Morning Song - Poetry Flashcards
The summary of a morning song (so you can keep the poems straight bc I can’t 😅)
The poem written by Sylvia Plath about her experience of motherhood.
structure of morning song
- 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
Morning Song Themes
motherhood, connections, love, change, time
morning song mood words
melancholic, hopeful, bittersweet
Morning Song’s tone
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
‘Love set you going’ meaning
stanza 1
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)
‘Fat gold watch’ analysis
stanza 1
- 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
Repetitively addressing the reader as ‘you’ in the first stanza
stanza 1
Use of second person (you) creates a personal, intimate tone - again suggests attachment
‘Shadows our safety’ analysis
stanza 2
- 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
Bald cry
stanza 1
‘bald’ vulnerable image
‘bald’ - primal, blunt - it’s too young to understand complexities, it is just crying for help
quite a negative images
‘took its place’
- 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
‘Amongst the elements’
stanza 1
- introduces idea of vulnerability and the worry a new parent faces
- motif of nature
‘Our voices echo’ analysis
stanza 2
- New baby is tiny so everything else seems huge and cavernous
- theme of vulnerability
- almost from the baby’s perspective
‘New statue.’
stanza 2
- 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
‘Drafty museum’ analysis
stanza 2
- 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
‘Nakedness’ analysis
stanza 2
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
Blankly as walls analysis
stanza 2
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.
- 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)
stanza 4
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.
** 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
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
- 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
stanza 6
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.
- 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
