The Rival - A poem by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath - The Rival

If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
Both of you are great light borrowers.
Her O-mouth grieves at the world; yours is unaffected,

And your first gift is making stone out of everything.
I wake to a mausoleum; you are here,
Ticking your fingers on the marble table, looking for cigarettes,
Spiteful as a woman, but not so nervous,
And dying to say something unanswerable.

The moon, too, abuses her subjects,
But in the daytime she is ridiculous.
Your dissatisfactions, on the other hand,
Arrive through the mailslot with loving regularity,
White and blank, expansive as carbon monoxide.

No day is safe from news of you,
Walking about in Africa maybe, but thinking of me.

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Added: Feb 20 2003 | Viewed: 21691 times |

Comments (9)

The Rival - Comments and Information
Poet: Sylvia Plath Poem: The Rival Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1961 Poem of the Day: Jan 13 2005 Comment 9 of 9, added on November 7th, 2011 at 6:31 PM. I understand the different perspectives of it being based on Aurelia and Ted Hughes but I keep getting drawn to the different references. "Making stone out of everything" alludes to Medusa yet "Spiteful as a woman" confuses that idea and "through the mailslot with loving regularly" links back to Aurelia. Is that her mother is not human enough to be referred to as female or is Plath addressing both individuals here? George from Australia Comment 8 of 9, added on April 14th, 2010 at 3:37 PM. Mother Despite what she truly based the explosion of emotion in this poem about, The only meaning any self respecting reader can gleam from it is that of her depression at her mother's always too high expectations, She finds her mother smothering like "Carbon Monoxide", she always must have the final say "Light-Stealer" And the constant stream of pestering her mother gave her whilst Sylvia lived in England, a volume of letters so large, her mother published them as a book, Hence: "No day is safe from news of you" My theory: She is either directly speaking of her mother, or personifying her mother as death itself, as im sure her mother assisted in her unfortunate death. Thank you if you read this far. Amdrew Bartlett from United Kingdom Comment 7 of 9, added on January 21st, 2010 at 6:36 PM. i think this poem is mainly about ted and how she feels towards him. sarah from Australia More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The Rival, has received 9 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own.

Poem Info
Poet: Sylvia Plath Poem: The Rival Volume: The Collected Poems Year: Published/Written in 1961 Last read: 2013-05-21 17:04:39 Poem of the Day: Jan 13 2005 Viewed 21691 times. Added Feb 20 2003.

Plath Info
Biography More Poems (121 poems) Sylvia Plath books