for Susan O’Neill Roe
What a thrill —-
My thumb instead of an onion.
The top quite gone
Except for a sort of hinge
Of skin,
A flap like a hat,
Dead white.
Then that red plush.
Little pilgrim,
The Indian’s axed your scalp.
Your turkey wattle
Carpet rolls
Straight from the heart.
I step on it,
Clutching my bottle
Of pink fizz. A celebration, this is.
Out of a gap
A million soldiers run,
Redcoats, every one.
Whose side are they one?
O my
Homunculus, I am ill.
I have taken a pill to kill
The thin
Papery feeling.
Saboteur,
Kamikaze man —-
The stain on your
Gauze Ku Klux Klan
Babushka
Darkens and tarnishes and when
The balled
Pulp of your heart
Confronts its small
Mill of silence
How you jump —-
Trepanned veteran,
Dirty girl,
Thumb stump.
this poem is very good and very well writen! this poem as many differnt metiphorical meanings and it makes you think. this poet is a very good writer and knows how to make a connon incident into a mysterious wonder.
i love my boobs
This is really weird cuz i just……….
i think this poem is about suicide! Although my class has been analyzing this as cutting you thumb inistead of an onion.
“What a thrill”- she likes to cut her self takes away other pain in life.
“top quite gone”-the high points in life are gone.
“except for a ssort of hinge”- about to kill herself just one thing shes holding onto.
“dead””white”- losing everythihng
“little pilgrim”- she feels small, unloved, not wanted
“carpet rolls”- rapping up your life, dieing.
“i step on it”- beating herself up over nothing
“straight from the heart”- feelings are true.
My analysis of the stanze ;; “the stain on your gauze Ku Klux Klan Babushka Darkens and Tarnishes”
In Sylvia Plath’s bloodcurdling poem “Cut,” the narrator unintentionally slices her “thumb instead of an onion” in a common kitchen calamity. The stanza above shows the comparisons she makes between her unappetizing finger and the headdress of an aged dame or even a member in a racist secret society. She begins by dressing her raw thumb in gauze to control the rapid bleeding and then recognizes that her grieving digit resembles the sinister white hood of a “Ku Klux Klan” member as well as the tattered “babushka” of a wizened peasant woman. As she beholds her dressed up thumb she acknowledges that the crimson blood is slowly seeping into the thin material which then starts to “darken and tarnish” the once white gauze. A rule of thumb–keep your eye on the blade while dicing the vegetables or it could turn into a culinary catastrophe. =]
The stain on your
Gauze Ku Klux Klan
Babushka
Darkens and tarnishes
Sylvia Path’s bloodcurdling poem “Cut” is about a common calamity that occurs in the kitchen of many homes–the narrator has accidentally cut her “thumb instead of an onion” while severing vegetables. The stanza above shows the narrator’s unappetizing finger being compared to a headdress of a peasant woman and to an evil member of a secret society. To control the rapid bleeding she wraps her raw thumb in gauze, resembling the white hood of a “Ku Klux Klan{sman},” or even the “babushka” of a wizened peasant woman. As she looks at her thumb, a fire of unappealing blood slowly feeds the gauze as it starts to “darken and tarnish” the once white material. So keep your eye on the blade while murdering the vegetables or you might just murder your thumb!
nice metaphors
I think this poem is a great representation of metapors. I am also extreamly sad that she has killed herself
What an amazing poem. SUPERBBBBB. it was absolutely splendid. WELL DONE SYLVIA YOU SUCCEDED ONCE AGAIN!!
This was an amazing piece of work! it made me jump with excitement when i finsished this masterpiece! i was trying to find that true meaning and i found it! this poem has made me think of all that safety i need to think about when i cook! YAY WRITING! this has made me fell like i can write without caring who sees! i also love this girl named Jessica Koren! she is soo HOTT! she reminded me of the quote “red coats everyone” because she is soo hott!! wow im going to marry her someday and we are going to have 14 wonderful babys! well i best be going farwell! : ]
WOW! This poem was absolutely AMAZING!! The choice of metaphors was soooo outstanding i could hardly wait to find the hidden meaning in the poem! I told all my friends about this poem! they were flabergasted!!! I can’t believe that a writer could think of a metaphor like that! “CLUTCHING MY BOTTLE OF PINK FIZZ A CELEBRATION THIS IS!” CELEBRAE GOOD TIMES COME ON! YOU GO GIRL! BREAK IT DOWN! OH YA! WAHOO!
Sylvia Plath is possibly the best poet ever invented. I like her and I like her poems. Doughnuts
I think this poem was a delight it made me want to jump with thrill and emotion!!! It made me squirm when it said the soilders were MARCHING out instead of saying the blood was rushing out. and if you dont like this poem I WILL FIGHT YOU
this poem was out standing
the metaphors and meanings of this peom were, to me clever and amusing
in my class we are doing a “hunt” to find out the meaning of the poem and the title
i am a great analizer and could understand it easly
the poem is a normal house hold issue by risk
the risk is cutting something else u have a risk of missing or mistakenly cutting youself
in the poem it reads” little pilgrim the indians axed off your scalp”
meaning the finger is the lil. pilgrim and the indian is the knife cutting the scalp/tip of your finger.
also read” many soliders run , redcoats everyone”
thats meaning the soliders as in blood and redcoats is also the blood running down her or a persons skin. redcoats (coats) a overwear and blood is black or another color in the body but red wheen on surface of body
“right from the heart i step on it”
the blood come right after the heart form the pumping of the heart and step on it meaning with your free fingers or hand. when in the poem they said flap like a hat is a metaphor for a bit of skin left and covering new skin under blood. and “the thin papery feeling… sabotur,kamakazie man” the thin paper feeling is the left over skin from the blood not circulating anymore so it turns dead white and kamakazie man is a person who risks themself or others so the risk of killing something u risk hurting or killing yourself so risk= killing onion and might hurt self= cut on thumb.
so i really encourage you to read this a figure it out just like me…
this poem was an adventure and amazement to me and my fellow classmate and we really enjoyed it… hope you do too!
_lauryn_
this is the most gourgus poemi have ever read
if the poem is read plainly there ofcourse is an obvious sarcasm yet she portrays so perfectly what is occuring as she cuts herself “A million soldiers run,Redcoats, every one.” she expresses her thought so idealistically to perfection it is as though she is inside the wound and she is disecting the stages and explaining it with pin point accuracy of what is occuring at each given stage, a beautiful poem written by an outstanding poet unfortunately living in an unsuitable time period.
Wow, this poem is great. Great use of diction as mentioned and yes, very sarcastic. If you read this poem the way it is, with a sarcastic sound, then the “What a thrill” and “A celebration, this is” will make you laugh. This poem is not an extended metaphor, but rather, many metaphors for a single thing…the thumb. It also has a nice use of apostrophe–not once in the poem did she really say “OMFG I cut my thumb *sob*” but somehow, we just know it.
first of all, i might start be saying,
Catty, if you are reading, you make me laugh!
second of all, cut formate and carefully chosen words (ie, mostly monosyllable words) is perfectly put to gather, its almost as if it has been a puzzle, and there’s be a right way to place every word. she could not have made this better if she had tried.
wow, its… amazing. plus i actually understand this one. in parts on it she sounds almost sarcastic, catty. i like this one.
vibrant