Elm - A poem by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath - Elm

for Ruth Fainlight

I know the bottom, she says. I know it with my great tap root;
It is what you fear.
I do not fear it: I have been there.

Is it the sea you hear in me,
Its dissatisfactions?
Or the voice of nothing, that was you madness?

Love is a shadow.
How you lie and cry after it.
Listen: these are its hooves: it has gone off, like a horse.

All night I shall gallup thus, impetuously,
Till your head is a stone, your pillow a little turf,
Echoing, echoing.

Or shall I bring you the sound of poisons?
This is rain now, the big hush.
And this is the fruit of it: tin white, like arsenic.

I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets.
Scorched to the root
My red filaments burn and stand,a hand of wires.

Now I break up in pieces that fly about like clubs.
A wind of such violence
Will tolerate no bystanding: I must shriek.

The moon, also, is merciless: she would drag me
Cruelly, being barren.
Her radiance scathes me. Or perhaps I have caught her.

I let her go. I let her go
Diminished and flat, as after radical surgery.
How your bad dreams possess and endow me.

I am inhabited by a cry.
Nightly it flaps out
Looking, with its hooks, for something to love.

I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity.

Clouds pass and disperse.
Are those the faces of love, those pale irretrievables?
Is it for such I agitate my heart?

I am incapable of more knowledge.
What is this, this face
So murderous in its strangle of branches? ----

Its snaky acids kiss.
It petrifies the will. These are the isolate, slow faults
That kill, that kill, that kill.

Added: on February 6th, 2006 at 3:05 PM | Viewed: 8525 times | Comments and analysis of Elm by Sylvia Plath Comments (3)

Elm - Comments and Information
Poet: Sylvia Plath (Sylvia Plath Art) Poem: Elm Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1962 Comment 3 of 3, added on March 21st, 2006 at 10:07 AM. sylvia plath... as per usual? why dont you settle on the language, not the contents, for a moment? can you feel her words bite into you? i admit that 'depression poetry' is hard to take, what is its function? but not self absorbed, no. these are such strong feelings, and need a place to be allowed recognition. its a disease and its something plath feels strongly about, you should not just dismiss her for that. sara Comment 2 of 3, added on March 7th, 2006 at 11:15 AM. I think as per usual plath has written another depresing poem. It seems to be all she can do she is self obsessed and nothing else matters to her yes i too belive this poem is about love but i don't feel the language is "rich" nor do i think it is a "strong poem" I feel it is her at her best which isn't alot atom from Ireland Comment 1 of 3, added on February 6th, 2006 at 3:05 PM. In my opinion Elm adresses a "you", the poetic persona os the poet on the subject offear, love and suffering. It is a very strong poem with rich language. The opening is simple and direct as are many lines in the poem. A fascinating read with so much to offer in terms of getting to understan the poet, Plath. sandra from Ireland More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Elm, has received 3 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Sylvia Plath with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Sylvia Plath Poem: Elm Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1962 Last read: Nov 25 2009, 1:16AM Viewed 8525 times. Added on February 6th, 2006 at 3:05 PM.

Plath Info
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