How does Sylvia Plath reveal the emotional journey of her life through the poem “Words?”

Answer

How does Sylvia Plath reveal the emotional journey of her life through the poem “Words?” [NU: 2016, 21] ★★★

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) wrote “Words” in 1963, just 10 days before her suicide. Plath’s life was full of pain, sadness, and fear. Her poem “Words” shows the emotional journey of her life through powerful images and metaphors. In this poem, we find her sadness, pain, and her fear of being forgotten.

Expressing Emotions Through Words: Plath compares “words” to “axes.” It is a metaphor that shows the power of writing.

“Axes

After whose stroke the wood rings,

And the echoes!”

Just as an axe cuts wood and makes echoes, her words can cut deep. It means her words bear deep feelings. Her words are like “the sep” that “wells like tears.”  This means that when she is writing, she is feeling some release, like crying.  This shows that her writing helps her to express her emotions.

Fear of Being Forgotten: Plath depicts an image of a skull under water. The skull is being eaten by plants. This shows her fear that she may be forgotten after death, while her words live on.

Feelings of Being Trapped: Later, Plath describes words as riderless horses.

“Words dry and riderless.”

This means that once her poems are written, they no longer belong to her. They keep moving forward, free and unstoppable. The poet loses control over her writing. At the end of the poem, Plath describes her feelings of being trapped. She sees “fixed stars” at the bottom of the water. She feels that her life is controlled by the stars. She feels trapped, even though her words are free.

In short, through these images, Plath shows her emotional journey of pain, struggle, and fear of being forgotten. Yet she also shows that her words will outlive her. Her words will carry her emotions forward even