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Analysis of Sylvia Plath's Poppies in July

3 Pages 866 Words January 2015

"Poppies in July" by Sylvia Plath, was written in July 1962. By this stage, Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes was in difficulty, and Plath was suffering from a severe bout of depression. It is a typical Plath poem, in that it reveals more about the poet herself than about the subject to which the poet addresses herself. In this respect, it is another psychic landscape (mindscape). We are given an insight into the inner turmoil that plagued her. The imagery is particularly noteworthy: it is very dark, graphic and disturbing, reflecting her mindset at the time of the poem’s writing. It complements The Arrival of the Bee Box.
Plath starts the poem on a seemingly positive, harmless description of the poppies, which suggests to us that this is also a positive, harmless poem. However, the poppies’ description changes and we see that the bright red colour of the poppies reminds the poet of the burning fires of hell, no doubt a less than positive idea for anyone that believes in them.
The poet then asks a rhetorical question, inquiring as to whether or not these poppies can hurt her. This could be a reference to a contemplation of drugs, an idea explored further later in the poem.
As in the first stanza, Plath begins by describing the outward appearance of the poppies. Continuing the fire metaphor, the poppies swaying in the breeze remind the poet of flames flickering, and the poet is somehow frustrated by the fact that she is unable to touch these flowers.
The poet begins to show a desire to self harm, thrusting her hand among the “flames” to see if it burns. This is the poem’s first real insight into the pain Plath is feeling. Self-harm is, somehow, an unaddressed problem in society these days as many people have been desensitized towards it. But to get to the point that you feel the need to hurt yourself physically to keep you sane, to keep you linked in some way to the real world, is a terrible thing. The idea of the poet’s u...

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