Morning Song - Sylvia Plath
In contrast to the emptiness and despair of many of Plath's poems, 'Morning Song' is full of
tenderness and love. The poem celebrates a new beginning, not just for the baby but for Plath as a
mother. However, she is also conscious of how she and her child will, over time, become more
separate. She reflects on the sense of loss she will experience in the future.
As in Plath's other poems, in 'Morning Song', feelings of joy and great happiness are juxtaposed
with a sense of separation, anguish, alienation, and despair.
The title is a homophone, mourning as in mourning the loss of herself, or morning, a fresh start
, Lots of midline caesura shows that she is hesitant,
- ‘Fat’ sounds a little aggressive to describe a baby
direct and blunt, showing she doesn’t have much
but ‘gold’ shows what the baby means to her
feeling for the baby
- ‘Set you going’ almost dehumanizes the baby, as if
it’s just a piece of clockwork
- The joy from getting a ‘gold watch’
- ‘Slapped’ is aggressive towards a baby
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
- ‘Bald’ - raw, matches the natural imagery theme of
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry ‘elements.’
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue. - ‘Statue’ dehumanizes the baby and creates distance
between the mother and child as she describes her
In a drafty museum, your nakedness child as a statue, something cold
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls. - ‘Drafty’ - cold, empty, ‘nakedness’ - vulnerability and
the two ideas put together is unsettling
- ‘Shadows’ over their safety creates a sense of
unease, discomfort and it removes the joy
There is no rhyme scheme, showing she is lost - ‘Standing round’ the baby as if it is an object
with how she feels - ‘Blankly as walls’ shows her lack of connection with
the baby
In contrast to the emptiness and despair of many of Plath's poems, 'Morning Song' is full of
tenderness and love. The poem celebrates a new beginning, not just for the baby but for Plath as a
mother. However, she is also conscious of how she and her child will, over time, become more
separate. She reflects on the sense of loss she will experience in the future.
As in Plath's other poems, in 'Morning Song', feelings of joy and great happiness are juxtaposed
with a sense of separation, anguish, alienation, and despair.
The title is a homophone, mourning as in mourning the loss of herself, or morning, a fresh start
, Lots of midline caesura shows that she is hesitant,
- ‘Fat’ sounds a little aggressive to describe a baby
direct and blunt, showing she doesn’t have much
but ‘gold’ shows what the baby means to her
feeling for the baby
- ‘Set you going’ almost dehumanizes the baby, as if
it’s just a piece of clockwork
- The joy from getting a ‘gold watch’
- ‘Slapped’ is aggressive towards a baby
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
- ‘Bald’ - raw, matches the natural imagery theme of
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry ‘elements.’
Took its place among the elements.
Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue. - ‘Statue’ dehumanizes the baby and creates distance
between the mother and child as she describes her
In a drafty museum, your nakedness child as a statue, something cold
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls. - ‘Drafty’ - cold, empty, ‘nakedness’ - vulnerability and
the two ideas put together is unsettling
- ‘Shadows’ over their safety creates a sense of
unease, discomfort and it removes the joy
There is no rhyme scheme, showing she is lost - ‘Standing round’ the baby as if it is an object
with how she feels - ‘Blankly as walls’ shows her lack of connection with
the baby
