Kaitlyn Foster -“The voice of God”: The Symbolism of Sound

There are certain things which capture one’s attention immediately. Sylvia Plath is a unique poet who utilizes many techniques to do just that. One thing that is signature in her work is her use of imagery. Imagery is used to appeal to the reader’s five senses and Plath is certainly maximizes that technique. One symbol Plath uses to draw the reader in is the imagery of sound. In her poems “Morning Song” and “The Swarm” sound imagery is used with both positive and negative connotations to draw the reader in and connect them to the poem, while in “Tulips” Plath uses the absence of sound as an image to accomplish the same thing.
The use of sound in a positive way helps draw the readers attention to all the different aspects of the poem. In “Morning Song” Plath describes a birth, and the mother’s feelings thereafter. “Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. (“morning” 4). The words “echo” and “magnifying” in this line display a positive connotation. At this point in the poem, just after the birth, one would think the family is overjoyed at the new birth, the “new statue” in their lives. The use of sound, echoes and voices, helps connect the readers to the sense of joy that this part of the poem is putting forth. Another positive connotation of sound in “Morning Song” is when she says “Your handful of notes/ the clear vowels rise like balloons.” (“morning” 17-18). At this point in the poem the baby is breast feeding with it’s mother. The use of imagery here lets the reader connect to the love and nurturing feelings that the mother feels at this time. The words “clear” and :rise like balloons” gives the baby crying a positive connotation as opposed to the negative connotation that crying usually has.
Though in “Tulips” the imagery of sound, or more specifically the lack thereof, starts off with a perhaps deceiving positive connotation. “look how white everything is, how quiet. How snowed-in/ I am learning peacefulness.” (“Tulips 2-3). This image connects the reader to feelings of peace and tranquility. Though as the poem continues she uses the images of sound to connect the reader to bitterness and tension. “I am nobody/ I have nothing to do with explosions.” (“Tulips” 5). Her use of explosions and the speaker’s dissociation with them helps portray a lonely tone teeming with the absence of something, which creates tension. “Tulips” goes on to connect the reader to pain through sound. “The tulips are too red in the first place, they hurt me./ Even through the gift paper I could hear them breath/… Like an awful baby” (“tulips” 36-38). All of the sudden there is sound in the speaker’s room, and it is quite the opposite of comforting. This part of the poem connects the reader to the bitterness that the speaker feels towards the tulips.
Another poem in which Plath Uses sound to help connect to reader to the poem is in “The Swarm”. This poem uses sound in an obviously negative way. “It must be shot down. Pom! Pom!” (“Swarm” 19). The sound used in this poem isn’t like in the others, it’s actually an onomatopoeia. This “Pom! Pom!” sound focuses the reader on a violent image, the sound of a gunshot. This sound is repeated several time throughout the poem, “Pom! Pom! They fall.” (“Swarm” 36), and connects the reader to other images of war and violence, as well as contributing to the overall violent and bitter tone of the poem. Also in “The Swarm” there is a line of sound imagery like those in the previously mentioned poems. “The bees argue, in their black ball,” (“Swarm” 31). This negative sound, arguing, connects the reader to the feelings of anger and frustration that the poem is all about.
No matter the connotation of tone of the overall poem, Plath uses images of sound to help connect her readers by directly appealing to their senses with sound. Something most of us are familiar with, Plath effectively puts forth her message. No matter the context, there is something about sound that appeals to every reader.