Nicole Ebreo

3/15/14
The meaning of a poem may have as many interpretations as the reader may wish. The
key to being able to have all these meanings and emotions inside that leaves a person with a
lasting impression is the art of using devices and techniques of poetry. The poet has to dig deep
into their meaning and consider how to use these techniques in a delicate manner in order to
come out with their poem standing out as a piece of art. The use of tropes, dramatic monologues
and different styles of stanzas buries the meaning inside the pages of Sylvia Plath's poetry, and
reveals meaning that symbolizes struggle and journey.
In the examination of one of her poems entitled, Mirror, Plath uses literal meaning
words that show symbolism of her perspective of reflection, inner and outer to confuse the reader
to find a deeper meaning than the literal words on her paper. This technique is clever and easy
for Plath to discover as she was an accomplished poet still not halfway through her twenties,
Plath was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Cambridge University (Britinnica).
In the poem Mirror the narrator enhances the literal meaning of a mirror and its
function, but then quickly switches to a metaphoric writing style by saying how the mirror is
swallowing everything it sees. The mirror is a representation of her feelings, which is both
metaphorical and symbolic. Critiques have said, Mirror is not only about reflection, it is also
a self-reflexive textthat is, it is a poem about poetry. The style of writing that Plath possesses
is naturally writing dramatic monologues . Critics and historians often describe her as a martyr
who died young, a victim of her times as much as her brilliant yet troubled mind and her choice
of men (Randall). She let others take control over the one thing that truly belongs to her, her
mind.
In Plaths work, Blackberrying, she uses a deep and with all respect very needy tone in
order to reach out for love or self-desire to be loved by someone else. Tone is a device to
establish the feeling and surrounding of the poem, which helps to acquire the meaning of this
poem. The beginning describes Plaths crave to feel close to something in her life. Its almost
like shes crying for help. A critic said, Most of these poets shared a tragic inability to redeem
them self, in their personal lives, from the courageous but overwhelmingly painful process of
self-confrontation they enacted in their poetry (Ullman). This milieu of the author brings out the
hidden meaning and purpose of writing. Symbolism is being used throughout the poem because
Blackberrying doesnt represent actual blackberries. She uses that particular fruit because its
darker than any of the other fruits, just like her feelings and attitude toward life.
The thesis implies that the reader must consider the poets journey throughout the writing
of the poem. The speakers journey through the lane of berries is analogous to the human
journey through life (Hacht). Throughout her life, she constantly felt at battle with the world.
Plath usually describes her pain through metaphor and similes making it almost impossible to
figure out what shes saying. One critique says, Plath has often been categorized as being a
confessional poet who deals with painful personal experiences in her poetry (Bloom).
A counter-argument may imply that Plaths use of poetic terms does not necessarily lead
to the milieu or meaning directly. Sometimes one must understand Plaths background and know
Plaths mental instability to comprehend the poem. Plath did the unspeakable by committing
suicide by the age of 30 making most of Plaths poems derive from past experiences. Knowing
Plaths past emotional aches and mental depression will often expose more of the milieu and
meaning often more than poetic techniques. When first researching about Plath, I thought she
was simply a poet who poured her timid soul into a diary and transformed it into poetry. After
researching, I was only partly right. Plath viewed the world a place of lost hope, and was
unsuccessful in finding both the beauty in the world and the loveliness in people. Now I think
that Plath uses many more poetic techniques than a person may think. This is because her writing
is so abstract that it is almost impossible to read a poem such as Blackberrying and know her
full intentions by one read.
Techniques and devices affect the milieu and meaning of a piece of art because it brings
out the meaning and milieu. Theres reasons why poets are so symbolic and use a different tone,
it gives the reader a sort of madness and chilling feeling. The use of poetic techniques to
understand the poem will bury the meaning and milieu making the reader having to dig and
become frustrated in order to find it. All poems bring the reader through a journey whether it
being the poets interpretation or yours.

Work Cited
Bloom, Harold. "Bloom on Sylvia Plath." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 21 Feb.
2014.
"Plath, Sylvia." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale,
2009. 1308-1312. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Randall, Jessy. "Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963)." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara
Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 4. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 68-69. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Mirror." Poetry for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski and Mary Ruby. Vol. 1. Detroit:
Gale, 1998. 115-131. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
"Plath, Sylvia." Compton's by Britannica, v 6.0. 2009. eLibrary. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.