Tulips by Sylvia Plath

Tulips by Sylvia Plath Tulips, by Sylvia Plath seems to be a poetic expression of depression. The speaker who I assume is Plath is describing the psychological effects after a surgical procedure,which I feel is the time when sadly Plath miscarried her baby. The poetry was written through and through her aver view in a infirmary room, where the reader is given an perceptivity to the inner thoughts of a woman who has g one through a grave ordeal, and the objects around her which influence her psychogenicity. The poem follows Plaths admission into hospital and the heart-rendering account of her onslaught to recover. in that location be nine stanzas in the poem, each with five lines, there is no evident rhyme pattern and there is light structure to the poem, although the deprivation of organization in each stanza seems to be a reflection of the admiration and the loss of control that Plath feels, the only structure shared among the stanzas is the teemingness of punctuation, cr eating a slow rhythm through break the poem, although Plath uses everyiteration to increase suavity in parts of the poem, plastic-pillowed, water went and light lies on snowy w alones.Plaths tint is serene throughout the poem, however there is a sarcastic shade when she says The tulips are as well as excitable, it is winter here. The tone of the poem starts out as depressed and bleak then changes into more dynamic and wannabe and the imagery more surreal the mouth of some great African cat. In the first two stanzas, Plath talks about the spotlight and her surroundings, whereas the rest of the stanzas reveal her feelings.The most symbolic item in the poem is the tulips, their colour is the first contrast brought to light, they are red and they clash with the etiolated room, they drink in her oxygen and fill the room with life, she describes how nice it had been onwards the tulips came in and robbed her peaceful isolation. Their redness reminded her of her wound and the tuli ps lightly breathing through their white swaddling reminds her of the baby she has befogged. In the end the flowers win and begin to clutch the dull whiteness that Plath once found so peaceful. the walls, also, seem to be warming themselves. Another contrast to the red tulips is Plaths use of white as a symbol. The imagery described in the first two stanzas is all white, meaning the absence of colour, which is figurative for the lack of life. How white everything is, white walls, white lids, white caps, she is propped between the white pillow and the white sheet, white is low-cal and pure and the contrast between the white, sterile surroundings and the red of the tulips is too distracting.Plath uses colour imagery to manifest the themes of life, the red of the tulips is symbolic for life, the colour of blood, and tulips are associated with spring which is a contrast to the winter outside. It is customary to send flowers to a funeral or when somebody dies, they symbolise a tribute to the life of the one who has died, I didnt want flowers she did not want to be reminded that her baby would neer have a life for her to pay tribute to, the tulips were an intrusion on her grief and since they were given as a sexual love gesture, she looks at them in contempt. Nobody watched me before, now I am watched. Plath includes several references to water, my body is a pebble to them, they tend it as water tends to the pebbles it must run over. Water went. The elbow room a river snags and eddies. The water is symbolic of the tears she has shed over her loss. The interactions between Plath and the nurses are portrayed as cold and impersonal, they do not feign her as an individual, her body is compared to a pebble, an inanimate object with no identity. in that respect is no communication between the nurses and Plath, they only if deliver her medication they guide me numbness in their bright needles, they bring me sleep, they come to repair her pain.She seems to re late most things back to her illness, using similes to compare her overnight teddy to a black pill box. They have swabbed me clear of my loving associations, this could be an indication of what depression does to a person, it robs them of joy In life that comes from loving associations. Even her own family are a cruel reminder of what she has lost My husband and child smiling out of the family photo Their smilies catch onto my skin, little smiling hooks. although Plath has no desire for life it is her family and the tulips that are keeping her from permit go, retaining her from sinking.She wants to be free to just be, but the tulips remind her that she has people who love and need her Electroshock treatment, recovery from a suicide attempt and miscarriage were only a few of the times Sylvia Plath was hospitalised. Plath was diagnosed with a combination of frightening depression, acute insomnia and bipolar disorder (Griffin) the time she spent in hospital and her mental illness are reflected in her poetry. Plaths description of the hospital mise en scene may be a reflection of her own experiences when hospitalised, this would explain wherefore she is so detached from the medical staff.The entire point of the poem is simply how these flowers show her that she can never truly be free from her pain, There will always be something there to remind her of it, sadly we all know the outcome of Sylvia Plaths life and how sad it seems today that Sylvia Plath had to face her mental illness at a time when no one knew the truth about how to treat it. This poem reflects the same depth, grief and creativity that was evince within the life of Sylvia Plath, and because of her beautiful mind we are unexpended with the gifts she left behind, and Tulips is one of them.