Paralytic - Sylvia Plath

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who whisper "We're your daughters."

The still waters

Wrap my lips,



Eyes, nose and ears,

A clear

Cellophane I cannot crack.

On my bare back


I smile, a Buddha, all

Wants, desire

Falling from me like rings

Hugging their lights.


The claw

Of the magnolia,

Drunk on its own scents,

Asks nothing of life.


This work is easiest to understand when it is broken down, stanza by stanza. The first question to be asked is: what is Plath talking about when she says "it happens"? I believe that she is talking about life. She has tried to take her own but has not accomplished that task and so it goes on. Plath says that her mind is a rock. This statement has many connotations. Rocks are of course heavy, solid, and hard but I think that she is comparing her mind to a rock more in a ...

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to bring in new air.

The third stanza explains what God is trying to do. He "will not/let me relapse/while the day outside glides by like ticker tape." God will not let her die or relapse into her attempts. Outside there is a sense of happiness which is symbolized by the ticker tape. Ticker tape is normally associated with some kind of celebration which leads the reader to think that if everyone else is happy then she can be too. The night, however, is a different idea all together. It brings violets, a flower that has a purple shade and stays in bloom at night which is rare. Most flowers close up at night but violets continue to thrive without the sun. Tapestries can be taken ...

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