Lovely, accessible analysis. And a tiny detail it glances off but doesn't make explicit (I am soooo proud of myself for noticing) - the Fourth Of July to All Fools’ Day" is roughly 9 months.
Literally just wrote about this poem — funny coincidence! Plath could indeed be very joyful and was so full of delight in the play of language. I often think of her poems as nursery rhymes for adults (the darker ones also fairy tales for same). Agree that she was expecting (to be expecting) a son — “looked for like mail/male.”
I hadn’t read the first Plath poem and I have to say, my mind is blown wide open. That was gorgeous and so fun to read. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Lovely, accessible analysis. And a tiny detail it glances off but doesn't make explicit (I am soooo proud of myself for noticing) - the Fourth Of July to All Fools’ Day" is roughly 9 months.
Literally just wrote about this poem — funny coincidence! Plath could indeed be very joyful and was so full of delight in the play of language. I often think of her poems as nursery rhymes for adults (the darker ones also fairy tales for same). Agree that she was expecting (to be expecting) a son — “looked for like mail/male.”
Thanks I enjoyed both of the Plath poems and realizing she “contained multitudes” not just sadness and depression
and rage....
I hadn’t read the first Plath poem and I have to say, my mind is blown wide open. That was gorgeous and so fun to read. Thank you so much for sharing it.