Morning song Flashcards
Information about the poem morning song.
By Sylvia Plath, who killed herself three years after having her first child. Speaker feels ambivalence towards motherhood.The poem steps outside sentimental conventions.
Themes in the poem morning song.
Depression, gender roles, optimism (near the end.), Motherhood!!!,Emotions.
“Love said you going like a fat gold watch.”
Fat-A baby is heavy but could also be a metaphor for the emotional burden. 
Gold-Colour imagery, value of the baby And a sort of insensitive sarcastic tone.
Watch-Could suggest it took time for her to love her child
SIMILIE

“The midwife snapped your foot soles, and your bald cry”
Transition from inimate object (watch)to a baby
“Bald” Arsenal of that stands out in the room not positive connotations on the baby
“Slapped”Aggressive non-sentimental language
“New statue,”
Noun, unconnected to child-xview it not interact with it
“Shadows our safety”
Metaphor, baby and dangerous parents, shows babie threatens their safety
“Then a cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow effacement at the wins hand”
Mother is a cloud plus child is a mirror, shows the disconnect between mother and child.
“Effacement”is wiping away from the screen, also had birthing language connotations
“Flat pink roses”
Metaphor for nipples and breast feeding, Describing them as roses is more gentle language to be expected connoted with motherhood stereotypes. Change on tone?
“Cow heavy”
Adjective, negative connotations, doesn’t enjoy feeding her child, feels like an animal.
“Whitens and swallows it’s dull stars”
It has become morning. (Metaphor).
“Dull” Adjective implies the night has been difficult and exhausting
“ The clear vowels rise like balloons”
“Rise like”, is a simile
Balloons are symbolic of her optimism, cheerful tone of the lyrical speaker
Structure.
Free verse poem, no rhyme scheme, shows the natural flow of emotions and how out of control the motherhood is.
Play progression through the poem
Or stances are three lines(tercets), shows she is trying to control her emotions
