Poets | Members | Poem of the Day | Top 40 | Search | Comments | Privacy
July 26th, 2008 - we have 237 poets, 8036 poems and 17725 comments.
Analysis and comments on Daddy by Sylvia Plath

[1] 2 3 4 5 6 7

Comment 64 of 64, added on March 23rd, 2008 at 11:04 AM.

An other possibility is that she is representing herself by the colour
white. Just like her father is described in the colour black. The contrast.


Eva
Comment 63 of 64, added on January 14th, 2008 at 11:49 PM.

Eva, you asked about this line?
"The snows of the Tyrol, the cler beer of Vienna
Are not very pure, or true"

I actually just spent a lot of time researching what this refers to. Before
WWII, the breweries of Vienna were all owned and ran by Jewish people.
However, when the Nazi occupation began, these breweries were taken away
and put under German management, forcing the Jews from their businesses.

I am not completely sure if this is what Plath is referring to, but it is
the only logical explanation I can make out of these lines.

I hope I helped :)

Michelle from United States
Comment 62 of 64, added on January 9th, 2008 at 6:52 PM.

Why must everyone insist that this poem is about Plath's life? Whether or
not it is indeed true, we as readers can only assume that the speaker isn't
the author, but rather a persona created to tell a story. Isn't it always
the first rule to never say the poet is the speaker?

Michelle from United States
Comment 61 of 64, added on January 5th, 2008 at 4:19 PM.

when talking to a child, the frequency and tone of your voice changes in
pattern into a more soothing sound, In Sylvia Plath's "Daddy", the rhyming
sound of (ooh) gives it a melody or lullabye sound. there is a childish
tone in the poem; she does refer to her father as daddy :) (which is kinda
kute)

newayz

when she refers to the shoe. she could be refering to the nursery rhyme of
the old woman who lived in a shoe :)


when she speaks of a vampyre (the correct way to spell it.. duh!) that has
sucked on her blood for 7 years she is refering to Ted who was married with
her for seven years. The one year, was when he was not being loyal to her
and was being a lil manwhore :) (yupyup guys can be bigger sluts than
girls)

Frisco seal?? well im not sure what she means by that
but there are alot of really BIG kute gray seals in san fransisco =)


the last stanzas could be refferring to the American Witch Trials
kinda like in Salem

yupyup!!

well these are some krazy ideas of mine
but i do need help interpreting so if someone is willing to help me just
email me

thanx :)


sexy latina yvonne from United States
Comment 60 of 64, added on January 4th, 2008 at 3:17 PM.

I understand the whole poem except de lines where she say:

"The snows of the Tyrol, the cler beer of Vienna
Are not very pure, or true"

What does this mean? Does it symbolise her mother from Austria? Tyrol is an
alpine region in Austria, and Vienna the capital. This idiotic symbolism is
the only one i can imagine. Someone here who have understood those
sentences?

Eva
Comment 59 of 64, added on April 11th, 2007 at 1:29 AM.

Has anyone noticed the "anti-Christ" images in this poem? Line 46 includes
the words "Not God"-i.e. anti-God, anti-Christ to allude to whatever
authoritative male figure she has in mind; In lines 55-56 and 73 there is a
"black man" (55) who partakes in a perverse "communion" when he bites the
speaker's "pretty red heart in two" (56) and "[drinks] [her] blood for a
year" (73); and in numerous lines 31-35, 43-48, and 65 (to name a few)
there are allusions to Adolf Hitler--the man many believed was THE
"anti-Christ" Just thought I'd share that little tangent

Daniel Haney
Comment 58 of 64, added on December 25th, 2006 at 12:52 AM.

daddy is a poem written when hitler of germany was on his peak of torturing
people by disguisting techniques.here daddy is referred to hitler and his
harresments. plath being his sufferer in one or the other ways has very bad
image of his. she is suffocated in his rule so she reffers it to be a
smelly shoe. she had suffered in a young age so she wanted to kill him but
unfortunately he commited suiside{as per the book landmarks of 20th century
world history by hussain naqui)and plath missed a chance to kill him.she
expresses her frustration in the last line by adderessing hitlrt sa a
bastard.in all the poem reflects the mental or psychological impact of
hitler's rule.

jui from India
Comment 57 of 64, added on March 30th, 2006 at 6:09 PM.

Does anybody know the month and year this poem was published?

Stacey
Comment 56 of 64, added on March 28th, 2006 at 7:59 AM.

This poem is exquisite! I love the diction that Plath uses. Although this
poem is quite disturbing and upsetting, I love the drama and the hatred. I
am a very appealing person.

Staci from United States
Comment 55 of 64, added on March 27th, 2006 at 7:16 AM.

The reference to "the black telephone's off at the root" is a symbol of her
disconnecting to reality and to this world", her way of turning her back on
these memories.

nona from United States

This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 7


Information about Daddy

Poet: Sylvia Plath
Poem: Daddy
Volume: The Collected Poems
Year: 1962
Added: Feb 20 2003
Viewed: 48554 times


Add Comment

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding this poem better? If they are accepted, they will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.

Do not post questions, pleas for homework help or anything of the sort, as these types of comments will be removed. The proper place for questions is the poetry forum.

Please note that after you post a comment, it can take up to an hour before it is visible on the website! Rest assured that your comment is not lost, so don't enter your comment again.

Comment on: Daddy
By: Sylvia Plath

Name: (required)
E-mail Address: (required)
Country:
Show E-mail Address:
Yes No
Subject:
Poem Comments:

Poem Info

Plath Info
Copyright © 2000-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson. All Rights Reserved. Links | Bookstore