the times are tidy (plath)

Question 1

signifies the time after a major world war that america partook in

Question 2

draws a comparison between past/present to express her perspectives

Question 3

form abcdb
only 2nd and 5th lines in each stanza rhyme

Question 4

focus on time post ww and great depression
the people living at that time hadn’t the adventures of life, compared to those in the past

Question 5

this monotonous life & poets dissatisfaction is the major theme

Question 6

also themes of war and heroism

Question 7

tone ranges from ironic to nostalgia to sarcasm

Question 8

“unlucky the hero born/In this province of the stuck record” expressed the irony at the time, and the society being fruitless without inspiration for the talented ones

Question 9

2nd stanza employs tone of nostalgia as she looks back at the war heroes

Question 10

final stanza we see sarcasm as there’s no opportunity for inspiration as the last witch also has been hunted

Question 11

last lines kind of ambiguous as she feels the children of the time seem suitable to it, and the time vice versa as it gives the comfort they expect

Question 12

begins on ironic note. “unlucky the hero born” at the so-called heroes of her time who had no adventures to take part in the post-world war
feels that they’re unlucky, no chance to prove their merit

Question 13

this time is boring & uneventful, so she feels that no hero gets to prove his valor at this time of “stuck record”

Question 14

3rd line, plath talks of the talented cooks going jobless, for the talented hands have no work to do but kept idle at that time
also reflection on own writing as she didn’t get much inspiration to write poetry

Question 15

last two lines of 1st stanza, connection between life at that time and the turning spit

Question 16

like the “mayors rotisserie”, life at that time was going “round of its own accord”. the “round” means the cyclic motion of without much change in the progress

Question 17

2nd stanza mentions Dwight Eisenhower, the American General and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe during WWII

Question 18

Eisenhower was also the president of the US. Here, she pictures how even the great commander has no work compared to his venture in the ww

Question 19

she suggests that the heroes born at this time have a role to play by comparing them to heroes of fairytales who fight the lizard, similar to the wartime heroes having no role to play

Question 20

due to the “lack of action” even the heroes like “eisenhower” have become “leaf-size” and what they’ve achieved has become “History’s beaten the hazard,” the things of the past

Question 21

3rd stanza talks of witches burnt at stake over 80 years ago

Question 22

goes way back to the fairy tales where the ‘crone’ with her herb pot and speaking cat will be the main reason for making the story eventful

Question 23

comparatively, the period before this time was filled with events like war, witch hunting, etc

Question 24

she starts with “but” which shows her dissatisfaction for the current time

Question 25

at the same time, she feels like this period is better for the children of the time. for “The cow milks cream an inch thick” denotes that the period is of stability and comfort