Woman To Child Poem By Sylvia Plath

Judith Wright 's Woman to Child and Sylvia Plath 's Morning Song have a focus on the way that mortality is perceived by society, expanding on this by implying that it is ultimately controlled by nature. In Morning Song, Sylvia Plath examines the concept of longevity and youth. This is evident in the unusual simile, "like a fat gold watch," in the First Stanza. The unconventional comparison between a baby and gold watch draws parallels between the superficial constructs of society and the deeper reality of life, as a child is often associated with love, whereas a watch is usually employed to symbolise the passage of time and wealth. This association exploits the human tendency to expend so much time attempting to escape the clutches of mortality …show more content…
Ultimately, Plath implies that a woman does not come into motherhood merely by giving birth. In a similar way, Wright expands on the idea of motherhood in Woman to Child. Wright employs half rhymes at the end of lines, which strengthen as the poem progresses, to symbolise the growing bond between mother and child, but also the way in which strength is parasitically extracted from the mother by the child in order for it to live. Hence, whilst the child continues to grow and symbolise youth, the mother has already begun the journey to death. The persona states in the last Stanza that, "I am the stem that fed the fruit," which acts as a metaphor for a mother as a vessel that provides necessary nutrition for the child (fruit) to survive. In addition, the diction employed by Wright is sinister and often uses breathy consonants, such as, “darkness,” and, “flesh,” in Stanza One, which emulates the fluidity of the forward-movement and ever-encroaching presence of mortality for a mother after giving …show more content…
While Wright implies that humanity is ultimately an arrogant race and is unknowing a slave to nature, Plath considers the prospect of hope in the face of oppression. In The Surfer, Wright explores how humans often strive for complete control over the elements, and it is this characteristic that is the most dangerous. Wright implies that a fundamental flaw of humans is the tendency to equate that which is beautiful with that which is good. Regarding nature, people can often overlook its obvious dangers and instead focus on its superficial coating of tranquillity. The tone of the poem changes as it progresses, with nouns such as, "joy," and, "delight," in Stanza One juxtaposing with verbs such as, "snarling," and, "crouches," in the last Stanza. The change in tone reflects the personification of nature as a, "grey wolf," that, "crouches…fawning and mouthing," waiting for its next victim. Personification of the ocean as a wolf stresses the way in which nature succumbs to primal instincts: it is dangerous and cannot be controlled. Furthermore, techniques like sibilance in the first stanza such as, "he thrust his joy against the weight of the sea," develop a misleading softness regarding the nature of the ocean. However, contrasting glottal and plosive consonants amongst the sibilance aid in underpinning its darker and chaotic intent, further