, feels like treason or at least grave robbery. 

As the years in poems progress, you become aware how depression takes. I mean you have probably seen it so this was hard to go through. I cried many, for the smartness mainly.

The daddy issues poems are her best. I'm sorry your hubby was an ass, most men are, unfortunately. And all bla bla bla, then I get to some part and am just --- JEEEBOTE

"Is it impossible for you to let something go and have it go whole?"

martian1138

It's been more then 10 years since my baby brought me this book. It felt serious then, the heaviness of such a small thing was almost impossible. I tried to but was too weak in my attempts. Now finally confined to face you, Sylvia.

Allways on the fence with the posthumnal publications, feels like treason or at least grave robbery. 

Uneasy.

As the years in poems progress, you become aware how depression takes. I mean you have probably seen it so this was hard to go through. I cried many, for the smartness mainly.

The daddy issues poems are her best. I'm sorry your hubby was an ass, most men are, unfortunately. And all bla bla bla, then I get to some part and am just --- JEEEBOTE

"Is it impossible for you to let something go and have it go whole?"

Always a good re-read. Better read aloud. Truly such exciting use of language

Margo Koss

A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement (P.S.)

Ariel: The Restored Edition

the farther i got the more confused i got

melanie

Tracy K

** spoiler alert **
           "I wonder how hungry they are.
I wonder if they would forget me
If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree... 

the box is only temporary"

Is it the sea you hear in me, it’s dissatisfactions?

frankie

Is it the sea you hear in me, it’s dissatisfactions?



Faber Modern Classics

heather

Sylvia Plath's use of multiple literary devices like alliteration, assonance, parallelism etc. is really just another chef's kiss moment for me! I really liked  Lady Lazarus  and  The Night Dances!

Favorites:

-"The Applicant"

-"Lady Lazarus"

-"Tulips"

-"Poppies in October"

-"The Courage of Shutting-Up"

-"Berck-Plage"

-"Gulliver"

-"Getting There"

-"A Birthday Present"

-"Letter in November"

-"The Rival"

Celestine Taevs-Nakaya

Wasn’t expecting so many poems about bees.

Sara

Anna Brunner

In all honesty I am not the greatest at reading/interpreting poetry but I enjoyed this nonetheless

Cams Campbell

This is my first foray into Plath and I'm pretty much a noob with poetry in general. I'll be honest: I struggle. I wonder if I need to be in the right frame of mind, or whether should the poems drag me from the real world into a better place? I'm not sure. 

It's not what I was expecting, maybe that's it. Now that I know that, I should have another go; find some lines that I get and hold onto them. There are other worlds than these.

Melanie Richards

Mostly lovely poems, but I docked a star for a couple racial insensitivities that didn't sit well with me. Googled about this issue and apparently Plath's journals contain some pretty prejudiced remarks. Anyway, no one is perfect and these were written in the early 60s, but Plath is such a feminist icon that it is worth mentioning.

Caroline Mao

4.75 stars

This is the first poetry collection I've read in a long time. I read Plath's The Bell Jar as well as snippets of her poems, and I really enjoyed reading this. The way she constructs her poems, how she seems to view the world - all of that was unique, sometimes brutally honest, and riveting.

Ariel Perennial Classics Edition

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