I Am Vertical - A poem by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath - I Am Vertical

But I would rather be horizontal.
I am not a tree with my root in the soil
Sucking up minerals and motherly love
So that each March I may gleam into leaf,
Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed
Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted,
Unknowing I must soon unpetal.
Compared with me, a tree is immortal
And a flower-head not tall, but more startling,
And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.

Tonight, in the infinitesimal light of the stars,
The trees and flowers have been strewing their cool odors.
I walk among them, but none of them are noticing.
Sometimes I think that when I am sleeping
I must most perfectly resemble them--
Thoughts gone dim.
It is more natural to me, lying down.
Then the sky and I are in open conversation,
And I shall be useful when I lie down finally:
The the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me.

Added: on April 14th, 2006 at 8:59 AM | Viewed: 12651 times | Comments and analysis of I Am Vertical by Sylvia Plath Comments (7)

I Am Vertical - Comments and Information
Poet: Sylvia Plath (Sylvia Plath Art) Poem: I Am Vertical Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1961 Comment 7 of 7, added on April 4th, 2009 at 5:45 AM. "I M Vertical" this poem make me feel so differently still i m thinking abt it, truly in a different world. not able to express my feeling right now. but really a deep desire of longevity and dareness is making feels so appealling. description of beautiful unknowingness which make life so certain,so painless,so relaxed,so calm that one can feel the nature's beauty... sense of inner insecurity hidden in all of us which errupt by looking those trees and flowers who r in care of mother land. we all in somehow situation filled with our greatest fear "future insecurity", haunting all of us in the same way. but look at those beautiful flowers, they r young so full of beuty, refreshing everything with there fragrance without knowing that after some time there petals are going to fall,it is there destiny. this unknowing certainity give them entrance into the kingdom of nature from which we human being remain always apart b'coz of our own fear,b'coz of our own intellect which seprate us from that eternal pleasure, from the love of mother nature. i cant write too much now.. emotion r uncotrolled now. but this poem touches my heart so strongely that i want to cry in alone.. i hope everyone who experienced the life truly will like it and feel it too............. Anubhav Tiwari from India Comment 6 of 7, added on April 18th, 2006 at 9:57 PM. i recently got involved with poetry and i had no idea how deep it can be. i especially like this poem because it shows that people have insecutities, we don't always feel beautiful like a garden bed. and sometimes we think we would be better off (horizontal)or dead. and sometimes we miss that motherly love. poetry let's me see thinks with a deeper meaning Mariana from United States Comment 5 of 7, added on April 14th, 2006 at 8:59 AM. this poem indicates that Sylvia would rather be Dead (horizontal). She seems to dispise the flowers because they do not know they are to die. And what is more natural to her lying down (dead in a casket). The tree's do not notice her because she is not dead yet. Only when she is dead the tree's (roots)will have use for her (as food). Blanca from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, I Am Vertical, has received 7 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: I Am Vertical Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1961 Last read: Feb 10 2010, 1:18AM Viewed 12651 times. Added on April 14th, 2006 at 8:59 AM.

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