Discuss the treatment of nature in Sylvia Plath’s poems.

Answer

Discuss the treatment of nature in Sylvia Plath’s poems.

Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) often uses nature in her poems. However, she does not always show nature as calm or beautiful. Instead, nature in her poems reflects deep emotions such as fear, sadness, and conflict.   

Nature as Dark and Mysterious: In “Crossing the Water,” two people are crossing a back lake on a boat. Everything in the poem is dark: the lake, the boat, the trees, and even the people.

“Black lake, black boat, two black, cut-paper people.”

Here, Plath’s natural setting is not peaceful but strange and haunting. The dark water shows inner fear, loneliness, and sadness. Even the stars and lilies at the end look dangerous, like sirens. Nature becomes a mirror of human uncertainty.

Nature in “Words”: In “Words” (1963), Plath uses nature images to talk about words/writing. He compares words to “axes” that cut wood and make echoes. This metaphor suggests that words have the ability to express deep emotions. Just like axes, words can hurt both the readers and the writer. Again, Plath depicts an image of a skull under water, being eaten by green plants. This natural image shows her fear of death and being forgotten, while her words live on.

Nature in “The Rival”: Plath uses nature in “The Rival” (1965) to show the negative energy of her rival. She compares the rival to the moon.

“If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.”

The moon is beautiful, but it borrows light from the sun. Just like this, Plath’s rival takes attention or glory from others.

Nature as Comforting: In “Morning Song” (1961), Plath compares her newborn baby’s breath to nature. She compares the breath to the sound of “a far sea” in her ear. It gives us a calm and comforting image of nature.

In fine, Plath does