There is this white wall, above which the sky creates itself-
Infinite, green, utterly untouchable.
Angels swim in it, and the stars, in indifference also.
They are my medium.
The sun dissolves on this wall, bleeding its lights.
A grey wall now, clawed and bloody.
Is there no way out of the mind?
Steps at my back spiral into a well.
There are no trees or birds in this world,
There is only sourness.
This red wall winces continually:
A red fist, opening and closing,
Two grey, papery bags-
This is what i am made of, this, and a terror
Of being wheeled off under crosses and rain of pietas.
On a black wall, unidentifiable birds
Swivel their heads and cry.
There is no talk of immorality among these!
Cold blanks approach us:
They move in a hurry.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
-
wow! intensisty spoken in lines. description after description moving images in colors and gray. i imagine her still in one place looking, just looking and feeling, feeling too intensely.
-
what more than apprehensions?
-
corrections needed (for plath's sake!)
this is not really so much a comment on the poem (though it is among my favorites) but a note to those who work here that it needs to be corrected. \pietes\ should be \pietas\ (line 15) and in line 18, \amoun\ should be \among\. line 20 and line 19 shouldn't be separated either; plath always employed perfectly even stanzas at this time of her career.
-
I think I see two mistakes here: first, I think pieties is supposed to be pietas (a prayerbook). Also, amoun should be amoung.
I've always loved this poem.
Edited on Feb 02, 11:20 p.m. because ''. -
There is this white wall, above which the sky creates itself-
Infinite, green, utterly untouchable.
Angels swim in it, and the stars, in indifference also.
They are my medium.
The sun dissolves on this wall, bleeding its lights.
I love that first stanza. It is a beautiful example of poetry done just right. It can wrap its words around you and you can get lost completely in the magificence of the words.
When I read poetry I relate it to my own life. And for several reasons this made me think of miscarriages and hospitals.
Adding your comment:
1 - 5 of 5
