Awe-Inspiring
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I am a huge fan of Sylvia Plath's poetry and, for me, this selection is where it all began back when I was a student. All the great poems are included here, such as 'Daddy', 'Ariel' and 'Tulips', printed in chronologic order. What I love most about Plath's poetry is the theme of identity; trying to understand herself and the times at which she doesn't is the cause for such isolation and vulnerablity. Clearly, there are some extremely depressing aspects to her work - the hospital visits, the suicide attempts and death in general, yet for me these just add more depth and profundity to her work. What many people all too easily forget I think, is that there is also much that is uplifting here too. Poems of motherhood and the joy that insires in the poet are evident in 'You're' and 'Morning Song'. I would almost be criminal not to read this selection alongside her fabulous novel 'The Bell Jar' just to see how deeply personal both her prose and verse truely are, all relating to events in Plath's difficult life. Personal favourites would have to be 'Ariel' and 'Cut' - the later makes you feel weak by the end of it! Yet, over all the rest, the final two poems of the selection, which were indeed her final poems, written days before she took her own life, 'Words' and 'Edge' are pure perfection. Indeed, the sense that Plath knew what she was about to do, even when writing these poems, is made clear; "The woman is perfected./Her dead//Body wears the smile of accomplishment". Plath is a fanatatic writer and this is a fantastic selection. My only criticism of this selection is it misses out some wonderful poems, such as 'Lady Lazarus', but still is utimately awe-inspiring.
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