While I was reading “Jij zegt het” from Connie Palmen, I became interested in one of the main characters, named Sylvia Plath. She intrigued me and I became curious in her own life story. I searched her on Google and came across “The Bell Jar”, her only novel, mostly autobiographical. Despite the fact that it was a dark book, I found it very interesting to read. Her states of mind (always extremes) keep you busy as a reader and make you think. In the meantime I also went to the library to take a book with poems of her because in her book it is often about poetry. Besides, she is now one of the most read English-language poets. Posthumously her poetry collection “Ariel” received the Pulitzer Prize.
I love her poetry because she makes a lot of associations between things where the similarity isn’t always clear. This is confusing but it also makes it fascinating. You can think about the meaning she had in mind and you can make your own interpretations.
Third paragraph: she makes a comparison between herself and the cloud.
My interpretation:
She now brings a child into the world on which she has a lot of influence, but gradually her influence will also fade away. Perhaps she wants this in a certain way, as a proof to herself that she ultimately doesn’t matter. Both (the cloud and poet) do not deserve the name “mother”, because they do not contribute anything.
It is an asset to know her life story while reading the poems because that makes it easier to understand what she means.
Interested?
The Idealist 