Plath Essay: Mullerleile, Louis, Period 5

Cycle of Life
Plath uses the imagery of flowers in her poems to represent the circle of life which is sex and conceiving of a child, birth and adulthood, and death. She shoes these three circles of life through three poems, two sisters of Persephone, Morning song and Edge. In two sisters of Persephone images of flowers are used to convey the idea of sex, which connects to the experience of birth and motherhood, the control idea behind morning song, flowers imagery is also present in edge to show death which concludes the circle of life symbolized in the three poems.
In the poem two sister of Persephone, flower imagery is incorporated into the quote “like pollen on bright air. Lulled near a bed of poppies she sees how their red silk flare of petaled blood burns open to the suns blade” (15-19). Plath used the flowers to represent the goddess Persephone’s “fertility” and “sexuality”, as well as her youth and inexperience. This image contributes to the theme that no matter your path in life whether you are the wry virgin or the girl who lost her innocence, you will end up in the same place. Both women became bitter and died, in this poem flowers portray the first stop in the circle of life, sex, which is the conceiving of a new being.
The second part of the circle of life which is birth and adulthood is mentioned in Paths poems “Morning song”. And instead of using poppies she uses pink rose’s imagery as she says in this line “All night your moth breath flickers among the flat roses” (10-11). The roses represent the baby, whom does not have the textures of the rose, or the smell, but it has the soft pink color on its cheeks. Later in the poem flowers are referenced again, “cow-heavy and floral in my Victorian nightgown” (13-14). This situation characterizes the personas experience of motherhood, how she has to get up in the middle of the night in her floral nightgown to take care of the babies needs. Throughout the poem. Flowers symbolize the path of mother hood and life. Flowers are important to the theme of the poem, which is entirely focused on the birth of a baby and the sentiments, and actions of the mother in response to it. Flowers are used to portray both the baby and the mother, altogether showing life. This is the second part in the circle of life, birth and adulthood.
While Plath uses flowers to show lovemaking and birth, she also uses it in the poem edge to show death. This poem was written sex days before her death on February 11, 1962. This poem speaks in the third person of the singular, which most likely represents Plath. This poem how the woman is satisfied with her life, and how she is perfected, so there is no need to continue living. The woman death is described in a delicate and relaxed manner. Flower imagery occurs once in the poem, in the quote “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” (12-16). The line, “she folded them back into her body as petals,” refers to the way she, Plath, embraced her children how she pulled into her arms what she once brought to life like a flower pulls in its petals. The rest of the quote refers to the odor of the flowers, but they are specifically described as night flowers. The existence of night flowers symbolizes death, and the smell of death is being emitted from the deep throats of the night flower. We also know that Plath committed suicide by turning on the oven and letting the gas leak, so we can conclude that the odorous night flower symbolized the gas that killed her. Flowers are significant to this poem because they become a calm and peaceful way for Plath to suggest her own death. This poem brings us to the third stage of the circle of life, death.
Plath uses confessional poetry in almost all of her poems and she uses imagery of flowers to magnify her theme which are chosen as an image to represent the cycle of life is used extensively in Plath’s poems. Confessional poetry is the poetry of the personal or "I." It is private experiences with feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships are addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner. The confessional poets are not merely recording their emotions on paper; craft and construction were extremely important to their work. While their treatment of the poetic self may have been groundbreaking and shocking to some readers, these poets maintained a high level of craftsmanship through their careful attention to and use of prosody. Flowers contribute a mellow and pleasant touch to the theme of her poems where she uses flower images. Plath uses flowers in two sisters in Persephone to represent birth, which ties back to her birth. She uses pink roses in Morning song to symbolize both the baby and adulthood, which is also, represents her life as she had kids and raised them. Furthermore in her poem Edge she uses the odor of flowers to represent the gas that killed her when she committed suicide. This concludes the cycle of life which flowers represent in her confessional poetry.