The Edge: The Chilling Last Poem Written By Sylvia Plath Before Taking Her Own Life
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Did she consider taking the children with her?
Edge
By: Sylvia Plath in 1963
The woman is perfected.
Her dead
Body wears the smile of accomplishment,
The illusion of a Greek necessity.
Flows in the scrolls of her toga,
Her bare
Feet seem to be saying:
We have come so far, it is over.
Each dead child coiled, a white serpent,
One at each little
Pitcher of milk, now empty.
She has folded
Them back into her body as petals
Of a rose close when the garden
Stiffens and odors bleed
From the sweet, deep throats of the night flower.
The moon has nothing to be sad about,
Staring from her hood of bone.
She is used to this sort of thing.
Her blacks crackle and drag.
Sylvia Plath, “Edge” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1960, 1965, 1971, 1981 by the Estate of Sylvia Plath. Editorial matter copyright © 1981 by Ted Hughes. Used by permission of Harper Collins Publishers.
Biography:
The collected work of poet Sylvia Plath is directly intertwined into her biography. Plath was born in Massachusetts in 1932 and educated at Smith College, Plath suffered from depression after her loving father Otto died from diabetes complications in 1940. Despite this depression and two attempts of taking her own life, she realized moderate literary success with her poetry and her autobiographical novel "The Bell Jar". In 1956 she met and married and moved to London with her English husband; poet Ted Hughes. The two had two children together, Nicholas and Frieda. In 1962, Hughes left her and the children for his mistress. During the long cold winter, depression set in once again and Plath took her own life by placing her head in a gas oven February 11, 1963. Weeks before her death, she composed her most chilling and successful work later collected and published as "The Collected Poems" for which she later won the Pulitzer Prize. The Edge was completed days before she completed the act.
Analysis
Plath's poetry was considered to the first and best examples of "confrontational" and "confessional" poetry of her era. Such poetry takes real life events for the poem's metaphor. Poets often used this tool to "confront" real and imagined characters.
Plath's most famous poem, "Daddy" is a confrontational poem that directly "confronts" Plath's anger, sadness, and love for her father as he died as a result from taking proper care of his treatable medical condition. When you apply Plath's confrontational style to the Edge, it suggests that the poetess had considered taking the lives of her children along with her own. The ending of the poem refers to the children being "folded" back into the flower as "petals" and says "we have come so far, it is over." With these lines, Plath alludes to the idea that life is a journey and death is the reward at the end of the journey, not just for herself; but for her children as well.
No one will ever know what Plath's true intentions were, but at the time of her death, she took considerable care to prevent her children being exposed to the fumes by stuffing towels below the doors and leaving milk at her children's bedsides. Despite her tragic death, Plath left behind a legacy of love for her children in her poetry.
Works from this poet:
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I am so sorry Jim.. spoonerism..
Tammy,
(pssst..) it's Jim (whispering) That can get you in trouble in certain situations kid! (laughing)
No, I wasn't plugging my poem. That poem is just a declaation of independence. It's okay for folks not into great poetry, but to a real poet, I'm sure it's junk. It would take to long for you to find anyway. It takes ME a awhile. Just keep on writing. I love it.
Mark .. I mean Jim!
(cyber high five!)
j.
I appreciate that. I am humbled!
If I don't write a better poem before killing myself I'll be terribly embarrassed.
Newday, I am glad you stopped by. I hope your message isn't a cry for help.. lol.. I am glad you are here. I'd be even happier if you stayed around.
Jim/ Mark/ Late for Supper/ Man With No Clothes/ Awesome Hubber,
You think I would learn.. :).I read it and I am very impressed. It is very, very good.. no junk. I have tried for the last 15 years to be a "real poet" with much rejection and criticism. What is worse is that the more literature education you get, the more you learn that so many others have done it better and all the "rules" really crush a person's creativity. To me, the raw.. honest.. true sepage of a person's soul is what is art to me. And you my friend are a master and never let anyone else tell you differently!
(smiling big) I'm just sitting here working on two blogs and heard the click. I just met you and already feel like you're part of a small circle of hubbers who are real honest to goodness friends. You've got a super attitude and are genuinly sincere.
You ARE a good poet. I will honestly never be. First, I've got a problem with rules. Always have. Second, I could never fit into their little club. Third, I'm too independent and self absorbed. I write what I write for me. It's my theropy and replaces beating up A-holes in the parking lots of a bars. (laughing) I am selfish I think. Honestly, every song I ever wrote was just giving my pain to everyone else, and doing some nice guitar work to slide it in under the door. You write to up lift and move others. It's very UNselfish. If you can make me cry, or make me laugh, or make me angry, you are a great poet. Screw the rules. (skuse me) I'm kinda thinking about this, because I've been reading some great stuff by you and other poets. It seems like the other poets roast them over these rules while their own personal poetry sucks. Some of these people are really sensitive and it really crushes them. I'd just tell em that geeks suck and move on, but not everybodie's a jerk like me. I just know your poems are good. Maybe it's time to change the stupid rules!
Anyway, you didn't ask for all that. I'm just saying, "thanks for being cool my friend."
jim
Hey Tammy, no not a cry for help. I'm not a Plath fan, admittedly. My opinion is the form of a poem should have something to do with content, rythym, rhyme or in some way express the wavelength it is simulating. Plath may have been a sad girl with dour opinions, but then the best poetry would be a trim riffle, not this dark obligato.
Well Newday, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I followed her for many a thesis. Perhaps because she is a female, oppressed, and the whole bag of rocks, women like me can relate to her work. WARNING... I am going to be doing more hubs on her. I do hope you will follow them cause I would love the opportunity to change your mind about her work. So what poets do you like if I may ask. Thank you for your honesty. I love a great debate!
Thanks Jim.. I have met some fabulous people like you here. There are a few of you that feel like kindred spirits. I guess it is good that we enjoy eachothers company and do this for the right reasons.. cause it sure isn't the few cents per day.. lol..
I have been going through your blogs.. wow! If we were all such outstanding American's this country would turn around. I will e you about your fabulous web site and add it to facebook. I have many, many likeminded friends who are ready for a revolution. More to follow my friend!
Right on my sister! Yeah, it's time to rock the American boat. I appreciat all the help I can get and wanna thank you for doing the face book deal. Hey is New day one of them there good poets? Content, rhythm, rhyme? First, don't you need to be able to spell rhythm before you get it? I dunno. Hell, I'm just the piano player in a whore house. Anyway, it's all about following the rules, not spelling. Sorry Newmen. I mean newday. I dig that honesty thing too bro, only I dig manners more. Course that's just me.
It's supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight and that's almost unheard of down here. Well, I'll say good night Tammy. And hey! Good night too you Newday, you crazy guy you! (snickering) :()
jim
Hi Tammy,
My faves are Emily Dickenson (no one is really close) and John Donne. I love Joni Mitchell's work, though it isn't poetry, strictly. But combining music and words in that creative a fashion is incredible.
Faulkner and Twain's prose is so commanding and gorgeous they teach much about language in any form, my opinion. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Great Gatsby, War and Peace, The Idiot (Dostoyevsky) are prose poems in form instruction.
Who else do you like?
Hey Jim. You're sandbagging. The best poets (and writers in general) were, and are, selfish bastards.
(laughing) You're cool man. You know how to take a joke. Rare these days. :)
If what you mentioned is true, I should be in good shape bro!
jim
Newday,
I do agree with you on Donne. That is some of the most beautiful, complex poetry ever.. Both he and Dickenson wrote poems full of heavy hidden sexual messages. Very interesting.. Thanks for reading.
Tammy, I wonder if anyone’s writing could not be interpreted that way, depending on the viewer.
Regardless, the D’s created interesting poems that it seems no one has written before, demonstrating a unique vision of this place.
Like a Beatles song, good writing stays fresh over many visits.
The poem is wonderful. It's sad that she committed suicide. Sylvia Plath was so beautiful! She sure looked beautiful in the pictues. Her children were beautiful, too.
Hi gail.. I am glad you liked it. She was beautiful, and troubled. You can google photos of her children. Her daughter Frieda is still living. Plath's son Nicholas committed suicide a few years ago. The fascination for me is finding out if writing drives a person crazy or if crazy people are driven to write. I appreciate your kind comment.
Hey Tammy! I've always been meaning to read some of Sylvia Plath's works and to learn about her life and death. This gave me a little look into her world. I am intrigued by this poem and where her mind was at that time. Thank you for this interesting exploration into her life and times..............
I wouldn't think she'd want to leave her children behind. She was beautiful, as well as her children.
Thanks Exotic Hippie Queen and Gail,
Her work is even better than her biography. Her poem Lady Lazarus is excellent and it is "timeless" in that it keeps representing today's woman. I hope you will read more of her work.
The poem was very interesting, I never read the Bell Jar, but it's on my always growing list of books to read! I like Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and my favorite poem is from Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. I don't understand why many people interpret it as that he's sad and missed out on life. I always thought he credited the person he was with "taking the road less travelled by." I suppose it's all in the way the reader sees it! Nice to meet you!
Thank you Jean.. What is even better than the Bell Jar are her journals. I hope you will check her out. I appreciate the nice comment.
Hi Tammy,
I will look into the journals. I've been interested in Plath for some time now, but it's been in the back of my mind. Thanks for jogging my memory!
Thanks for sharing this - I am in the middle of writing about suicide and depression like this, so I appreciate the depth of her words and pain. Always an interesting mix when captured in a positive, poetic emotional expression.
Take care.. believe.
Hi Pearldiver,
She is an amazing poet. Good luck with your new article. Thank you for reading!
Interesting. I've never explored Plath's body of work, perhaps I'll put that on my bucket list. I'm a Dorothy Parker fan myself.
She is prolific and a wonderful writer. Thanks for sharing that!
This was a very good read, I enjoyed learning about her and her wonderful work .. voted up
Thanks for your visit and your comment AliceFSpencer. I appreciate that.
I have always loved her work--what a wonderful writer--thank you for this piece on her and on her work
Thanks for your wonderful comment Audrey. She is one of my favorites too!
Awesome hub on Sylvia Plath, I love her! I haven't read all of her work but I do intend to. Edge I have never read, it is very chilling once knowing her story. Thank you, great job! :)
Thanks so much lifesparadox. She is my favorite poem. I think her very best is Lady Lazarus. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
Tammy, I've always found Plath interesting. have you read "Sylvia Plath: the Collected Poems"? It may be the one you mentioned in the article, but I'm not sure. it's such a generic title. It was edited by her husband Ted Hughes and it lists every poem she wrote between 1956 and 1963, with the exact dates? The Edge was completed 6 days before her death.
Thanks PDXKaraokeGuy. I did most of my literature papers on Plath. I have read the collected poems, The Bell Jar, the Journals, and the chilling Birthday Letters. I wish we could all read the poems that Plath wrote without Hughes approval. It is rumored that he removed all poems that she wrote about him and his affairs. Good stuff!
TheManWithNoPants Level 7 Commenter 5 months ago
Wow. You're going places on the Hub Pages girl. People say my "Dirty Rottom Bastard" is powerful. It's purely amateur. This is the mark. Gimme More!
jim