Ezekiel Villacampa

“Severn years, if you want to know”: Historical Ref.

In Sylvia Plath’s poems she uses the element of historical references to further emphasize the importance as well as to give the reader a visual. “The Swarm” has historical references from Napoleonic times and is used to strengthen the point of a woman revolting. However in “Daddy” the image of Nazi Germany is used to point gruesome image of abuse. History plays an important role as well as an element in Sylvia Plath’s writing and is therefore used to strengthen her general argument.

In the poem “The Swarm” Plath’s historical reference is that to Napoleon. This is used to emphasize the argument of a woman being abused and finally revolting. The first half of the poem contains images of Napoleon taking over Europe. “At Waterloo, Waterloo, Napoleon” (7), he wins the battle, which is a major turning point at the start of the war in which he get’s the upper hand. There are also some indirect references of war such as the chess game in which Napoleon maneuvers his pieces to win. In terms of the poem it has become a game in which the man gains power over the woman. Towards the middle of the poem, Napoleon or the controlling man captures “Russia, Poland, and Germany” (27). With Europe practically under Napoleon, he moves towards Russia. On line 30 “Spun into the river, the river crossed” marks the beginning of the fall of Napoleon’s reign or the man in this case. The river is a reference to the river which Napoleon crossed to reach Russia. However when he gets there he finds that there wasn’t nothing left. The city as been “Dismembered to a tod of ivy” (38). Historically what had happened was that the people fled the city and in doing so destroyed much of the land. So when the army came, it would be vulnerable to the harsh Siberian winter. In the end, the woman has left the man and banished him to “Elba” (43). While Napoleon’s men suffered, he himself got all that he wanted.

In the poem “Daddy” history plays a role as to emphasize the main argument, which is that of a woman complaining to her father. The historical time period is that of Nazi Germany. Here history helps paint readers the suffering of the Jews and the war. In the 7th Stanza “An engine, an engine/ Chuffing me off like a Jew”. The systematic killing of Jews occurred at “Dachau, Auschwitz, Belen”. At the prison camps German scientists carried out cruel experiments on them and ultimately killed them. In this poem she also uses the words that end with (“ew”) a lot such as “Jew” and “you”. There is also the horrifying image of war machines such as the “Luftwaffe” (42) which in context of the poem, is valued by the father. The Luftwaffe was the most advanced air force of the time which also carried out bombings over London and all of Britain together. Here is also the twisted image of “Panzer-man” (45). Very much like the combination of a wolf and man, this also forms a very grotesque and vivid image in the readers mind. Panzers were destructive tanks first implemented during the first World War. In the middle of the poem she talks about how people worship and love the Germans. “Not a God, but a Swastika” (46) which is the symbol of the Nazis. Apposed to the previous imagery Plath begins to idealize to some extent the Nazis. “Every woman adores a Fascist” (48). Prior to the beginning of the Second World War, the fascists had promised for getting the Germans out of the depression. However as this part continues the picture of the Nazi is changed to that of a blood sucking vampire. On line 79 :”Seven years if you want to know” represents how long the war lasted, which was from 1938 to 1945. At the end the Nazi is killed.

Historical references ho matter how small, still have the effect of amplifying the importance. It helps the readers visualize and realize the importance of the two poems. Although the reader may not notice the small minor details the larger events are easier to grasp held of and interpret.