Morning Song - Poetry

Question 1

The summary of a morning song (so you can keep the poems straight bc I can’t 😅)

Answer 1

The poem written by Sylvia Plath about her experience of motherhood.

Question 2

structure of morning song

Answer 2

• clear stanzas- 3 lines each
• no set rhythm/free verse- implies she is feeling her way through motherhood
• pacing- lots of caesuras to make ideas vivid and create a sense of sterility in some places eg ‘love set you going like a fat gold watch.’- almost feels like a statement, not a poem

Question 3

Morning Song Themes

Answer 3

motherhood, connections, love, change, time

Question 4

morning song mood words

Answer 4

melancholic, hopeful, bittersweet

Question 5

Morning Song’s tone

Answer 5

Although many of the ideas in Morning Song are happy (‘love set you going’, ‘moth-breath flickers’) the tone and words used are jarring and create a sense of disconnect unfamiliarity that is alien to the description of motherhood

Question 6

‘Love set you going’ meaning

stanza 1

Answer 6

Reference to the baby’s conception
- idea of love is the introduction to the poem - contrasts the aloof tone of the poem but shows that the feelings towards the baby are complicated (not OCR btw)

Question 7

‘Fat gold watch’ analysis

stanza 1

Answer 7

• use of simile
• gold shows the precious value of the child but is not a close, intimate image
• watch introduces the idea of time and death which contrasts to the happy ideas presented
• however, the image of a watch is not a typical comparison to a newborn baby and furthers the sense of divisiveness - not a constant image

Question 8

Repetitively addressing the reader as ‘you’ in the first stanza

stanza 1

Answer 8

Use of second person (you) creates a personal, intimate tone - again suggests attachment

Question 9

‘Shadows our safety’ analysis

stanza 2

Answer 9

• Shadows is a dark image of vulnerability and dependence
• Sibilance highlights negative feelings
• (Not OCR) idea of ‘our’ safety brings together mother and child and shows depth of feeling

Question 10

Bald cry

stanza 1

Answer 10

‘bald’ vulnerable image
‘bald’ - primal, blunt - it’s too young to understand complexities, it is just crying for help
quite a negative images

Question 11

‘took its place’

Answer 11

• the baby has ‘taken its place’ with the parents
• although they try to isolate themselves from the baby (out of fear) they are unable to detach themselves fully
• creates a feeling of rightness

Question 12

‘Amongst the elements’

stanza 1

Answer 12

• introduces idea of vulnerability and the worry a new parent faces
• motif of nature

Question 13

‘Our voices echo’ analysis

stanza 2

Answer 13

• New baby is tiny so everything else seems huge and cavernous
• theme of vulnerability
• almost from the baby’s perspective

Question 14

‘New statue.’

stanza 2

Answer 14

• contrasting images - oxymoronic
• metaphor
• again the idea of something of value- statues are made for important, admired people
• however also feels detached as statues are imposing, cold and detached
• full stops separate the ‘statue’/ the baby from the rest of the sentences- shows detachment through caesuras

Question 15

‘Drafty museum’ analysis

stanza 2

Answer 15

• metaphor of drafty museum contrasts the typical image of cozy, warm motherhood and house
• however a museum also broadens your perspective and is a place for learning and growth - no emotional attachment and untouchable atmosphere

Question 16

‘Nakedness’ analysis

stanza 2

Answer 16

Again the image of fragility but also a sense of closeness - needs protection (not OCR)
because it relies on you
- it creates an intimate tone that hasn’t been present before

Question 17

Blankly as walls analysis

stanza 2

Question 18

stanza 3

I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.

Answer 18

• cloud=mother
• mirror=child
• could be that the child is usurping her as it ‘distills’ her/idea of mortality
  OR
• ‘wind’s hand’- gentle personification- being supplanted by your child is perharps a natural transferral in life
• slow- inevitable passing of time shown by the drawn out slow (as it is at the end of a line so it is made longer)

Question 19

stanza 4
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

Answer 19

** all night your moth-breath **
* maternal instinct is now beginning as she listens all night
* I wake to listen:- the colon reflects desire to listen
* moth breath and flickers- fragile imagery
* ** flat pink roses, a far sea** - nature imagery- contrast to museum- calmer, happier image ‘a far sea’ tides are similar to inhale and exhale of breath

Question 20

stanza 5
One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square

Answer 20

• one cry and stumble- idea of protection and love as she is so desperate to get to the baby her movements are unsteady and not practiced
• ‘cow heavy and floral’
• suggests a feeling of disconnect from her own body and the purpose it now has as a provider of milk for the baby- cow dehumanises herself and matches flat pink roses
• victorian nightgown- feels restricted into old-fashioned gender roles by becoming a mother/no longer feels desireable

Question 21

stanza 6
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

Answer 21

• whitens- still clinical but almost like a transition/gradual change in attitude
• ** ‘swallows its dull stars’**- day swallows night- hopeful image of a coming day
• handful of notes- sweet, serene imagery- very positive compared to other verses, especially ‘your bald cry’
• rise like balloons carefree, joyous imagery- recognises potential of a newborn as balloons can rise anywhere