poppies in july (plath)

Question 1

what does the poem deal with

Answer 1

•with herself, she uses vivid and powerful imagery of the world around her to portray her feelings towards herself

Question 2

while the title suggests the beauty of nature..

Answer 2

•this is one of plaths bleakest poems

Question 3

the poem is littered with

Answer 3

•intense and surreal imagery that convey perfectly, Plaths feeling of anguish and turmoil

Question 4

the disturbing image of the poppies as

Answer 4

•”little hell flowers” provokes the reader, as Plath gives us a complete account of the extreme emotions she endures

Question 5

the poppies remind her of

Answer 5

•”A mouth just bloodied”; and their petals are like skirts covered in blood: “Little bloody skirts”
•such a link between flowers and physical violence is deeply unsettling

Question 6

her pain has become so overwhelming that

Answer 6

•she’s become numb, and longs to feel anything at all
•she describes putting her hands “among the flames” but how “nothing burns”

Question 7

she uses long and broad vowels to

Answer 7

•convert her depression and her desire for a numbed state

Question 8

she feels exhausted, and wishes for drugs or physical pain
however she knows that simply sniffing the flowers won’t

Answer 8

•provide opium: “There are fumes I cannot touch”
•the opiate is in the seed head, she longs for its “dulling and stilling” effects

Question 9

she switches between

Answer 9

•the broad vowel sounds and the more lively slender tones to describe the flowers

Question 10

the short abrupt lines convey

Answer 10

•her agitated state

Question 11

the vividness of the flowers contrasts

Answer 11

•the dull, lethargy she longs for