“Poppies in October” is an ambiguous, abstract poem that resists a tidy explanation, given that the “poppies” of the poem—and, in fact, all the poem’s vivid images—may represent different things to different readers. What’s clear is that the speaker sees these poppies (which don’...
The poem implies that such a world subjects women to repressive rules and violence at the hands of men, limiting their autonomy, self-expression, and freedom. The first indication that the poem is addressing patriarchy is through its title. By addressing “Daddy” (rather than “father” or ...
“Death, be not proud” is a poem about the powerlessness of death. The speaker argues that death is not something to be feared, because it is ultimately powerless against the human soul.The speaker personifies death and addresses him directly, telling him not to be “proud.” The speaker ...
Now regarded as a landmark of Scotland’s national literature, Robert Burns’ “Tam O’Shanter” is a rollicking mock-epic poem about a drunk ne’er-do-well farmer who riles a grisly coven of witches and warlocks and barely escapes with his life. The poem celebrates the spirit and energy...
The book closes with a series of love poems that are richly sensual and often furious. The affair, with its many good-byes, is angular and adulterous: “you who never admitted a public grace./ Weof the half-dark who were unbrave.” Cisneros has written a prefatory poem that is worth...
Sylvia Plath wrote "Tulips" in March of 1961, after having her appendix removed and receiving get-well flowers from a friend. The speaker of the poem, hospitalized for an unspecified procedure, feels torn between her desire to stay in the peaceful world of the hospital and the need to retur...
The poem's pregnant speaker relays her deep anxiety about motherhood and her estrangement from her quickly changing body through a series of clever metaphors. These metaphors illustrate the often disorienting nature of pregnancy, which seems to make a "house" or a "stage" out of the speaker's...
“Nick and the Candlestick” Introduction Sylvia Plath's “Nick and the Candlestick” is a free verse poem told from the perspective of a woman who has recently given birth. As she nurses her son, the speaker expresses her struggle to navigate early motherhood by comparing herself to a miner...